Circle of Peers Logo
Don't Miss Out!

This is where we keep the content delivered at past Circle of Peers events. You can

  • Download the presentations (PDF format)
  • Watch the recordings of the guest speakers
  • Download reports cited during the session
  • Refer to books cited during the session

So if you’re unable to make an event, we’ll do our best to get the information here as soon as we can. What we can’t do is replace the invaluable experience of mingling with your peers! If you’ve any questions about the events, please get in touch with us and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Click here for our upcoming events

A wave crashes upon itself.
Orb in hand with particles emanating from both sides, blue on left, pink on right.
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals
Finding our focus as People Professionals

Tackling Turbulence

Resources from the Circle of Peers Winter Series, February – March 2024

Tackling Turbulence will be our overall theme for 2024 and we discussed how we can we drive the performance of our people via the use of a strong evidence base.

The pressure faced by People Professionals is how to make the case to the C-Suite and convince them that the performance of leaders and managers has a direct impact on the performance of their people.

 

A wave crashes upon itself.
General Reports

– The CIPD Profession Map (CIPD, full standards 2023)

Evidence Based Practice

People Analytics

Technology and People

– ipa-involve.com (Involvement & Participation Association: employee engagement, collaborative working, and employee voice in the workplace)

– Engage for Success (initiated by Peter Mandelson in 2008 – voluntary movement promoting employee engagement as a better way to work that benefits individual employees, teams and whole organisations’)

– Investors in People (inc. success stories/case studies and Knowledge articles – Investors in People organisations are united by the desire to put people first, make work better, and create better outcomes for their employees, customers, and organisation’

– On Validation:

https://leanconstruction.org/blog/project-validation-guide-maximizes-value-and-team-performance/#:~:text=Project%20validation%20proves%20or%20disproves,the%20allowable%20budget%20and%20schedule

https://medium.com/syntaxerrorpub/understanding-the-difference-between-training-test-and-validation-sets-in-machine-learning-c59feec6483b#:~:text=The%20validation%20set%2C%20sometimes%20called,iteratively%20during%20the%20model%20development

https://www.skillable.com/resources/skill-validation-development/top-reasons-to-use-validated-skill-development/

– On Evaluation:

https://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/the-kirkpatrick-model/

Return on Investment (ROI)

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/roi-return-on-investment/

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-calculate-roi-for-a-project

– On Cost-benefit analysis:

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/cost-benefit-analysis

https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/cost-benefit-analysis-for-projects-a-step-by-step-guide

https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/research/research-cost-benefit-analysis/

Useful Books & Articles
Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of the topic and discussions:

Timeslot 1, 27th February 2024

Timeslot 2, 6th March 2024

Timeslot 3, 14th March 2024

Timeslot 4, 19th March 2024

Timeslot 5, 28th March 2024

Shifting Tides: Looking to the Future

Resources from the Circle of Peers Autumn Series, November – December 2023

The theme for 2023 looked at how People Professionals need to focus on helping Leaders and Managers to be more effective.

Recent research and our experience suggest that there are two key questions for organisations to reflect on now:

  1. Are we clear about ‘purpose’?
    • Why we are using coaching?
    • What is the problem it is solving or the culture it is enabling?
    • How do we ensure our coaching continues to serve our needs?
  2. Where is our evidence of ‘impact’?
    • How are we measuring the results from our investment in coaching?

Using these questions, we can then project forwards as we believe that the future of work will be determined by where ‘work’ is going.

As guest speaker, we were delighted to host Alison Carter, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Employment Studies (IES). Her current research includes mindfulness and organisation readiness for change, but it is her evaluation of training and development programmes at work (especially coaching) for which she is recognised as an international expert.

 

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of the topic and discussions:

Timeslot 1, 14th November 2023

Timeslot 2, 23rd November 2023

Timeslot 3, 28th November 2023

Timeslot 4, 7th December 2023

Timeslot 5, 14th December 2023

Shifting Tides: How can we work with Leaders and Managers?

Resources from the Circle of Peers Summer Series, July – September 2023

As part of this focus this year, our Summer Series continued to delve into the foundations of the topic of coaching. Building on the Spring Series which looked at shifting approaches, we explored how People Professionals can begin to work with Leaders and Managers.

People can only develop effectively when they see the need to develop so, as ever, we explored how best to do this.

 

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports

– Daniel Goleman (emotional intelligence theory)

– Brené Brown on Empathy (RSA, 2013)

The CIPD Profession Map – (CIPD, full standards 2023)

– Barends E, Rousseau D, Briner R, Evidence Based Management (CEBMa, 2014)

– Briner, R, The Basics of Evidence-Based Practice (CEBMa, 2019)

– Gender Differences in Personality: A Meta-Analysis (A. Feingold, 1994)

– The value of people expertise on corporate boards (CIPD, July 2023)

– The Lencioni model

– The Three Types of Power (And One To Rule Them) – Part 1 Hall Of Fame Guidance (ManagerTools.com podcast). I.e. articulating EQ through the lens of getting things done.

– The GC Index (psychometric tool)

Useful Books & Articles
Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of the topic and discussions:

Timeslot 1, 27th July 2023

Timeslot 2, 3rd August 2023

Timeslot 3, 9th August 2023

Timeslot 4, 7th September 2023

Timeslot 5, 13th September 2023

Shifting Tides: Coaching Techniques

Resources from the Circle of Peers Spring Series, May 2023

As part of our focus this year on ‘Shifting Tides’, our Spring Series overviewed the topic of coaching techniques.

We had an open discussion around how best to lay the groundwork and culture, factoring in standards from both the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

 

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports

– ‘Learning at Work Week – an annual event to build learning cultures at work. It aims to put a spotlight on the importance and benefits of continual learning and development’. Various resources are available on their site to help organisations who wish to get involved with this initiative.

– Cracking coaching: Five ways to make an impact at work (ILM, 2022)

– Joint global statement on climate change from the professional bodies for coaching, coaching psychology, mentoring & supervision (Oct 2020)

– European Mentoring and Coaching Council Global Competence Framework V2 (EMCC, Sept 2015)

Useful Books & Articles
Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of the topic and discussions:

Timeslot 1, 11th May 2023

Timeslot 2, 17th May 2023

Timeslot 3, 25th May 2023

Talent: Shifting Tides

Resources from the Circle of Peers Winter Series, February – March 2023

Excellent leaders and managers are highly sought after and organisations fortunate enough to retain them recognise that effort and energy is essential.

This has to be, as people professionals, our highest priority.

Our Winter Series:

• Looked at the shifting tides all organisations are facing

• Reviewed the perceived differences between leaders and managers

• Discussed six behaviours that should be recognised, rewarded and developed

 

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports

Antonello, M., Richardson N., People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View (ADP Research Institute, April 2022). Includes video snippet and Executive Summary.

Cnossen F., Nikolova M., ‘What Makes Work Meaningful and Why Economists Should Care about It’. Institute of Labor Economics (Deutsche Post Foundation, April 2020)

Kizer, K., 36 powerful leadership statistics [2023]: things all aspiring leaders should know (Zippia, Feb 2023)

‘Leader and Manager – How Are They Different From Each Other? (Emeritus, March 2022)

Howard, B. C., Could Malcolm Gladwell’s Theory of Cockpit Culture Apply to Asiana Crash? (The Atlantic, July 2013)

Maxwell, G., Bringing sustainability and people profession practices down to earth (CIPD, Oct 2021)

McKinsey (various in depth reports surrounding our topic)

Tech Trends (Deloitte Insights, 2023)


Resources contributed by attendees:

VENN diagram of Leadership and Management (People Things)

c/o Wes Trickey

Leader versus Manager | Simon Sinek (2019)

Leadership vs. Authority | Simon Sinek (2021)

c/o Michelle Maunder

Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? Robert Goffee, Gareth Jones (2000)

c/o Gill Whensley

Useful Books & Articles

Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes To Be An Authentic Leader, Robert Goffee, Gareth Jones (2006)

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Survey: Rank the 6 Leadership Behaviours

Having asked attendees to identify and discuss key leadership behaviours, we ask you to rank six of them by importance.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, 9th February 2023

Timeslot 2, 14th February 2023

Timeslot 3, 23rd February 2023

Timeslot 4, 1st March 2023

Timeslot 5, 8th March 2023

Talent: Digital Dexterity

Resources from the Circle of Peers Autumn Series, November – December 2022

As part of your talent strategy, it is imperative that you critically evaluate the skills of your people – digital dexterity is key.

Drawing upon recent Gartner, Deloitte and CIPD reports, our recent blog article on the Artificial Intelligence Skills Evolution provides an introduction to one key aspect of this fascinating area and discusses the adaptations that may be required. One featured quote from Deloitte’s 2020 report:

‘Only 26% of organisations are ready to handle the impact of AI, 54% say they don’t have the skills to build the skills needed for the future, and 86% say they have to reinvent their organisation’s ability to learn.’

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports
Useful Books & Articles

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, 24th November 2022

Timeslot 2, 30th November 2022

Timeslot 3, 5th December 2022

Reinventing Career Development to Support Effective Talent Management

Resources from the Circle of Peers Summer Series, July – August 2022

Building on our first two topics of the year, our third event series moved the focus to an analysis of the meaning, crossover and division between these two key areas.

Our guest speaker was Wendy Hirsh (Institute of Employment Studies). One of the recommendations from the May 2021 CIPD report, Learning and Skills at Work Survey, challenges us to be future-focused. Getting creative about career development can only improve our agility in this evolving and demanding area.

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports

Marks & Spencer and the potential of alumni

https://www.hrdconnect.com/2022/06/27/marks-spencer-are-unlocking-the-potential-of-alumni

Chairman Archie Norman and Director of Communication Victoria McKenzie-Gould are backing this interesting initiative. At M&S, 70,000 colleagues are employed with a turnover of 10,000 roles at any given time.

See the session Powerpoints for further resources.

Useful Books & Articles

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the introductory presentation from Maureen Scholefield.

Please click here to download the guest presentation from Wendy Hirsh.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, 7th July 2022

Timeslot 2, 13th July 2022

Timeslot 3, 28th July 2022

Timeslot 4, 3rd August 2022

Timeslot 5, 11th August 2022

Making the Case to Invest in Talent

Resources from the Circle of Peers Spring Series, March – May 2022

Building on our first topic of this year, How do you Grow Talent?, our second event series explored this crucial area and moved the focus to Making the Case to Invest in Talent.

Our guest speaker was Andy Moreland (Investors in People). One simple statistic from one source we looked at, the 2020 Gartner report, Future-Proof your Talent Strategy, shows just how critical this area already is and will only increasingly become for organisations:

‘64% of HR leaders do not have an effective plan to address how technology will change the skills needed in the workforce.’

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports
Useful Books & Articles

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, Wed 30th March

Timeslot 2, Thurs 7th April

Timeslot 3, Wed 13th April

Timeslot 4, Wed 27th April

Timeslot 5, Thurs 5th May

Timeslot 6, Wed 11th May

Growing Talent

Resources from the Circle of Peers Winter Series, February 2022

In times when sourcing the best new talent is increasingly difficult, having both the expertise and structures in place to grow your own is essential – and provides a key means of showing your people the value that you place in them.

Finding our focus as People Professionals
Useful Books & Articles

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, Thurs 3rd February

Timeslot 2, Mon 7th February

Timeslot 3, Wed 16th February

Timeslot 4, Thurs 24th February

Autumn Leaves Fall: Are Your People Falling Too?

Resources from the Circle of Peers Autumn Series, November 2021

As we get ready for our winter period here in the northern hemisphere, let’s consider our people. We are still coping with COVID and now potentially our flu bugs. What about our people who are not ill? How are we checking their morale and well-being?

Finding our focus as People Professionals
Useful Books & Articles

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, Tues 9th November

Timeslot 2, Thurs 18th November

Timeslot 3, Thurs 25th November

Finding our Focus as People Professionals

Resources from the Circle of Peers Summer Series, July – September 2021

We are in a real period of flux or continuous change. As People Professionals are we focusing on the right things? In the words of Benedict Cumberbatch, “The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.”

We explored:

How to help drive up performance
How to embed learning at all levels
How to transform yourself into a coach

Finding our focus as People Professionals
General Reports

Dr Andre de Waal: High Performing Organisations (HPOs):

https://www.hpocenter.com/hpo-framework

Simon Sinek, How Great Leaders Inspire Action:

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

McKinsey: Future Citizens Skills report (thanks to John Kenney):

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work

Useful Books & Articles

Coming soon!

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, Wed 14th July, 12:00

Timeslot 2, Thurs 22nd July, 09:30

Timeslot 3, Tues 27th July, 17:30

Timeslot 4: Wed 4th Aug, 10:00

Timeslot 5: Wed 1st Sept, 15:00

Hybrid, Remote-First Working: the impact on learning

Resources from the Circle of Peers Spring Series, March – April 2021

First of all, what is the difference, if any, between Hybrid and Remote-first working? What is the latest thinking?

Then, it is recognised that Learning and skills at work need attention, so what impact does remote working have on the effectiveness of learning?

Useful Books & Articles

Coming soon!

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1, Thurs 25th March, 16:00

Timeslot 2, Mon 29th March, 12:00

Timeslot 3, Tues 30th March, 09:30

Timeslot 4: Mon 12th April, 16:00

Timeslot 5: Thurs 15th April, 10:00

Timeslot 6: Tues 20th April, 09:30

Human to Human – room for improvement?

Resources from the Circle of Peers Winter, January – February 2021

 

Is there a danger that in our ever hectic working lives People Professionals are perhaps reverting to:

P P P – Policies, Processes and Procedures

or

T T T – Transactions Take less Time?

General Reports

Human Capital Trends Report 2021 (Deloitte): 

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends.html

Useful Books & Articles

Reinventing Organisations, Laloux, Frederick (2014)

An Everyone Culture, Kegan, Robert & Lahey, Lisa (2016)

The Fearless Organization, Edmondson, Amy (2018)

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 2, Wed 20th January, 15:30

Timeslot 3, Thurs 28th January, 10:00

Timeslot 4: Tues 2nd February, 16:00

Timeslot 5: Wed 10th February, 09:30

Coping Skills – People Professionals’ Real Challenge?

Resources from the Circle of Peers Autumn Virtual, October 2020

 

We need to be in a good place ourselves before we can support others. Maureen will share some ideas to get your creative minds going!

 

  • How to develop resilience in others
  • How to cope with shifting priorities creatively
  • How to develop well-being tactics
  • Helping managers think in outcomes rather than micro-managing
Useful Books & Articles

CAMERON, E. AND GREEN, M. (2019) Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organisational change. 5th ed. London: Kogan Page.

HOLBECHE, L. (2018) The agile organization. 2nd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

On change management. HBR’s 10 must reads (2011) Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all priced publications currently in print.

Journal articles

AGUIRRE, D. and ALPERN, M. (2014) 10 principles of leading change management. Strategy+Business. No 75, Summer. pp65-71.

ANAND, N. and BARSOUX, J-L. (2017) What everyone gets wrong about change management. Harvard Business Review. Vol 95, No 6, Nov/Dec, pp78-85.

BROWN, G. (2018) Six ways to help guide employees through multiple changes. People Management (online). 14 June,

LAWRENCE, P. (2015) Leading change: insights into how leaders actually approach the challenge of complexity. Journal of Change Management. Vol 15, No 3. pp231-252.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Valuing Ideas from the Past

Resources from the Circle of Peers Summer Virtual, July 2020

 

As we rush to imagine whatever ‘Normal’ will mean for us in the days, weeks and months ahead, Maureen feels that we need to reflect on the past as some of the basics of people management have been lost.

General Reports

The Characteristics of a High Performance Organization, 2007, de Waal, Andre.

The Characteristics of a High Performance Organisation, 2010, de Waal, Andre.

2050: The Future of Work – Findings of an International Delphi-Study of The Millennium Project, 2016, Daheim, Cornelia, Winterman, Ole.

The Basics of Evidence-Based Practice, 2019, Briner, Rob.

10 lessons in HR decision-making from the Covid-19 crisis, 2020, Briner, Rob.

Briner Summary Report: How can evidence-based practice be applied to HR and L&D, 2020, Cullen Scholefield.

Employers and Lifelong Learning: The importance of upskilling and retraining in a modern economy, 2019, CBI.

In search of the best available evidence, 2016, Gifford, Jonny, CIPD.

Driving the New Learning Organisation, 2017, Daly, Jane, Overton, Laura, CIPD.

Learning and Skills at Work 2020: Transforming learning: examples of organisational approaches (Report), 2020, Crowley, Lizzie, CIPD.

Learning and Skills at Work 2020: Transforming learning: examples of organisational approaches (Case Studies), 2020, Crowley, Lizzie, CIPD.

How can evidence-based practice be applied to HR and L&D?: Why it matters (webinar), 2020, Briner, Rob, Khan, Nadia.

Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, 2017, Taylor, Matthew et al.

The standard for people management: what it takes to lead, support and manage people well for sustainable results, 2015, Investors in People.

Future of Skills: Employment in 2030 (Report), 2017, Pearson.

Future of Skills: Employment in 2030 (Technical Report), 2017, Pearson.

Useful Books

Burns, M. and Griffith, A. (2018). The learning imperative : Raising performance in organisations by improving learning. Bancyfelin: Crown House Publishing.

De Waal, A. (2020). High performance managerial leadership : best ideas from around the world. Santa Barbara: Praeger.

Kegan, R., Laskow Lahey, L., Miller, M.L., Fleming, A. and Helsing, D. (2016). An everyone culture becoming a deliberately developmental organization. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Keller, S. and Schaninger, B. (2019). Beyond performance 2.0 : a proven approach to leading large-scale change. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lancaster, A. (2019). Driving performance through learning : develop employees through learning in the flow of work. London; New York: Koganpage.

Neelen, M. and Kirschner, P. A. (2020). Evidence-informed learning design : creating training to improve performance. London; New York: Koganpage.

Scarlett, H. (2019). Neuroscience for organizational change : an evidence-based practical guide to managing change. London; New York: Kogan Page.

Tarki, A. (2020). Evidence-based recruiting : how to build a company of star performers through systematic and repeatable hiring practices. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Powerpoint

Please click here to download the session presentation.

Session Sketchnotes

Click the links below to access Rachel Burnham’s colourful visual representations of discussions as drawn from the main sessions and breakout rooms.

Timeslot 1 (7th July, 09:00 – 11:00)

Timeslot 2 (13th July, 10:30 – 12:30)

Timeslot 3 (16th July, 09:00 – 11:00)

Timeslot 4 (23rd July, 16:30 – 18:30)

Timeslot 6 (6th August, 16:00 – 18:00)

Employer Brand – How to Become a Talent Magnet

 

Hosted by Inspiring Business Performance and Cineworld

The Employer Brand

Maureen Scholefield Managing Director, Cullen Scholefield

Download the Presentation

Coaching

Stuart Holdsworth, Capita Ex-Head of Learning and Development at Cineworld

Download the Presentation

Enterprise Technology

John Telfer, Managing Director Inspiring Business Performance

Download the Presentation

Reflection on the 6 As of becoming a Talent Magnet

Stuart Holdsworth, Capita Ex-Head of Learning and Development at Cineworld

Download the Presentation

Employer Branding

Tom Luesley, Head of Recruitment Mott MacDonald Download the Presentation

The Good Recruitment Campaign

Lisa Jarvis, Managing Director Permanent Solutions Direct Download the Presentation

Cineworld as a Community Partner

Matt Blinch, General Manager Cineworld, Crawley Download the Presentation

Love Your People

 

Hosted by Virgin Holidays and held at the Institute of Directors

Unleash Your Mojo

Chris Britton, Senior Learning & Development Business Partner, Virgin Holidays Download the Presentation

Love Your people

Maureen Scholefield talks at the Circle of Peers, held at the Institute of Directors Download the Presentation

Mindfulness

Mario Manefli, Talent and Development Performance Consultant and Executive Coach Download the Presentation
Circle of Peers logo.