Annual Conference 2015

The Cyprus Human Resource Management Association has organized once again its Annual Conference with great success. The Conference took place on the 3th of June 2015 at the Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia.

This year, participants had the opportunity to participate in an educational Conference with important speakers from abroad and attend unique presentations given by experts of our field.

The Conference began with a welcome by the Conference Chairperson and Secretary of the Board, Mr Panagiotis Thrasyvoulou, who made a general introduction about the Association, the role of Human Resource Management and this year’s Conference. A welcome by the President of the Board, Mr George Pantelides, followed thanking all participants for being present in this important event for the Association.

The President then, introduced Mr Andreas Assiotis, the Representative of the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, who on behalf of the Minister, Mrs Zeta Emilianidou, made a brief but comprehensive speech and spoke about the role of the Ministry. He mentioned the importance given by the government in the modern and effective human resource management, which can be seen, among others, through the efforts made for upgrading the public service.

The Conference highlight was the speeches of the two keynote speakers. The first keynote speaker of the Conference was Dr Richard W. Beatty, Professor of Human Resource Strategy at Rutgers University. Through his speech titled “Strategic Workforce Planning: HR as a Strategic Player”, Dr Beatty presented the basic steps of a strategic human resources planning through various examples and, among others, he mentioned that strategic work creates “Customer Value” and “Economic Value”.

A short break followed and right after that the speech of Mr Jeff Turner, Learning & Development Manager EMEA at Facebook. Through this second keynote speech titled “The Manager Trumps The Brand”, the speaker offered to the audience his own practical experiences by giving examples. He pointed out the behaviours a manager must exhibit such as: a) Show care by understanding what is most important for each person’s experience at the company, b) Support people in finding opportunities to develop and grow based on their own areas of strength and interest, c) Set clear expectations and goals for individuals and the team, d) Give clear, actionable feedback on a timely basis, e) Provide the resources people need to do their jobs well, and actively remove roadblocks to success, f) Hold people and the team accountable for success, g) Recognize people and teams for outstanding impact.

After his speech, participants were divided into four (4) different groups according to their own preference and participated in the following parallel workshops:

1. Proving the Value of Training & HR (ROI) – Coordinator: Mr Antonios Daskos, Managing Director & Master Trainer, DOOR Training & Consulting Cyprus
2. How can Technology Elevate your HR Service Delivery – Coordinator: Mr Kyriacos Kyriacou, Business Development Consultant, DeltaSoft
3. What CEOs Expect from HR: Practice Vs Theory – Coordinator: Mr George Christodoulides, Group HR Manager, Lanitis Group of Companies
4. Employer Branding via LinkedIn. Not an Option; a Must – Coordinator: Mrs Ethel Agelatou, LinkedIn Trainer & Consultant, Career Branding Coach, HR Consultant

All participants were informed about each workshop’s topic in advance and hence, they had the opportunity to choose the topic of their interest based on their needs and interests. All groups consisted of an adequate number of participants and all of them had the opportunity to discuss various issues in smaller groups.

Lunch followed where participants had the opportunity to network.

Then, the Conference started with the second wave of the parallel workshops which are outlined below:

1. The Value of Coaching in a Fast Changing Organizational Life – Coordinator: Mr Kostis Tsounakis, Systemic Appreciative Coach
2. Cultural Change is a Brand Campaign – Coordinator: Mr Emilios Rotsides, Group HR Manager, A. Zorbas & Sons
3. The War for Talent: Finding and Keeping Good People – Coordinator: Mr Nicos M. Stylianou, Human Resources Manager, Lois Builders – Life Coach
4. The Future of HR/ New Practices – Coordinator: Mr Kyriacos Andreou, Manager, Human Capital Services, Deloitte

The second wave of workshops was completed again with great success and then all participants gathered in the main Conference room where the eight (8) coordinators presented their findings and conclusions and shared opinions with all the attendees.

Then, the Conference ended while the feedback received after the event showed participants’ satisfaction with regards to the organization as well as the content of the speeches and workshops.

We would like to thank the Conference sponsors whose contribution was vital in creating an unforgettable Conference: