This year’s theme is ‘Shaping the New Future’, and four key topics have been set out for discussion:
- Trust: Having a high trust culture is proven to deliver results, and it’s something that is developed through continuous investment and effort. HR professionals work with organisations and leaders to earn the trust of employees through empathy, authentic leadership and open communication channels.
- Equality, diversity and inclusion: The essence of good workplaces. Fundamental to treating employees with respect is; equal pay and entitlements, being treated as an individual and having a voice. HR and people professionals develop leaders and managers to build inclusive workplaces where every person feels they can bring their authentic self to work every day.
- Wellbeing and work life balance: These are core to creating good work, sustaining high performance and productivity, building inclusive ways of working, and supporting individuals to thrive.
- Sustainable work: This means having well-designed jobs, optimised employee performance, autonomy and control. Employees have opportunities to grow their skills, improve productivity, be more employable and better off as a result of their work. Organisations should not detrimentally impact people, the environment or society.
Even Bolstad, President of the EAPM and Managing Director of HR Norge says disruption is a major feature of economic activity at the moment: “Just as individuals are navigating rapidly changing times, so organisations are figuring out how they fit into a changing world. Our colleagues have a vital role to play in supporting leaders who invest in creating an atmosphere of trust and International HR Day is a great opportunity to discuss how we can achieve that goal”.
Mary Connaughton, Fellow CIPD, is the Director of CIPD Ireland and leads the International HR Day working group for the EAPM. She says ‘Shaping the New Future’ is an appropriate theme for International HR Day 2023: “We’ve seen a growing recognition across sectors in recent years of the critical role that our colleagues play in a well-run workplace. As we move forward, we have an opportunity to build on that position and make the most of our expertise to promote the well-being of workers as key to doing good business”.
