What direction would you like to see the CIPD take?

What direction would you like to see the CIPD take in 2012 and beyond?

Last week saw new Chief Executive Peter Cheese take up the reins of the CIPD, “the world’s largest Chartered HR and development professional body” (on Monday 2 July 2012, to be precise).

I would be extremely interested to hear what XpertHR readers would like to see from the CIPD under Peter Cheese’s leadership.

What strategic direction would you like to see the CIPD pursue? What should be the CIPD’s key priorities? Is there anything the CIPD should be doing more (or doing less) of?

You can leave comments via the box below, or get in touch via Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google+.

Jon Ingham’s five point strategic plan for the CIPD

HR consultant and blogger Jon Ingham has set out his five strategic priorities for the CIPD, in a blog post entitled What should be the CIPD’s new strategy?.

Here is an overview of Jon’s five key recommendations for the CIPD’s new strategy (I highly recommend heading over to Jon’s blog, to see the detailed reasoning underpinning each of his recommendations):

1. Developing more focus on Strategic HR (or HCM)…
2. …Including more focus on Social HR
3. Being more social itself (i.e. more membership-based)
4. Getting rid of Bridge [Note: Jon is here referring to the CIPD's controversial 2009 acquisition of HR consultancy Bridge Partnership, which he describes in his post as "by far the worst decision of the previous administration"].

5. Developing these themes through the conference

Peter Cheese: ‘This is the most interesting and important time ever to be in HR’

So what can the UK HR profession expect from Peter Cheese?

“[T]his is the most interesting and important time ever to be in HR,” says Cheese, in a recent interview with People Management.

People Management speculates that the CIPD may well have been persuaded to take Cheese on because of the emphasis he placed on “focussing on the business value of HR” while in a previous role with Accenture’s Talent and Organisation Performance Consulting Practice.

In this interview, Cheese argues that the current trying economic circumstances present HR professionals with the perfect opportunity to help their organisations in “creating the right environment for success.”

Cheese says that many UK organisations are now asking themselves the following questions:

Am I creating the right environment for success – which we might call the business culture, leadership, attitudes and so on – to enable [...] people to give their best? They can only do this with HR’s input, so it’s a time of great opportunity.

He believes that in the current harsh economic climate, chief executives are more likely to be receptive to HR initiatives focussing on ‘soft’ issues about culture and organisation.”

Cheese says:

Now they are more likely to recognise these areas of their business are critical and want to engage in the debate and take action. Because of all of this challenge and opportunity, in fact, I’d say this is the most interesting and important time ever to be in HR.

What’s your view?

What direction would you like to see the CIPD take in 2012 and beyond?

Please feel free to leave comments via the box below, or get in touch via Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google+.

See also:

• CIPD qualifications: Essential for getting ahead in HR in 2012? This post, which looks at XpertHR research which suggested that many UK HR professionals view CIPD qualifications as essential to progression through the ranks of the HR profession, gave rise to a fascinating and extensive debate earlier this year, with input from HR professionals in the UK and from other countries, and from representatives of the CIPD.
• Coalition Government’s ‘deregulation drive’ will not aid job creation, says CIPD The CIPD has recently questioned the potential impact of some of the Coalition Government’s proposals for radical employment law reform.
• Raising the bar for HR leadership Read People Management’s interview with Peter Cheese.

• CIPD defends £3m Bridge deal after ‘anti-competitive’ criticisms and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development buys consultancy Bridge Partnership for £3m Read Personnel Today’s 2009 reports on the CIPD’s acquisition of the Bridge Partnership HR consultancy.
• Interview with Jackie Orme chief executive of the CIPD This interview from People Management with previous CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme includes the following paragraph on the Bridge Partnership acquisition: “Bridge is not a traditional HR consultancy and worked for Orme when she was at PepsiCo, leading some CIPD members to conclude that the deal is to the detriment of the association’s consultancy members. Orme defends the move by stressing that Bridge’s strength in working with business leaders and CEOs will help the association better serve HR strategists. She adds that the CIPD’s director of HR capability, Stephanie Bird, who took up this new role last year, is working with Bridge to ensure the CIPD maximises value from the acquisition.”
• Jon Ingham: What should be the CIPD’s new strategy?  Visit Jon Ingham’s Strategic HCM blog to read his list of strategic recommendations for the CIPD under Peter Cheese’s leadership.

• The image used on this page was sourced from Wikimedia Commons, and originally comes from Project Gutenberg.