The "Art" of Human Resources Management
February 24-25, 2009
Divani Caravel Hotel
On February 24-25 of 2009, an audience of nearly 280 Human Resources executives from a number of well-known Greek and multinational companies attended KPMG’s 12th People Management Symposium, which was held at the Divani Caravel Hotel in central Athens. As in the previous years, the event was hailed as a great success, with an overall satisfaction index of 92%, as derived by attendees evaluations.
Prominent executives and professional speakers accepted our invitation to share their views and experience on a variety of HR-related topics, including:
- Flexible forms of work: Revolutionizing the work-environment in order to maximize output
- Labor law under the microscope: All latest labor law issues
- The Role of the HR Manager / HR Director in a time of crisis
- Stress management and mind-fitness as the key to heightened productivity
- The role of HR in internal successions
- Award-winning practices that can help companies become Employer of Choice
This year, KPMG in Greece was honored to welcome again Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, accomplished professor, executive coach, prolific writer, and "one of the 50 Great thinkers and leaders who have influenced the field of management over the past 80 years" according to the American Management Association. Dr. Goldsmith has been working with top management executives for many years, and has worked with over 80 CEOs of major multinational corporations and their management teams to help them improve their leadership skills. His latest book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”, is a New York Times best seller, the Wall Street Journal #1 business book, and the winner of the Harold Longman award for "Best Business Book of 2007".
In his three-hour session 'Internal Successions: The Role of HR", he stated the important role of Human Resources executives in an organization's normal transition when leaders need to be replaced.
This year’s Symposium also featured a number of different speakers, specialists in certain areas of interest. Gus Gannon, HR Director EMEA at Sun Microsystems, presented his company’s "Open Work" program – a program that Sun has implemented to maximize productivity through allowing employees free choice of a variety of flexible workspaces. In another presentation, Rachel Campbell, Head of People Management at KPMG LLP (UK), presented various award-winning practices that can secure for an organization Employer of Choice status and labor-law lawyer Dimitris Antoniou discussed the most recent labor-law issues affecting HR professionals during this time of crisis. In a panel session, Stavros Gatopoulos, General Manager Group Human Resources & Internal Communication, National Bank of Greece, Stamatia Psillaki, Group Human Resources Director, Hellenic Petroleum, and Irini Tzannetou, General Manager of the Human Resources and Internal Communication Department at DEI (Public Electricity Corporation), negotiated "the role of the HR Director during periods of crisis". The panel discussion was coordinated by Vangelis Apostolakis, Partner In Charge of Advisory, KPMG Advisors AE.
The Symposium’s first day concluded with Dr. Joel and Michelle Levey, founders of the International Center for Corporate Culture and Organizational Health, who talked about "Mind Fitness and Peak Performance at Work".
At the end of this year's Symposium, the winners of the 8th Best People Management Initiative Awards were presented to the audience. The winning companies are (in alphabetical order): Astra Zeneca for its "Management of Output, Salaries and Benefits" initiative, ICAP Group for its "New HR Department" initiative, and Wind for its "Social Offering" initiative.