On Wednesday, 14th of September, Natalie Truswell and I joined over 500 People Professionals for this year's CIPD in Scotland Annual Conference in Edinburgh.

What a privilege to meet so many people to share experiences, learn from each other, and hear practical examples and research evidence from organisations throughout Scotland and beyond.

Some highlights were:

✒ Hearing from Rupa Mooker, Lutfur R. Ali - Chartered FCIPD, and Emma Codd as they discussed 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. Honestly, I thought how Vivien Struthers facilitated the discussion was excellent. Powerful questions and hard-hitting answers. The stand-out quote was "𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲". Rupa and Emma talked about their own experiences of effecting real change in their organisations and Lutfur his insights on how 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭.

✒ Listening to Hayfa Mohdzaini, Laura Miller and Susan Hayman, MCIPD explore 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬. Hayfa shared research with the audience on what digital transformation means, the role of people and culture, and the aspects of leadership that are critical to success. ✒

Laura from Trees for Life kindly shared their journey. It was inspiring to hear about their organisation's vital work to "Rewilder the Scottish Highlands" and how technology has been a critical enabler to help them achieve that.

Thank you to the The CIPD in Scotland and The CIPD in Northern Ireland team for making this event happen.

For takeaways on some of the other sessions, including how the pandemic has reshaped organisational learning, you might also find this post here helpful.

The next main event with the CIPD will be the Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester on the 9th and 10th of November. Martin Egan and I, along with some of our collaborators, will be in attendance. If you plan to be there, let us know. It will be great to catch up.

Best wishes

Jonathan

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