LEADERSHIP


MOBILITY IN AN AGE OF


I


n his opening remarks at the CIPD’s 2016 Annual Conference in Manchester in November, the organisation’s chief


executive, Peter Cheese, referred to what he believed was “a crisis of trust in businesses” and voiced his determination that the HR profession was going to have a “strong voice” in making work a force for good. Mr Cheese’s words came just hours


after Donald Trump declared victory in the US presidential elections after running on a controversial, but successful, anti- establishment ticket. “The last 12 months have undermined


many people’s trust in business, with too many scandals, such as those at Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, BHS and Sports Direct, demonstrating the need for business to properly value all their workers and employees, and to take their wider accountabilities to all their stakeholders more seriously,” he said. With Brexit and the likelihood that some


companies may seek to relocate businesses and employees to mainland Europe and beyond – as well as the anti-free-trade rhetoric that looks set to be at the top of the US presidential agenda in 2017 – these


DISTURBANCE Collaboration and the art of speaking up


Putting people at the heart of business is increasingly seen as the key to success. Ruth Holmes asked Margaret Heffernan, keynote speaker at the CIPD’s Annual Conference, what this might mean for mobility.


are interesting times for HR and mobility as they seek to rebuild relationships and trust in the context of change. “The challenges we face in the world of


work are not new,” said Peter Cheese, “but they are now more important to tackle than ever before, in light of events such as Brexit. We cannot freeze in the headlights of uncertainty, but instead must embrace the opportunities that these challenges bring to drive real and lasting change.” Both HR and mobility, in the months


ahead, are likely to need to be even more agile, to learn and adapt to changes in the context of securing better working lives and regaining trust and integrity – for example, through paying even greater attention to employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion with the aim of creating more effective organisations.


Responding to disruptive influences For all the uncertainty and turbulence that is the character of operating environments today, there are constants and lessons to be learned from previous experience. Following Peter Cheese’s opening address was influential entrepreneur, CEO and author Margaret Heffernan, who delivered


the keynote speech to 1,500 delegates representing 40 countries. Ms Heffernan has played a definitive role


in helping to shape the fast-changing media and technology sectors that are significant influences on our work, business and everyday lives. Given her experience and influence in rapidly evolving and disruptive sectors, she was able to take further the key themes of Mr Cheese’s speech and add her personal insights and experiences to the key message of making work better and a force for good. Setting out from her award-winning


perspective and a career that has crossed borders in the UK, the US and the Netherlands, Ms Heffernan described her view of the vital importance of collaboration, innovation and creativity in the new world of work. Speaking before the CIPD conference and


in the context of more global and connected workplaces and today’s crisis of trust, the popular and widely followed TED Talk participant explained her take on the current crisis. “What my book Wilful Blindness showed is that our biggest institutional failures derive not from information that was unknowable, but from insights and knowledge that were widely shared – just never talked about.


34 | Re:locate | Winter 2016/17


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