2010 Programme
Our 2010 programme included research and meetings that continued to centre on providing a deeper understanding of the performance of individuals, groups and organisations. We once again aimed to ‘vary the pace’ through a combination of breakfast briefings, informal lunches and the usual afternoon and evening meetings, in addition to our research agenda.
Our original model was based on the notion that successful organisations need:
- A clear and compelling strategy from the executive team which is effectively communicated throughout the organisation;
- An engaged, capable and motivated workforce;
- An environment which encourages high performance with minimal barriers to effective operation;
- A performance measurement system which is clear, unambiguous and can track performance at all relevant levels of the organisation.
Since our founding in 2004, we have researched and discussed several supporting elements of our model and our 2010 programme continues to build on this approach.
There would be few of us who would dissent from the view that 2009 was a ‘difficult’ year. Many organisations have had pay and hiring freezes and slashes to training budgets. Moreover, even those organisations that are doing relatively well are still operating against a UK backdrop of despondency.
The challenge for most organisations, and especially for the HR function, is to do far more with far less. In many businesses, the workload for the Compensation & Benefits function in 2009 was substantial, including significant movement around incentives, pensions, taxation and an irrational media interest in bonuses. Moreover in certain sectors, the government started to get more involved in trying to influence and regulate the affairs of organisations, allegedly in response to perceived inequities and poor risk management linked to short-term strategies and rewards.
We believed that the challenges going forward into 2010 would be more of the same:
- All organisations will have to continue to improve performance. Performance goals and rewards will need to be framed within more clearly articulated business strategies and be differentiated to achieve competitive advantage – moving on from the recent over-reliance on benchmarking;
- We will all be operating under a climate of uncertainty, with an unpredictable economy being brought into even sharper relief with a General Election in the early part of 2010;
- This uncertainty will also compound the need for organisations to re-establish perceived equity and trust (inside and outside the organisation);
- There is likely to be significant further movement in the area of taxation, pensions and regulation and organisations will need to build in whatever flexibility they can whilst, at the same time, ensuring that the external antennae are working overtime.
In response to the 'current' climate of ‘doom, gloom, and turbulence’, we believed HR could continue to flourish by offering new solutions to the increasing demands presented by the external environment. Our challenge therefore in PARC was to ensure that we assisted organisations as best we could with ideas, research and an attempt to establish good practice. Within this overall aim, our specific focus in 2010 was on the performance and reward strategies required to drive competitiveness and sustainability through this highly demanding period of economic instability and increasing scrutiny.
A pdf version of the revised Programme is available to download. If you require an email copy, please contact claire@parcentre.co.uk.
