DAY ONE: Wednesday 18th October 2017

Welcome and Opening Remarks from the Chairperson

Nadia Taylor

Director

Livingstones

Innovative organisations are harnessing data from a range of internal and external sources to make insightful business decisions.

• What’s the difference between operational reporting and predictive analytics?
• Dissecting data from performance management tools, talent reviews and executive succession planning and development tools
• Using big data to assess leadership pipelines and employee engagement
• Balancing data-driven decision making with intuitive decision-making

Dave Waters

Chief Human Resources Officer

Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Government

Technological advances and demographic shifts are disrupting the learning and development landscape. Organisations are increasingly trying to compress training into shorter, sharper interventions to engage young employees who have grown up in a digitally-saturated culture. What is the ideal blend for an L&D program?

• How to incorporate contemporary technology into training programs and assessment
• M-learning, E-learning and Blended formats that keep learners engaged
• Social learning and micro-learning - How quick is too quick when delivering training?
• Engaging without sacrificing quality and depth of learning
• Connecting the learning experience with practice – Engaging managers in training outcomes
• Shifting from an internally focused, corporate-centric learning universe to a learner-centric one

Peter Ryan

National Learning and Development Manager

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd

During times of organisational change, HR departments rely on line managers and department heads to follow advice and apply best-practice management principles.

• Providing guidance, advice and support to line managers during change programs
• Educating line managers about the role of HR during cultural change initiatives

• Managing complex stakeholder relationships during change processes
• Creating a culture of responsibility, whereby managers seek advice and hold themselves accountable for outcomes

Selena Turner

Executive Director, Leadership and Orgnisational Development 

Queensland Treasury Corporation

Sonia McDonald

Director

LeadershipHQ

When dealing with workplace mental health issues, employers have legal obligations relating to discrimination, privacy, adverse action and health and safety. HR professionals should tread very carefully to avoid legal risks when mental health is a factor.

• Overview of section 351(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
• Impact of Salazar v John Holland Pty Ltd [2014] relating to mental health as a contributing factor in misconduct
• To what degree should an employer take a psychiatric disorder (anxiety and depression) into account when considering the employee’s ability to communicate within the workplace?
• At what point is it pragmatic to cease disciplinary processes and come to a settlement with an employee who suffers from mental illness?

Jonathan Mamaril

Principal & Director

NB Lawyers

WORKSHOP What if pigs could fly? Suspending disbelief to make room for innovative workforce strategy

So often organisations' strategies are limited by a preconceived view of what is and isn’t possible. Truly innovative workforce strategy only occurs where this disbelief is suspended. This interactive workshop takes participants through a process of actively participating in the creation of a future that we want and developing workforce strategies that propel us down that path. Participants will never think about workforce strategy in the same way again!

Lenore Miller

Director

Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia (DLPA)

Afternoon refreshment break

As HR leaders increasingly focus on commercial priorities and business performance, are we neglecting long-term morale and ethical considerations? What is the right balance between hard-headed commercialism and empathising with employees?

• Are we too focused on short-term business goals, to the detriment of long-term morale and engagement?
• Are the so-called 'soft skills' sometimes lost in the quest to achieve budgets and objectives?
• How to balance being able to demonstrate commercial acumen with acting as a moral compass

Jo Best

General Manager – Business Improvement

Hastings Deering (Australia) Limited

Lisa Hunt

General Manager, Human Resources

AVJennings

Ben Jensen

Chief HR & Technology Officer

Admedus

Ferdie Kruger

Senior Director Human Resources

Peabody Energy

Peter O’Sullivan

Head of People & Culture

BDO

Moderator:

Leisa Messer

Managing Director

HR Business Direction

DAY TWO: Thursday 19th October 2017

Opening Remarks from the Chairperson

Nadia Taylor

Director

Livingstones

HR directors today need to lead, collaborate and build alliances across different cultures, geographies and time zones, while engaging a workforce that is increasingly dispersed.

• Keeping employees engaged in a virtual world
• Dealing with an increasingly ‘nomadic’ workforce
• Cultivating a team culture in the absence of physical proximity
• Creating a cohesive culture across time zones, functions and regions
• How much face-time is really necessary with a remote workforce?

Karen Foster 

Director People and Culture

Feros Care

Most executive teams now recognise the importance of diversity and inclusion programs on corporate reputation, employee brand, employee wellbeing and innovation. What does an award-winning diversity program look like?

• Key industry metrics and benchmarks on diversity and inclusion
• Securing leadership buy-in for diversity programs
• Diagnosing, addressing and eliminating the gender pay gap
• Addressing bias in recruitment, selection and reward and recognition
• Embedding the principals of inclusion throughout the whole employee lifecycle

Christine Ung

Group Diversity & Inclusion Manager

Star Entertainment Group

Digital technology is disrupting business models and radically changing the way we work. With automation increasingly disrupting the workforce, what will this mean for the future role of HR departments?

• The opportunities and challenges presented by mobile, cloud, big data and social technologies
• How can we help employees shift to a ‘digital mindset’?
• How will HR itself revolutionise its own systems and ways of delivering HR services?
• Will technological advances give HR professionals more time to focus on high-value tasks?
• What does the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ really mean for the HR profession?

Chris Purdy

Human Resources Manager - Shared Services

Mantra Group

Leith Wiblen

General Manager Human Resources, Queensland

The Star Gold Coast

Beau Tydd

General Manager – People & Technology

Queensland Airports Limited

Throughout the decades, HR experts have debated the best way to lead and inspire people. "I'm talking about leadership and management that takes enormous leaps" says, Luke Worth. In this talk, Worth passionately discusses how open communication and mutual gains leadership are the transformative keys to positive change management and developing the future of leadership and work.

Luke Worth

Executive Director, Performance, Innovation and Implementation (RBWH)

Executive Director, Organisational Development, Strategy and Implementation (MNHHS)

Successful organisations are built around highly empowered teams, driven by inspiring leaders.

• What makes a high-performing HR team?
• Establishing appropriate ways of expressing tension, disagreement and frustration
• How to create collaborative team culture in a virtual team environment
• Structuring decision making in a team so that it is flexible, agile and empowered

Kate Quinn

Head of People Capability and Culture

CUA

Networking lunch

1:50pm

Prize draw

2:00pm

CASE STUDY Anywhere, anytime… flexible work practices at Bentleys

Today’s employees are increasingly demanding and expecting flexible schedules and limited supervision – but such flexibility can only exist when balanced with the right systems, processes and culture, along with a strong focus on results.

• Is the idea of working nine-to-five now an outdated concept?

• Coaching managers to shift the way they manage their teams
• Designing processes for individually-focused work, collaborative work and team discussion
• How do compressed work weeks really impact on productivity?
• How to manage the growing cohort of ‘office nomads’

Heidi Mayhew-Sanders 

Human Resources Director

Bentleys (QLD) Pty Ltd

PANEL DISCUSSION Managing constant change in your organisation

As the pace of change in the economy accelerates, CEOs are increasingly requiring their organisations and HR teams to be more agile. How are employees handling such incessant organisational change? In this interactive session, participants will hone their skills in change management and change leadership.

• Igniting an appetite for change amongst employees who are suffering ‘change fatigue’
• Creating an agile culture that can quickly adapt to changes
• Bedding-down change through the stages of a business lifecycle
• Dealing with change-resistant employees

Raelene Barry 

Deputy General Manager, Executive Manager, Human Resources 

Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre

Hannah Bloch

Executive Director, People and Engagement

Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service

Steve Eltis

Director of People and Culture

Wesley Mission Queensland

Kenan Hibberd

Executive Manager People, Culture & Safety

Unitywater

Tony Lines

Head of People and Culture

Village Roadshow Theme Parks

Moderator:

Vanessa Jeske

Principal Consultant

10K Consulting