1. Strategy and HR

This session will focus on advancing participants’ understanding of how organizations strategically position themselves for competitive advantage. It will emphasize the importance of aligning an organization’s customer value proposition to customers’ unmet needs and of investing in core competencies that enable the organization to deliver on this value proposition consistently and repeatedly. Participants will also consider how influences and trends in the external environment shape organizations’ strategic opportunities and threats over time.

Takeaways:

• Unpack the concept of differentiation and identify different approaches to offering a unique and effective customer value proposition.
• Define core competencies and introduce the organizational competency map as a tool for identifying required activities and resources.
• Discuss and apply frameworks for identifying opportunities and threats in the organization’s external environment.

2. HR as a Business Leader

This session will focus on the strategic role played by HR in defining and supporting the employee contributions required to sustain an organization’s core competencies and competitive advantage. It will emphasize the importance of the causal map linking HR investments to business requirements. Frameworks will be introduced to ensure the development of comprehensive HR interventions, discuss how to strategically target HR investments based on workforce partitioning, and consider the role of HR interventions in supporting organizations’ responses to external pressures.

Takeaways:

• Examine the use of a causal map in linking HR investments to financial performance, considering multiple applications of the causal map in supporting the development and refinement of an HR strategy.
• Discuss the use of workforce partitioning to target HR investments toward employee groups to make the greatest strategic impact.
• Consider the role of HR interventions in shaping and supporting organizations’ responses to pressures and trends in the external environment.

3. Leveraging Data and Analytics for HR Decision Making

The session will focus on how organizations are using analytics to guide HR decision-making. It will cover several examples of HR analytics in action, discuss common obstacles and how to address them, and review key frameworks. reasons to embrace digital transformation. Equipped with a foundational understanding of people analytics, participants will be positioned to rigorously examine common HR challenges related to hiring top talent, engaging the workforce, managing retention, and more.

Takeaways:

• Examine the role of analytics in HR today, in producing insights, solving problems, and evaluating solutions/progress.
• Identify and address the common challenges that HR faces in being data-driven to build HR capabilities.
• Decide where to focus personally and as an organization and how to move forward with the help of a framework.

4. HR Alignment

The session will discuss the value of (and how to assess) alignment of the broader HR function with the organization’s business strategy. It will cover the importance of (and challenges associated with) internal alignment with the HR function itself.

Takeaways:

• External HR Alignment: Do our HR processes effectively support our customer value proposition (CVP)?
• Internal HR Alignment: Are all of the different functional areas within HR moving in the same direction?

5. AI Strategy for HR

In this session, you will learn about the possibilities of and the future of AI and explore strategies to preserve human dignity and agency while embracing the benefits of the technology. You will then explore the key questions that boards of directors need to consider to govern the use of AI effectively within their organizations, and you will contemplate how AI will impact the role of HR leadership and affect the future of jobs.

Takeaways:

• External HR Alignment: Do our HR processes effectively support our customer value proposition (CVP)?
• Internal HR Alignment: Are all of the different functional areas within HR moving in the same direction?

6. Storytelling for HR Leaders

Effective communication is the cornerstone of leadership, and the art of storytelling is its most powerful tool. This session on Storytelling for HR leaders will help you communicate insights, reports, and patterns in a compelling and engaging way to influence decisions, persuade stakeholders, and inspire action.

Takeaways:

• Craft compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences and drive meaningful action.
• Explore how to structure messages, choose impactful content, and develop a personal style that captivates and inspires.
• Anticipate and manage questions from diverse audiences; Enhance decision-making by using appropriate cues and indicators for specific audiences.

1. HR and Talent Development

This session will examine current trends and challenges in the field of talent development. It will present a talent development framework and use several case studies to assess how the dimensions are currently being applied within organizations. The session will also present ideas to align future talent development initiatives.

Takeaways:

• Identify the key elements of designing and implementing effective talent development programs.
• Assess the extent to which the key dimensions of effective talent development programs are currently reflected in practice.
• Discuss ideas for aligning talent development programs with ongoing changes in the world of work.

2. HR’s Role in Driving Inclusivity

The session focuses on tackling the challenges of a diverse workforce. Moving beyond diversity towards equity and belongingness.

Takeaways:

• Understanding: Have a clearer understanding of your organization’s vision, mission, goals, and strategic direction.
• Contribution: Understand how their individual work contributes directly to the execution of the organization’s strategy and success; more focused and eager to take up challenges.
• Alignment: Feel that their personal values align with the values and mission of the organization.

3. Evoking High Performance

The session will discuss research related to evoking high performance in organizations. At the end of the session, participants will know about research and theory on performance psychology, and will also learn concrete strategies that they can try in their own organization to evoke high performance.

Takeaways:

• What leaders can do to maximize the performance of the members of the organization, including how to give feedback and how to effectively use goal setting.
• How a leader can manage different personalities and get the most out of their employees.
• How leaders can structure a group to facilitate good teamwork, with a particular focus on the pros and cons of the hierarchy.

4. Diagnosing Workplace Conflict

This session will focus on identifying and resolving conflicts within the workplace. Effectively managing any conflict starts with fully diagnosing it, and that’s where this session begins.

Takeaways:

• Identify an issue in your workplace and confirm it is a conflict.
• Recognize the effect of conflict styles.
• Identify the conflict type and level.
• Use questions to check your diagnosis.

1. Managing Complexity

In this session, participants will be guided by Dr. Edward Rogers (Ex-Chief Knowledge Officer at NASA and a leading thinker of our times) to gain insights into why we sometimes stumble in our judgments, especially when faced with multiple complex demands. Dr. Rogers will illustrate leadership learnings from the NASA Apollo mission to the moon and the tragic loss of the Columbia space shuttle. The session will also help participants harness the power of both successes and failures as valuable learning opportunities, cultivating a growth mindset that propels them forward.

Takeaways:

• Develop the mental models and conceptual thinking skills essential for navigating complexity with confidence and clarity.
• Enhance your decision-making abilities, double your learning capacity, and ultimately become a more effective and impactful leader.

2. Future of Work

Too often, conversations around the Future of Work have too little to do with the future and even less to do with work. This session aims to re-center the conversation around work as opposed to technology and to underscore the ways in which C-suite leaders—not the technology itself—can determine the best outcomes for their organizations and for society at large.

Takeaways:

• You are in the driver's seat: The future of work isn’t about technology, it's about the worker.
• Thinking on Artificial Intelligence: Whether AI helps or hurts workers is upon us.
• How we work: Cracks, Corona, and Careers - COVID catalyzed, but did not redirect workplace change. Managers will need to rethink what it means to manage.

3. HR as a Driver of Innovation

This session will examine key organizational structures and HR policies that facilitate knowledge generation and development. Core concepts and theories will be demonstrated using examples from prominent organizations.

Takeaways:

• Articulate key advantages and disadvantages associated with centralization/decentralization, innovation pipelines, and the organization's decisions to internalize or externalize innovation work, among other key concepts.
• Develop an understanding of effective HR practices and policies to motivate knowledge professionals engaging in innovation work, such as intrinsic rewards, flexible performance reviews, and unstructured time.
• Apply key theories and concepts in real organizational settings.

4. Leading Change

This session will provide opportunities for self-reflection, practical application, and a forum for sharing experiences and feedback to foster learning while advancing oneself as a change leader.

Takeaways:

• Increase understanding of what skills are necessary to effectively influence/change/enhance the way in which work is performed throughout the change.
• Encourage participants to adapt how they approach their role as a strategic change leader.
• Enable participants to position themselves as a change leader, elevate how they influence others, and how they impact the organization.

5. Influence and Persuasion

Navigate complex stakeholder relationships, build consensus, and drive positive change. By the end of this session, you will possess the tools and insights to navigate the power dynamics of leadership with confidence and integrity, achieving your objectives while fostering a collaborative and supportive environment.

Takeaways:

• Learn about influence strategies and how to apply them effectively across contexts.
• Leverage effective collaboration techniques with varied stakeholders; overcome resistance to change.

6. Creative Leadership in a Complex World

Modern leadership involves creativity and the ability to thrive in situations in which there are high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity, and to bring creative ideas to complex challenges. Some leaders thrive in complex operating environments because of an inherent curiosity and openness, but effective approaches to dealing with complexity can also be learned. This session will lay the foundation for the creativity and continuous improvement that is necessary to thrive in a complex world.

Takeaways:

• Improve your ability to creatively deal with complex business challenges in which cause and effect are not always clear.
• Become familiar with specific concepts and principles that will enhance your agile leadership effectiveness.
• Reflect on your mental models to understand how your education and experience can be both an advantage and a disadvantage at times of non-linear change.
• Understand how to help your organization to become more effective in dealing with complexity – to accelerate agile execution.
• Understand the brain science of leadership, and acquire practical approaches for boosting your cognitive abilities.