IHRC End of Year Event

Perspectives on Executive & Leadership Development
2nd December 2010

In January the IHRC – ZGP 2010 programme began with the information that future

challenges at the top of the overall HR agenda included:

• Managing Talent,

• Improving Leadership Development

• Strategic Workforce Planning

How appropriate, therefore, that the End of Year event should focus on bringing
together executives and thought leaders from industry and consultancy for a very
successful symposium focusing on these topics. Despite sudden snowfall, some 70
key HR executives, Business Partners and consultants braved the weather to
exchange and discuss Perspectives on Executive and Leadership Development at
Au Premier in Zürich.

Introduced by Anna Cocca and moderated by Hilary Frazer, the symposium began
with presentations by key speakers:
Dr Michael Elwell (Global Research Director at Huntsman Advanced Materials AG)
gave his perspective from the view of the customer. He emphasized the need for
HR professionals to know their business from the outside-in and the importance of
partnership in order to overcome both business and external everyday challenges,
as the working environment around us changes.

This was supported by Tony Awcock (Head of Talent Management, Holcim Group
Support Ltd). With over 30 years experience and presenting as an expert in
Leadership Development and Organisational Effectiveness, Tony showed us the
strategies, processes and programmes applied by Holcim to succeed despite the
challenges faced by the Aggregates industry.

Dana Brice Smith (Co-Founder & Director Trestle Group Foundation) continued by
showing how best-practice E&LD expertise has been applied by a not-for-profit
organization to facilitate knowledge transfer between high performers in blue-chip
companies in mature economies and women entrepreneurs in developing countries
for the benefit of both.

Finally, Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jordan (General Manager Catalyst Europe AG) spoke
eloquently of a common theme running throughout all of the presentations –
Diversity. Tabi elucidated and reinforced the compelling case that a diverse
workforce in which women are fully able to participate, whilst respecting their needs
and differences, is essential to business and economic success.

Rolf Erny followed by leading a podium discussion with the speakers and 2
additional representatives: Anna Cocca (Global HR Business Partner, ABB) talking
from an HR Management perspective and Dr Roman Borboa (Principal, Borboa &
Partners) speaking as an expert in Positive Psychology. Discussing the topic further,
it became clear that:

• Companies should be alert and open for future trends,

• Develop and deploy programmes, which address both the needs of the
  organization and the increasingly diverse workforce within it,

• Take into account what really matters to all of them from Baby Boomers to

Generation “Y and even Z”
The event concluded with special thanks to Hanneke Frese for the excellent work
she has done leading the IHRC – ZGP during 2010. We also heard the first thoughts
from Carsten Sudhof as the incoming Head of the Core Team for 2011. An Apèro-
Riche and networking ended a very successful year, so much so that 10 of the
attendees asked to be new members on the basis of this event alone!

Hilary Frazer and Rolf Erny