Agenda

Flexpo Business Digital Summit Agenda

Now available on-demand until 31st July

Day 1: 30th June 2021
 9.00am
Welcome message
A welcome message from the Flexpo team with instructions on how to navigate the platform and get the most from your day.
 9.10am
Opening keynote message

Baroness Berridge

Minister for Women

 9.20am
The future of work is choice: An introduction to flexible and hybrid working and how to create a thriving culture that supports people working in different ways
What do the terms flexible, smart, hybrid and agile working actually mean, and how do you build a sustainable and inclusive culture when the employee population is working in different ways?

Using data and insights from recent research, this session will explore how the future of work is unfolding, what employees want and the benefits and impact of flexible and hybrid ways of working.

Flexpo co-directors Madeleine Cole and Ursula Tavender will share tips on how to design a future of work strategy and introduce the Flexpo success model to help you accelerate a thriving flexible and hybrid working culture within your business.

Madeleine Cole

Flexpo co-director

Ursula Tavender

Flexpo co-director

TBA
 9.45am
Supporting successful hybrid working
In this value-packed session, Claire will share how organisations can plan for and deliver successful hybrid working, shaped by seven strategies which have been developed using the latest CIPD research and guidance.  

Claire McCartney

Senior Policy Advisor, Resourcing and Inclusion, CIPD

 10.10am
Real Stories: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Tearing up the policy: How to make hybrid working really work
In this Real Stories session, our speakers will share how the people team at FSCS have designed an innovative approach to a hybrid future by freeing themselves of policy and making every role flexible.

Our brilliant speakers will discuss how they are supporting managers, how workspaces are used and how they support employees with their home working environments. They will also explore the role of trust in making hybrid working work successfully and explain how FSCS is engineering creativity and innovation as their teams work in a variety of different ways.

David Blackburn

Chief People Officer

David Blackburn is one of the most awarded HR professionals working in the UK today. In January David was made a Chartered Companion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This is the highest accolade and level of membership awarded by the CIPD professional body and the selection of individuals to enter this group – currently only twenty-six - is made directly by the CIPD Board.

With over 20 years’ experience in leading all aspects of Human Resources, David is currently the Chief People Officer of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Prior to his current role he worked across both the private and not-for-profit sectors. David is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and the London Business School; a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; the Institute of Leadership and Management and a Member of the Guild of HR Professionals.

David Blackburn is the Investors in People (IiP) Leader of the Year; MEMCOM Excellence Awards HR Leader of the Year and Personnel Today Awards HR Director of the Year 2020 as well as being the inaugural Financial Times FT Adviser Diversity Champion of the Year. David’s work has been recognised in multiple National Awards including: Brilliance in Internal Communication; Business in the Community (BITC) Responsible Business; CIPD People Management; Employee Benefits; Engage Awards; Financial Adviser Diversity in Finance; Financial Innovation; Housing Heroes; HR Distinction; HR Excellence; Investors in People; Personnel Today; and the UK Customer Experience Awards.

Lisa Faulkner

Head of People

After a successful career in retail bookselling, a degree in Politics as a mature student and with over 20 years’ experience leading all aspects of HR and L&D, Lisa prides herself on being a people focused HR professional with the emphasis on ‘human’ not ‘resource’.

As Head of People for FSCS, her intent is for everyone to stop focussing on policies and procedures and start engaging with people and their lived experience, endeavouring to ensure we give the best employment experience to our people which in turn, ensures they give their best to our customers.
 10:45am
How to leverage flexible ways of working to increase diverse representation
Offering flexible ways of working can act as a powerful catalyst in increasing employee representation among under-represented groups, which in turn can become a key enabler in reducing gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.
In this practical session, our speakers will explain how to link flexible and hybrid working with a Diversity & Inclusion strategy and use data driven insights to build the business case.

Cynthia Davis

Founder, BAME Recruitment and Diversifying

TBA

Natasha Oppenheim

CEO, No Desire to Retire

TBA

Jess Hornsby

Business Psychologist and Founder of Equalital

TBA

Chair: Katie Charteris

Transport for London (TfL)

TBA
 11.00am
Exhibition viewing and time to pause and reflect
 11.15am
Real Stories: Aviva
Designing a people-centric future of work with a new Smart Working policy
In autumn 2020, Aviva launched its new Smart Working policy that has ushered in a new future of work for its people.

In this session, we will learn how Aviva has supported its employee population through the change brought by the pandemic and how it is leveraging the challenges of the past year to engineer a more inclusive, sustainable and profitable future of work.

Anthony Fitzpatrick

Head of Colleague Experience and Employment Policy at Aviva

TBA
 11.45am
Wellbeing break and exhibition viewing
 12.00pm
Can flexibility really work on the front line?
Flexibility is possible in every single job – but how does it work when remote working isn’t an option? In this session Claire Campbell, Programme Director at Timewise will share how they have supported many diverse organisations in implementing sustainable and innovative flexible working practices across multiple business functions, including front line roles.

Claire Campbell

Programme Director at Timewise

TBA
12:10pm
Exhibition viewing and time to pause and reflect
 12:25pm
Real Stories: Benefex
Creating a stand-out employee experience through flexible working
An in-depth look at how Benefex has woven flexible working into its company culture, offering flexibility to every employee. We’ll learn how Benefex’s long-standing approach of giving employees the autonomy to deliver their best when and where it suits them has supported the business through the pandemic and helped shape a happy, engaged, highly productive and results-drive workforce.

Kathryn Kendall

Chief People Officer

Kathryn is Chief People Officer at Benefex, where she heads up the People function, looking after almost 500 employees across the business. She has more than fifteen years’ experience heading up People teams across a variety of sectors, alongside managing operational departments, with a focus on transformation and change.

Kathryn is passionate about making a difference, delivering an outstanding employee experience, and ensuring that we bring the “human” back into Human Resources… so that everyone is able to come to work and give of their best, and no one ever needs to wake up dreading Monday mornings again.

Matt Macri-Waller

CEO and founder

Matt is a global thought leader in the employee experience space, specialising in how technology can help bridge the gap between companies and its employees. He is the Founder and CEO of Benefex, the award-winning global employee experience provider. Matt’s vision is now impacting the lives of millions of people at work every day, but he also believes we’re just getting started.

He’s helped hundreds of organisations understand what’s impacting their employee engagement, and has then worked with them to design and deliver an employee experience which enables them to achieve their strategy.

His mission is simple: Everyone deserves to have an exceptional employee experience, every day. He believes that when you look at any workplace, no one comes to work to do a bad job, or be actively disengaged. There are just a collection of missed opportunities to make the most of every single interaction and experience. He’s made it his personal mission to help organisations to design and deliver exceptional employee experiences, ones that enable people to get engaged.

Matt is part of the Advisory Board for KPMG’s Global Fintech 100 business, and for Salary Finance. He is also a Barclays Entrepreneur Ambassador and Advisor. He’s been nominated as a ‘Business Hero’ by The Times, and secured a place within the Reward100 most influential leaders in the Industry. Plus, he has a 99% CEO approval rating on Glassdoor.
 12:45pm
A break for lunch, exhibition viewing and time to pause and reflect
 1:15pm
Leading with humanity
UK business leaders have spent the past year adapting to rapidly changing and ever-more extraordinary operating conditions. What comes next will be different; it’s clear we are not going back to a pre-Covid world.

This disruption has given rise to a new generation of leaders who intend to move forward with care, connection and humanity as core leadership principles.

In this inspiring session we will explore the capabilities that leaders need to lead their workforce responsively beyond the pandemic, how they can create inclusive cultures in a hybrid and flexible working environment and key ways to build resilient organisations that can effectively continue to navigate and overcome adversity.

Pauline Broadway

Founder, Why Flex

TBA

Chair:

Kelly Keating

CIB, Digital and Platform Services, JP Morgan

TBA
 1:35pm
Real Stories: Ideagen - The transformative power of technology for flexible working

In this interactive session Ryan will share extensive insights from Ideagen’s customer portfolio, inviting us to learn how the adoption of new technology is becoming the foundation of allowing employers and their employees to working flexible as we move into the new normal.

Ryan Church

Regional Sales Manager, Ideagen

TBA
 2:05pm
Wellbeing break & exhibition viewing
 2.20pm
Real Stories: Deloitte
Making Mental Health a strategic priority
In response to the rapidly escalating mental health crisis, in 2021 Deloitte joined other business leaders to launch The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health.

The first global collaboration of its kind, the initiative aims to support all business leaders in making workplace mental health a strategic priority by raising awareness and sharing best practice.

In this insightful conversation we will invite Emma Codd, Global Inclusion Leader to share Deloitte’s story and other examples of excellence in relation to using evidence-based measures to support positive mental health and explore the wider societal impact of reducing stigma in communities.

Emma Codd

Global Inclusion Leader at Deloitte

Emma is Global Inclusion Leader for professional services firm Deloitte and leads delivery of the organization’s global inclusion strategy. Emma’s work in this role includes a focus on Respect & Inclusion (including the ‘Can You See Me’ campaign); gender balance (including the development of a series of interventions to enable Deloitte to meet its gender equality goals); LGBT+ inclusion (including actions to deliver on Deloitte’s commitment to the United Nations’ Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People]; and mental health (including the implementation of a mental health baseline globally and becoming a Founding Partner of the Global Business Collaboration on Better Workplace Mental Health). Emma’s role has also included the production of thought leadership aligned to this strategy, such as that relating to the impact of the Pandemic on women in the workplace.

From 2013 - 2019 Emma was the Managing Partner for Talent for Deloitte LLP in the UK and sat on the firm's Executive Committee. During this period Emma led a period of significant change for the firm from an inclusion perspective, including the firm's award-winning approach to Respect & Inclusion. Alongside this, Emma also led the UK firm's approach on mental health, overseeing a period during which stigma was reduced and an array of support for those with mental ill health was introduced. In her global role Emma’s work on mental health has included leading the development and implementation of a mental health baseline across the 150 countries where Deloitte operates and working with a number of global organisations to establish the Global Business Collaboration on Better Workplace Mental Health.

Emma is a member of the UK LACA Lead the Change board, the BiTC Gender Leadership Team and the UK Thriving at Work Council.

Chair: Madeleine Cole

Flexpo co-director

TBA
 2.50pm
Networking time
 3:30pm
The impact of the pandemic on gender equality in the workplace and solutions for recovery
The regressive impact of the pandemic is now widely known and understood. Rates of employment among women are dropping faster than average, and according to McKinsey, taking action now to advance gender equality could be valuable, adding $13 trillion to global GDP in 2030.

This energising session will look at the tangible steps organisations can take to redress the balance and how these steps could improve social and financial outcomes for women and help boost economic growth.

Debs Ingham

EMEA Director, How Do You Do It

TBA

Samantha Gould

Head of PR and Campaigns, Now Pensions

TBA

David Blackburn

Chief People Officer, The Financial Services Compensation Scheme

TBA
 4:10pm
Real stories: Pfizer
Empowering teams to create micro-cultures for flexible working
In 2019, Pfizer UK appointed a new Diversity & Inclusion Lead in the UK, with one goal: to close the gender pay gap. One of the key elements of Pfizer’s strategy is making flexibility work for every colleague. In this session we will learn about Pfizer’s approach and how an army of champions have been trained to deliver team pact workshops so that teams can decide for themselves what flexibility means within their business function and how they will make it work together.

Dagmar Albers

Diversity and Inclusion lead, Pfizer UK

TBA

Mandy Barrett

Regional Lead Europe - Global Science Site HR, Pfizer UK

TBA

Liz Collins

PharmSci Team Leader, Pfizer UK

TBA

Aimee McCorkindale

Strategy & Business Operations Manager, PharmSci, Pfizer UK

TBA
 4:30pm
Conference close- see you tomorrow!
TBA
Day 2:  1st July 2021
 9.00am
Welcome message
A welcome message from the Flexpo team with instructions on how to navigate the platform and get the most from your day.
 9.10am
Opening keynote message

Minister Scully

Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Labour Markets and Minister for London

TBA
 9.25am
What you really need to know about implementing flexible working
This interactive workshop for HR professionals will help you to learn everything you need to know to make flexible working really work. It’s like the cheat sheet for HR based on practical insights, real-life experiences and sharing my top tips, including the opportunity to ask me anything!

Nicola is a Flexible Working specialist who has supported the implementation of flexible and hybrid working at start-ups, corporate giants and everything in between

Nicola Pease

Founder, Ignite Coaching and Consulting

TBA
10:00am
Wellbeing break / networking time
 10:10am
Redressing the balance: What organisations need to do to build an equal future of work
In this session our experts will examine what UK organisations can do to promote gender equality within their workforce, in their industry and in wider society. We will consider two key questions in this discussion: How can we stop so many women leaving the workforce? And how can we encourage more men to work flexibly beyond the pandemic?

James Clarry

COO, Coutts Bank

TBA

Jane Van Zyl

CEO, Working Families

TBA

Sarah Hesz

CCO, Bubble

TBA

Jennifer Liston-Smith

Head of Thought Leadership, Bright Horizons

TBA
 10:50am
Exhibition viewing and time to pause and reflect
 11:00am
The solution to help your teams get flexible working right first time
The solution to help your teams get flexible working right first time. The pandemic has shown that flexible working is possible in many more roles than employers had previously considered. But how can you ensure equity and fairness when teams and individuals are working in different ways? In this enlightening session our very own Flexpo team will share the framework we’ve used to help hundreds of organisations to empower their teams to work flexibly beyond the pandemic by creating bespoke team charters. In this session you’ll learn how to: Lead and support your teams responsively beyond the COVID-19 crisis, enhancing communication and trust and maintaining high performance. Support your people to prioritise their wellbeing, address the challenge of overwork and reduce the risk of burnout. Leverage the lessons gifted to your workforce as a result of the pandemic and equip and empower teams to design a collaborative approach to shaping the future of work that’s right for everyone in your workforce.

Ursula Tavender

Flexpo co-director

Ursula Tavender is founder of Taking Care of Business and Mumbelievable™ and co-director of Flexpo Ltd. Following a successful career in corporate communications, Ursula founded her first business in 2015 with the mission to change the world of work by helping companies become more flexible, inclusive and close pay gaps. She is building companies that complement the brilliant campaigns for social, societal and business change by challenging and enabling organisations to think and act differently, make bold decisions and lead the way in their sector with impactful change to flexible working culture, behaviours and mindsets. Ursula has found a strong sense of purpose in innovating solutions and developing tools that support people - regardless of their circumstances or working pattern - to stay and progress at work, increase flexible working opportunities for everyone and strengthen the female talent pipeline. In March 2020 Ursula co-authored a guide with Liese Lord to support UK businesses making the emergency move to en-masse remote working that has since become a trusted resource for thousands of organisations and employees as they navigate the working world created by COVID-19. She also participates in a number of influential government groups and regularly writes, speaks, comments and campaigns for business change on the issues of closing the gender pay gap, flexible working and the future of work in a post-pandemic world.
 11:35am
Exhibition viewing and time to pause and reflect
 11:45am
Addressing proximity bias: Ensuring equal access to training and development in a hybrid world
As UK businesses review workforce strategy in the wake of the disruptive effects of the pandemic, many people professionals have raised concerns around ensuring every employee has access to the opportunities they need and deserve to exercise choice and autonomy over their career progression.

In this insightful session, our panel will explore the latest career development innovations and emerging trends. They will share diverse examples of UK businesses creating accessible learning opportunities for their people, and will also look at the value of cross generational mentoring and ways employees can build effective networks in a hybrid environment.

Brian Ballantyne

Co-Founder of Men for Inclusion; Regional Manager for Training Programs, Amazon

TBA
 12:15pm
Transforming talent acquisition to meet the needs of a hybrid world
In this conversation, we will explore how businesses can:
• Review and transform talent acquisition processes with flexibility and hybrid working in mind
• Design jobs for hybrid and flexible working
• Upskill hiring managers and create an exceptional virtual onboarding experience
• Balance a focus on diversity with existing processes and talent acquisition procedures

Katy Fridman

Founder of Flexible Working People

TBA

Emma Cleary

Director and Founder, Flexibility Matters

TBA
 1.00pm
Wellbeing break for lunch, networking and exhibition viewing
 1:45pm
Supporting managers to make flexible working work: A practical insights session

When organisations land on their post-pandemic working patterns - be they a fundamental shift to fully flexible working or a strict return to the office - it will be managers who are at the forefront of making the company policy work in reality. 

 This session, based on first-hand experience of coaching managers and leaders, will look at what really lies at the heart of managers’ resistance when it comes to embracing flexible ways of working and the types of support that organisations can put in place to overcome that resistance. They will also examine the types of initiatives that help bridge the flexible working implementation gap by supporting managers and how they are a critical part of successfully igniting a truly flexible culture.

Debs Ingham

EMEA Director, How Do You Do It

TBA

Clair Hodgson

EMEA Director, How Do You Do It

TBA

Nicola Pease

Founder, Ignite Coaching and Consulting

TBA
TBA
 2:15pm
How organisations can use technology to enable a thriving flexible working culture

The past year has accelerated our adoption of technology at a pace that can seem tough to keep up with at times. It’s thanks though to our widespread use of innumerable technological solutions that so many employees were able to continue delivering throughout multiple lockdowns. In this energising conversation, we’ll review the pivotal role of technology in supporting teams working in flexible ways and the

emerging trends that are enabling organisations to embrace flexibility beyond the pandemic. Graham will share what best practice looks like in terms of how those solutions are embedded within a company culture and give his advice about what leaders should prioritise to get the best return on investment when choosing new technologies to support their people.

Graham Joyce

Co-founder, DuoMe

TBA
 2:45pm
Exhibition viewing and networking time
 3.00pm
Reimagining workspaces
In this dynamic conversation, our speakers will examine how the role of the workplace is changing and what experiences people will expect from office environments in the new world of work. They will explore emerging office design trends and discuss the role of co-working spaces, community buildings and other spaces in supporting successful hybrid working, before giving their advice on how people leaders can define what workspace options are right for your business, what you should consider and where to start.

Nikki Gibson

Founder and CEO, Swurf.co

TBA

Claire Bailey

Commerical Research Director, Savills

TBA
 3:30pm
Supporting wellbeing and resilience in flexible and hybrid teams
As we move into the next phase of the pandemic, with our collective and individual resilience having been tested throughout the past year, this session will explore practical ways in which UK businesses can support the wellbeing of their workforce. The panel will discuss how you can enhance employees’ ability to manage the pace of change, and cope with stress and uncertainty as they transition into the next normal.

Ife Onwuzulike

Head of Diversity and Inclusion, The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

TBA

Kayleigh Gee

Senior Account Manager, Ideagen

TBA
 4:05pm
Real Stories: British Chambers of Commerce
How flexible job design can help organisations address skills shortages
A few months before the pandemic began, a survey by McKinsey found that 90% of leaders said they were expecting to face skills gaps by 2024. Since then, so beautifully articulated by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, “we’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”

UK businesses now face an urgent need to upskill their workforce to remain relevant in response to rapid developments in automation, digitisation, and other technologies. In this inspiring conversation, we will explore how flexible job design can help organisations attract and retain talented people, address and overcome skills shortages and enhance the diversity of a workforce.

Claire Walker

Co-Executive Director at British Chambers of Commerce

Claire Walker and Hannah Essex are Co-Executive Directors at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). BCC sits at the heart of a business network that spans the length and breadth of the UK, with links to markets across the world. Claire and Hannah lead the BCC’s campaigns, communications, public affairs, policy and membership work.

Together, they joined the British Chambers of Commerce in September 2019 from social enterprise Teach First, where they co-led the Communications Department. Claire covered Hannah’s maternity leave and they formed their partnership when Hannah returned in 2015. As one of the few Executive level job-share partnerships in the country, they are considered trailblazers in the concept of co-leadership.

Together, they have a combined 35 years’ experience leading in a range of organisations, driving transformation and impact. Claire has held a number of trustee positions and led a range of community projects. Hannah is Vice-Chair and Founding Trustee of The Girls’ Network.

Hannah Essex

Co-Executive Director at British Chambers of Commerce

Claire Walker and Hannah Essex are Co-Executive Directors at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). BCC sits at the heart of a business network that spans the length and breadth of the UK, with links to markets across the world. Claire and Hannah lead the BCC’s campaigns, communications, public affairs, policy and membership work.

Together, they joined the British Chambers of Commerce in September 2019 from social enterprise Teach First, where they co-led the Communications Department. Claire covered Hannah’s maternity leave and they formed their partnership when Hannah returned in 2015. As one of the few Executive level job-share partnerships in the country, they are considered trailblazers in the concept of co-leadership.

Together, they have a combined 35 years’ experience leading in a range of organisations, driving transformation and impact. Claire has held a number of trustee positions and led a range of community projects. Hannah is Vice-Chair and Founding Trustee of The Girls’ Network.
 4:30pm
Conference close- thank you so much for joining us