HR INTERACTION A1, Thursday 14 September 11:00am - 12:30pm Internal Communications: Making contact at the 'coal face'

Internal communications may be a cinch in offices where everyone has e-mail. Not so in manual work environments, especially if literacy is poor and the culture of management is a world away from that of staff.

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HR INTERACTION A2, Thursday 14 September 11.00am -12.30pm

Anne Else will discuss the aging workforce. We now have a reasonably clear picture of employment trends across various age groups and know the age structure of the workforce will change over the next 20 years. Anne will sum up what statistics tell us why there are differing views about future trends and implications for HR practitioners.

Author Anne Else took first class honours for her Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Auckland in 1968. She co-founded Broadsheet magazine in 1972, and later worked as an editor in publishing for 14 years. In 1987 she took charge of analysing material on women for the Royal Commission on Social policy. A 1988 Claude McCarthy Fellowship and residence at Victoria University of Wellington's Stout Research Centre enabled her to work on the post-war history of adoption in New Zealand. A Question of Adoption: Closed Stranger Adoption in New Zealand, 1944 - 1974, was published in 1991. Other books include Women Together, a history of women's organisations, published in Suffrage Year (1993); and False Economy: New Zealanders face the conflict between paid and unpaid work was published in 1996.

Recently Anne has specialised in changing patterns of work and social sustainability. Her latest book, published in 1998, A Super Future? The price of growing older in New Zealand is co-authored with economist Susan St John.

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Mary Mallon will discuss education and training for careers of the future. This presentation will outline the ongoing debate about the changing nature of careers, particularly the demise of the job for life and the notion that careers have become more flexible, mobile, portfolio based boundaryless. Education and training implications for individuals will be explored, particularly the notion of life-long learning and the need for people of all ages to develop on-going career management skills. The notion of training for employability and the growing number of 'career savvy' employees and contractual staff have implications for HRM practitioners.

Dr Mary Mallon is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Development at the University of Otago. She came to New Zealand two years ago from the UK. Before joining the University sector she worked for several years in personnel and training as practitioner, manager and consultant. She is a qualified member of the British Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) and is also a qualified career advisor. Mary's research and interests are primarily in the area of the changing nature of career.

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Adrienne Murray will discuss managing a contingency workforce. Our parents saw their careers being managed usually through one employer and definitely as our employee with a permanent contract. Employers thought of most employees in the same light. Unfortunately some still manage the contingency workforce in the same way and miss the opportunity for a dynamic working relationship that can bring benefits to both parties.

Adrienne Murray is a Principal Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. She joined PwC last year following a career in HR management spanning over 15 years. She has worked in the financial industry, the science sector and has contributed at a senior advisory level to the establishment of new Crown Entities and departments. Adrienne has been accountable for the development of the HR function in a new organisation, developing policies, processes and systems designed to develop a culture that aligned with the needs of a commercially focused consultancy.

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Justyn Sturrock will discuss technological effects on the workforce makeup. E-business has brought about significant change in the way we undertake our business. This should impact on our recruitment strategies, where we find our people, and even how we go about workforce planning for the future.

Justyn Sturrock is also a Principal Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has 12 years human resources management experience covering a wide range of human resources functions within the finance, investment, and information technology industries. His experience includes providing strategic pro-active advice to management on issues involving the development of organisational culture to meet business needs, and monitoring and advising on consistency and application of initiatives and policies. Justyn has experience working in a multinational environment, having been involved with projects and initiatives in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, UK and the USA.

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HR INTERACTION A3, Thursday 14 September 11.00am -12.30pm Workforce Analytics: using HR technology to gain competitive advantage

James will focus on questions that may be keeping you awake at night: What key employees do I risk losing? How is my organisation performing in compensation and retention? Is the current compensation strategy driving the right workforce performance? To answer these and other strategic workforce questions James will demonstrate how you can use balanced scorecard analysis - known as Workforce Analytics - in your organisation. In this session James will also detail how management reporting analysis integrates internal and external data, and how tying your workforce strategy to financial and organisational objectives is at the heart of your organisation's ability to grow and prosper.

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HR INTERACTION B1, Thursday 14 September 2.30 - 4.00pm Brains and Sex

Bringing together the work of linguist Deborah Tannen, brain researcher Ann Moir, and author/speaker Allan Pease, Gail Reichert will give an informative and amusing insights into the speaking and brain-style differences between the masculine and feminine. Gail will expand on the theories and give practical tips on how to communicate with those whose style is different so you can overcome a lot of the barriers you face in the area of workplace communication.

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'Online Navigator', Telecom

Bede Cammock-Elliott started his career as a copier salesperson. He moved into sales and marketing and pursued his interest in change management. He then worked in the UK as a consultant for The Industrial Society, where he facilitated organisational change programmes. Bede is in Human Resource Development with Telecom where he is leading he creation of online knowledge communities, and enabling Telecom's knowledge economy. He is currently leading the strategy and implementation of the third generation of Telecom's intranet, The Exchange. Bede is a published author, and is passionate for all things internet.

HR INTERACTION B2, Thursday 14 September 2.30 - 4.00pm Creating a Wired Workplace: The mandate for HR to lead their organisation online

The internet gives HR people the opportunity to lead a radical shift in how work is done in their organisation. This session is about the practical steps Telecom has taken to take HR and every employee Online. It will cover:

• Online orientation - the T@NGO way
• Online collaboration - the use of online tools to connect up employees
• Telecom's HR intranet site -HR KnowledgeSpace
• The economic rationale for collaboration
• How to build a business case for taking HR stuff online
• Why you don't have any choice other than to take yourself online
• War stories from the frontline - true, and amusing learning experiences

This will be a practical presentation. You will come away with a good sense of the drivers to get online, plus how to go about making it happen. Non-techies, Bede will set your mind at ease when he says "80% of this is about people, and 20% is about technology. In fact, not being a technical person is a distinct advantage".

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Training Manager, Brookers

Patricia Veen is Training and Technical Support Manager at Brooker's. Patricia's team is based in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch and travels around the country helping human resources, legal, taxation and accountancy professional install, maintain and utilise Brooker's CD and Internet based information products. Patricia, a professionally qualified trainer, established Brooker's training service when she joined the company four years ago. The position enables her to utilise her technology and communications knowledge and skills gained from previous IT positions including work at the Department for Courts and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a training capacity, which is her first love.

HR INTERACTION B3, Thursday 14 September 2.30 - 4.00pm Navigational Skills for the Information Highway

You are advising a manager about an HR issue. You need the information fast, together with the related legislation and examples of similar case studies. What do you do? This practical session will show participants how to use a CD-Rom with Folio Views as the text retrieval platform to:

• search for information without going around in circles
• analyse search results
• open info bases that contain the information you require
• view multiple windows

It is a must for HR practitioners who want to find out how electronic delivery of information can help them in their day-to-day work.

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Author & Presenter, Cava International Training, Australia

Canadian Roberta Cava is owner of Cava International Training which has offices in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia (1998); Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1982) and Maui, Hawaii, USA (1986). Her firms offer over 65 different training and development seminars (12 Associate Trainers) in supervisory/management, human resources, personal development, career development, customer service and clerical. Clients include other training firms, colleges, universities, private and government agencies in Canada, USA, Australia, Great Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates.

She has been involved in the field of Human Resources since 1974 including employment as Human Resources Manager where she was responsible for setting up and running the Human Resources Department for a group of 12 companies based in Canada. Her company offers personnel services to companies too small to have their own Human Resources department and offers career counselling services. Roberta is the author of two internationally best selling books: Dealing with Difficult People and Escaping the Pink-Collar Ghetto - How women can advance in business.

Her tributes include being chosen twice as a Canadian Achiever; being nominated for the 1999 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year, Alberta Human Rights Award, the Canada Awards for Business Excellence, the YWCA Tribute to Women Award, three years running for the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Small Business Owner of the Year Award; and regional finalist for the 1993 Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

HR INTERACTION C1, Friday 15 September 9.30am - 12.30pm Implementing Change Painlessly

A session for those who have to implement changes that force their staff to adapt to change. It shows participants how to help staff react favourably to change and overcome resistance to change from others. Topics covered include:

• How the change process works
• How to meet objections from others head on
• How to deal with negative resistance
• The importance of identifying driving and restraining forces

HR INTERACTION C2, Friday 15 September 9.30am - 12.30pm Totally Wired: A case study of Kiwi HR ingenuity and how it is used globally

Trade NZ uses technology

• To globally rollout 360 degree feedback for all staff using the Internet
• For e-recruitment, to advertise vacancies and monitor hits
• For on-line forms, letters and templates
• For computer based training and global virtual induction
• For video training eg. launching performance development system, repatriation
• For the development of ERP, eg employee kiosks
• Through Intranet for their staff directory, social events, conference photos etc

This will be a multi media presentation with interactive time built in and time for questions and answers.

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HR INTERACTION C3, Friday 15 September 9.30am - 12.30pm Communication and Technology: The final tyranny for HR!

We are in the midst of the technological and information revolution that impacts on every aspect of our lives, none-so-more than in our workplaces. The promised grail of this revolution of greater choice, greater freedom of delivery, greater information sharing, together with the benefits of empowerment, team working, flexibility and innovation, continuous improvement, and entrepreneurial spirit has gripped human resources like no other journey. Yet its promise of new frontiers, new horizons, is affected by some subtle but very real limitations in the capacity of human beings to often handle the realities of this journey. The basic physiology and psychology of the human employee has not changed since we first learned to use tools- we still have limited channel capacity, and a basic physiology equipped to handle some primitive drives. In this respect we are subject to stress, and the evidence is quite unequivocal that one of the effects of the new technological environment in our workplaces is that our stress levels are increasing.

This seminar will explore the phenomenon of workplace stress: what it is, how we can identify it, its effects on people in the new environment, and what practical steps can be taken to reduce its effects. The seminar will include an explanation of the basic physiology of stress (based on the latest research findings) and why we respond in the ways we do, and will include some short exercises that audience members can undertake to measure their own stress tolerance levels. In this way it is intended to equip participants with some basic survival skills on their journey to the new frontier(s).

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