Programme

Please note: Order of sessions and timings are provisional. Speakers will be contacted in due course with the final timings

The Retail Bulletin reserves the right to change the program’s content at any time

8.00-9.00	REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING
9.00-9.15	Chairman’s Welcome And Opening Remarks
9.15-10.00	Ask The Expert Recruitment Panel Discussion And Interactive Q & A Session: This session allows you to ask some of the UK’s leading Retail HR executives for their views on effective retail recruitment. Before opening up to the audience the moderator will use some of the below key recruitment questions: How can retailers promote retail as a long term worthwhile career? What methods can retailers use to attract the leaders of tomorrow? How does recruiting for an online retailer differ from that of a traditional retailer? How can we reduce the cost of retail recruitment? Should we be using partner organisations or doing everything in-house? What e-recruitment strategies offer us the best results? How can mobile technology benefit your recruitment strategies? How will economic downturn affect our recruitment strategies? Should we be looking outside of the UK for our retail staff? How can you best train your managers in effective recruitment initiatives? How can we effectively engage and recruit the UK immigrant population? How can we ensure we are recruiting fairly and ethically? How can provincial retailers attract talent away from London? How can we ensure an employees’ first day is engaging and delivers on their brand promise? Panellists confirmed to date: Ben Bengougam, Former Group Director of Human Resources, DSG international plc Lee Rhoden, Head of Retail Recruitment, Sainsbury’s Donna Miller, European Human Resources Director, Enterprise Rent a car John O'Donnell, HR Director, Kwik Fit
10.00-10.30	Speech: Building A Differentiated Employer Brand That Attracts And Retains Talented Employees Achieving a clearer understanding of how (potential) employees view your employer brand in order to factor it into your HR strategies Establishing best practices of using your employer brand to maximise the effectiveness of your recruitment and retention strategies Evaluating how you can cost effectively differentiate your employer brand from other retailers in order that you can stand out from the crowd Maximising engagement through assessing how you can ensure your brand meets employee expectations throughout their career lifecycle Enhancing your employer brand through including online brand building Understanding how to measure the effectiveness of your employer brand strategies Dan Kerkel, Head of Corporate Development, QVC UK
10.30-11.00	NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
11.00-11.30	Speech: Head Office Recruitment: Attracting Key Talent To Deliver On Your Corporate Objectives Recruiting head office employees externally vs promotion from within Appraising how provincial retailers attract head office talent away from London Evaluating what skills will be needed by head office employees to maximise retail profits Assessing what attraction techniques will cost effectively attract the leaders of tomorrow Evaluating the ROI of working with recruitment partners Edel Conway, Head of Talent, Somerfield PLC
11.30-12.00	Case Study: Maximising Engagement And Motivation Through Effective Rewards Strategies Throughout Your Organisation The Nationwide total reward/engagement model The Gnome work that we have done with Professor John Purcell to establish the links between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and business performance The Conjoint (paired comparison) research that we have done to establish employee segmentation The importance of communication in achieving engagement and satisfaction Paul Bissell, Head of Rewards, Nationwide Building Society
12.00 - 12.40	Workforce Management - The Vital Link Between HR And Retail Operations What are the causes of labour cost wastage at store level, which today average 7.5% How HR and Retail Operations can work together to harness a Workforce Management system to: Optimise the supply of trained labour to meet customer service cost effectively Improve recruitment and training plans to meet demand Construct more flexible contracts of employment Reduce absence and increasing staff availability Develop better new store opening and peak period recruitment plans Stuart Fisher, Principal, Kurt Salmon Associates Gordon Gilkison, Product Director, WorkPlace Systems
12.40-1.30	LUNCH & NETWORKING
1.30-2.00	Keynote Presentation: Maximising Retention Throughout Your Organisation In A Challenging Economy Achieving a clear understanding of what makes retail employees stay with their companies in order to cost effectively meet their expectations Evaluating which non financial rewards will cost effectively engage the retail workforce Understanding how to use your employer brand to maxmise retention of your key talent Evaluating best practices of succession planning in order to assess which strategy will best fit your retention initiatives Ensuring you are prepared for key resignation points in the retail employee lifecycle Assessing how to reduce the cost of retention whilst maintaining a engaged workforce Amanda Cox, Head of People George
2.00-2.30	Case Study: Preparing For An Expanding Department Store Business Through Focussed Succession Planning And A New Approach To Development Establishing a manpower and succession planning process that underpins rapid growth in scale Designing and implementing a development programme that delivers succession and enables employees at all levels to achieve excellence Measuring the results of the interventions and assessing progress Geraldine Grainger, Head of Learning and Development, John Lewis
2.30-3.00	Speech: Driving Market Share And Retention Through Measurable, Effective Employee Engagement Initiatives Assessing what engages different types of retail employees at different times of the employee lifecycle in order to build tailored engagement strategies Building a retail employee engagement strategy that delivers maximum motivation and retention whist delivering on your company’s business goals Creating the commercial link between employee engagement and other business metrics such as mystery shopper Making good first impressions through ensuring maximum engagement from day one of employment Assessing key communication techniques that will allow you to communicate the value of your engagement strategies throughout your company Beverley Newman, Head of HR Operations for Retail, William Hill plc
3.00-3.30	NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
3.30-4.00	Speech: Delivering On Corporate Goals And Employee Expectations Through Cost Effective Succession Planning Strategies Evaluating how you can effectively link succession planning to corporate goals in order to show ROI to the board Assessing the impact economic downturn may have on your succession plans in order to be fully prepared Evaluating best practices of understanding how your employees view their careers within your organisation in order to meet the expectations of talented individuals Building cost effective, tailored succession plans that will both retain and engage staff at varying levels of your organisation and maximise retention Understanding the key pitfalls HR executives make in succession planning so you can avoid costly mistakes Chrissie Herbert, Director of HR and Quality Management, Travelodge Hotels Ltd
4.00-4.30	Online Retail Case Study: Driving Engagement And Motivation In A Rapidly Growing Retail Business Achieving a deeper understanding of the differences between traditional and online retail HR strategies Delivering engagement through ensuring employees are taking responsibility for, and benefiting from the success of your business Maximising retention through ensuring the culture of your organisation is flexible enough to cater rapid growth Understanding the major pitfalls HR executives make when dealing with change management so you can avoid costly mistakes Establishing best practices of effectively communicating your change management initiatives to all stakeholders in a way that focuses on engaging with the change Joanna Ansell, Director of Human Resources and Customer Service, Figleaves.com
4.30-5.00	Legal Update: Ensuring Compliance Through A Clearer Understanding Of The Key Legislation Facing UK HR Executives New rules - dismissal , grievances and unfair dismissal laws Single Equality Act - what to watch EU issues, sick pay and holiday, EU negotiations on atypical workers and working time opt out Audrey Williams, Partner - Head of Diversity & Discrimination Law, Eversheds LLP
5.00	END OF CONFERENCE AND NETWORKING