More than 450 delegates came to the Ireland Annual conference. 

The event was opened by Neale Richmond, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as well the Department of Social Protection.  He gave a positive account of the Irish economy, the fastest growing economy in the EU, while also giving kudos to the people profession – a motivating start to the day!

The programme covered a variety of important topics for people professionals including emerging trends, business needs, performance, sustainability, change, and the profession’s impact and future.

The opening keynote Christoph Bonert, from Josh Bersin Company, gave us insights into top trends shaping our future and asserted there is a move from ‘organisational design to work design’.

Setting the tone at the top

It was uplifting to hear positive feedback during a panel session with business leaders, including two CEOs and a CFO, about the people profession’s valuable contribution to shaping better work for the future.

This session was inspiring and sowed a strong foundation for the discussions during the day.

HR’s impact and resetting culture

Further panels during the day addressed moving the dial on HR’s impact led by Peter Cheese and resetting the culture for sustainable performance. The need for a reset on culture came through in our HR Practices report launched on the day.

CIPD Ireland Award winners, Tayto snacks, shared their award-winning case study which illustrated how they created sustainable change. There was also a welcome visit from Mr. Tayto (their mascot) which lifted the energy before lunch.

Future thinking and inclusivity

Delegates also enjoyed the exhibition space which featured the first Metaverse village of its kind, for a European conference, along with various other exhibitors and celebrations for International HR day.

Midday keynote was delivered by Olivier Dubuisson, acknowledging how generative AI has become mainstream in less than five months! He encouraged us to exercise our experimentation muscles and adapt to what will work – there is no one way.

Delegates were impressed with the choice offered at roundtables, with over 32 topics covered by expert facilitators including AI, digital transformation, wellbeing, culture, innovation, sustainability, skills and more. Thank you to our many UK-based colleagues who contributed their expertise to these conversations.

An inspirational closing keynote was delivered by Izzy Wheels with a message of inclusion and authenticity.