Thursday May 8: Supersized Thursday

• Connecting people to business strategy: Practical tools for creating a business focused People Plan: Dr. David Cohen - Management Consultant

  The holy grail of organizational leaders is to have employees who are engaged and passionate about the objectives of the organization. Learn how to develop a People Plan which drives both the development of the individuals and the achievement of the corporate objectives.

• From ORDINARY to MEMORABLE: Secrets for successfully planning and executing your next Corporate Business event: Merrick Needham - Protocol Consultant & Jean Lowrie-Chin - Communications and Public Relations Consultant

  So you have been entrusted with the task of organizing your next major corporate event and you are anxious to get everything just right. Learn what makes a corporate event a memorable experience for everyone and a reputation enhancing experience for your organization.

• Getting more with LESS: Innovative ways to dramatically improve productivity through technology and new forms of work organization. Manuel Llorens - Business process specialist

  In our quest to become more efficient and improve corporate productivity we need to find innovative ways to work smarter rather than harder. Learn how everyday technology and new forms of work organization can be harnessed to drive individual and corporate efficiency which flows directly to the bottom line.

• Measuring and evaluating HR: How to effectively demonstrate that people issues really matter to the BOTTOM LINE: Milton Perkins - SPHR HR Consultant

  Is HR adding value to your organization? If it does how can this be demonstrated in measurable business terms. In this session you will learn how to get HR to be recognized as a true business partner rather than as merely the welfare and policing arm of the organization.

Thursday May 8: Supersized Thursday cont...

• The business of Industrial Relations: What NEW and fledgling practitioners need to know about working effectively with Trade Unions: Errol Miller - Senior Director Ministry of Labour, Novar McDonald - Industrial Relations Consultant & Danny Roberts - VP National Workers Union.

  Does the thought of dealing with a Trade Union cause you to break into a sweat? In what promises to be a stimulating session practitioners from each area of the tripartite will help to demystify this aspect of Employee Relations and give you the confidence to work cooperatively and productively with the representatives of your employees.

• Managing compensation and benefits: Getting the FUNDAMENTALS the right first the time: Sharon Koss - Compensation Specialist and Author

  Compensation is often a most significant expenditure item in any organization’s budget. Are you compensating employees too much, too little or do you have it just right. Learn from an international compensation expert the variety of factors which you must consider when managing compensation and benefits

• From employee to entrepreneur: How to break from the pack and turn your dreams into a successful business. Marguerite Orane - Business Consultant & Stephen Spence - Businessman

  You are dreaming of a day when you can you can translate your ideas into a successful business venture but you are not sure about what such a journey entails. In this session successful entrepreneurs will share their candid thoughts about how to turn your dreams into reality

Friday May 9th : Empowerment Friday

• Customer service which ROCKS: Strategies for transforming the customer service culture of your organization. Dr. Ben Henry - Customer Service Consultant

  Customer service makes common sense but it is not common practice. In this session find out how to make customer service not just a noble ideal but a way of life for your organization.

• The Transformational Coach: Leadership strategies for building high-trust working relationships. Thomas Crane - Management Consultant

  Coaching is an essential competence for persons in leadership positions. Learn what it takes to be a coach who can help others in their efforts at transformation and growth

• The next generation of employee competences: How to build competency models which will enhance your business. Dr. David Cohen - Management Consultant.

  Competency models drive almost every aspect of your people development and performance process from recruitment to performance management. Learn the cutting edge competences which modern organizations will need to succeed in the future

• Getting the right FIT the First time: Hiring strategies to get and keep the best talent for your organization.Milton Perkins – SPHR. HR Consultant

  Square pegs in round holes can be an organization’s worst nightmare, learn hw to avoid the avoid the trauma of organizational misfits by addressing the problem at the hiring stage where it all begins.

• The Teamwork Solution: Magic Bullet or Myth. Anthony Watkins - Management Consultant

  Conventional wisdom sometimes gives the impression that teamwork is the panacea to many organizational ills. Is this the case? or is it a myth. Learn the truth about teamwork and the strategies to make it really work for your organization

Friday May 9th : Empowerment Friday cont.

• Preparing the next generation of employees: Things hiring managers should know about what today’s graduate brings to the table: Professor Errol Morrison - President of the University of Technology

  How are behavioural and functional competences developed in our tertiary institutions. Hear from the head of one such institution how work place talent is being shaped and what your organization can expect when today’s graduate join the workforce.

• "Preparing the next generation of employees": Things hiring managers should know about what today's graduate brings to the table.
• From Conflict to Collaboration: The transformation of worker management relations at First Caribbean International Bank. Georgia Phillips - BITU Delegate & Henry Reid - HR Director First Caribbean International Bank

  One of the most challenges faced by First Caribbean when they acquired the Barclays across the Caribbean region was the contentious and adversarial nature of the relationship with the trade unions who represented its workforce. The story of how this relationship was transformed has many lessons

• HIV and your bottom-line: The benefits of responding now. David Gasser – Associate Director Merck, Sharpe & Dohme

  HIV / AIDS is no longer a mere health issue but also an economic issue and workplace issue. The investment you have made in the development of your human resource could b e at risk if efforts are not made to stem the spread of the disease. In this session we will explore the workplace response strategies which you can take to limit the impact on your organization.

Friday May 9th : Empowerment Friday cont.

• Destination global competitiveness: getting there through collaboration, innovation and information. Dr. Beverly Morgan - CEO Jamaica Competitiveness Company

  To compete successfully in the emerging environment requires more than just quality goods and services. Learn how to overcome barriers to competitiveness through collaboration and information sharing.

• The emerging international trade environment: Challenges for retaining markets and jobs and how your organization should respond. Sandra Husbands - President Caribbean Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (CASME).

  What you know about the emerging trading environment can determine the success or demise of your organization. Learn what’s on the horizon and the proactive steps your organization needs to take to respond to the challenges or take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Saturday May 10 : CEO Saturday

• ETHICS and your organization’s DNA: How to translate ethical principles to practical codes of behavior.Dr. Anna Perkins – Programme Officer UWI

  Incidences of misbehaviour in public and private organization overseas and locally have served to underscore the importance of ethical conduct by employees at all levels. Learn the practical steps which you can take to make ethical conduct a way of life in your organization

• Getting ready for the global game: How to compete successfully by radically rethinking your organization’s business and marketing strategies: Dr. Charlene Ashley – Marketing & Communications Consultant

  Globalization has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Many organizations are still in a “business as usual” mode. In this session learn how to look at the world from a different paradigm and the strategies which can help your organization yield better results.

• Managing your retirement benefits arrangements: How your organization should respond to the changing regulatory landscape:Latoya Mayhew-Kerr – General Manager Employee Benefits Administration LOJ

  The passage of new legislation and the entry of new players are gradually changing the retirement benefits landscape. It is important that you and your organization understands the implications of these changes and the steps which need to be taken to ensure that your retirement benefit arrangements provides the optimum benefit to your employees

• EIGHT compensation trends to motivate your senior executives in ways which make sense: Sharon Koss - Compensation Specialist and Author

  Designing a compensation strategy to attract, motivate and retain talented executives is one of the major challenges for persons responsible for the management of compensation. In this session you will learn some of the international best practices currently being used to manage executive compensation.

• Self differentiated leadership: Leading from within and without: Gilmore Crosby - Leadership and Organizational Development Consultant

  Learn what is self-differentiated leadership and how the principles can contribute to improved performance of your organization.

• Still hanging on the wall; How to get your organization’s core values off the wall and into the hearts, minds and behaviour of your employees: Dr. Leachim Semaj – President & CEO The JobBank

  Has your organization invested considerable time and energy to develop its core values only to have them used as wall decoration? In this session find out how organizations have been able to successfully achieve alignment between what employees do and the values of the organization.

• Successful Succession Planning: How Grace Kennedy sustains the flow in its leadership pipeline. Dr. Cassida Jones - Chief HR Officer Grace Kennedy Ltd.

  How does a large conglomerate sustain the development of the management and leadership talent needed to ensure its continuity? In this session one such organization will share their experience of building it bench strength.

• The Jamaica Industrial Relations climate: Trends and Developments to watch in 2008 and beyond. Kavan Gayle - President Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, Wayne Jones - President Jamaica Civil Service Association, Dr. Noel Cowell - Lecturer University of the West Indies, Lambert Brown - President University and Allied Workers Union.

  In this interactive panel discussion players leaders in the field of industrial relations share their views on the developments taking place in the field locally an globally and the trends which we should pay attention to

• Repositioning Jamaica as an international Financial Centre; Implications and challenges for economic growth and employment. Paul Byles – Managing Director Focus Corporate Services & Consulting, Dr. Annalee Babb – President Barbados Trade & Invest, Robert Gregory – President Jamaica Trade & Invest

  The attainment of high levels of sustainable economic growth will depend on our ability to develop and entrench new economic activities. The Government has announced its intention to develop the Offshore Financial Services industry. Learn from other countries which have gone this route how the industry works, how this will impact your organization and the implications for employment and talent retention.

• The people side of project management: Why a servant leadership approach can mean the difference between the success or failure of your next project. Jacqueline Geddes - Project Management Consultant

  Managing projects whether large or small involves more than managing tasks and time lines. An important dimension is how we lead the individuals involved in the project. In this session we will explore the concept of servant leadership and why it might be appropriate for your next project.

• The ROI of International communications: How winning companies engage their employees to get the best results from their internal communication. Yvonne Nicholson - Communications Consultant

  Communications is the life blood of an organization. Learn how to develop and implement communication strategies which will engage and empower your employees

• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Jamaica: JEF State of the Industry Report.Bridget Levy - Consultant

  More and more organizations are conscious of the need to be socially responsible; In this landmark study you will learn how Jamaican organizations are living up to their CSR the strategies which might work for your organization

• Big Bad wolf or communications partners: How to work constructively with the media. Cliff Hughes - Managing Director Nationwide News, Owen James – Managing Director All Media Services Ltd.

  Is the media friend or foe? Do you only court the media when you have a story to tell?. In this session seasoned Media practitioners share their thoughts about how organization can build better relations with he Media to serve them in good times and bad

• Connecting the DOTS: How to make sure that what people do really matters to your corporate objectives: Jeffery Sealy - Management Consultant

  Are your employees busy and working hard at the wrong things? In this session learn how focus the attention of your employees on the vital priorities and achieve synergy between individual effort and corporate objectives.

• CEO Hard Talk: The People, Performance & Productivity issues which keeps your CEO up at night. Minna Isreal - CEO RBTT Bank Jamaica, Wayne Chen - CEO Super Plus Food Stores

  In this session two Jamaican CEO share their views on the performance issues which are of critical importance to the success of their organizations and the strategies which can be employed to address these concerns.

• The new Occupational Health and Safety Legislation: What organizations need to do to meet the emerging standards and requirements? Dr. Trevor Murray - Industrial Relations Consultant

  There will shortly be a new Occupational Heath an Safety Legislation. Get a heads up on the implications of the new provisions and how you can put your organization in a state of readiness to comply with the legislation.

• Managing the MIX: Strategies for getting the best out of a diverse workforce:Luesette Howell – Senior Specialist Employer Activities, ILO

  The workplace is becoming increasingly diverse. Persons from different nationalities, culture, orientations and backgrounds are more and more part of the mix of employees in many organizations. Learn how to treat with a diverse workforce and how you can make diversity work to the benefit of your organization.