Highlights from our Thought Leadership Sessions at the 2020 Elliott Scott Group Management Conference

Once a year the Elliott Scott Group runs a Management Conference in the UK.

The Managing Directors of our global businesses travel in for four days and we kick off the year with knowledge building sessions and strategise for the year ahead. I’m very lucky to be able to bring my leadership team together and talk to them in person, not only about the previous year but to also understand more about what it is they want to do with the business they run. It’s an invaluable period of time and while we get a lot of business value out of it, I genuinely love to see such a great group of people all in one place.

This is the 6th year that we’ve run the conference and each year we try to mix it up a little. This year we brought in some external speakers and we were fortunate to have two of our sessions run by these Thought Leaders; Sasha Scott, Founder of the Inclusive Group and Thierry Moschetti, Partner at The Resilience Institute Europe. Both Sasha and Thierry are exceptional individuals in their field who not only gave us a lot to think about but who also were able to give us a great insight into what is happening in our clients worlds.

While I won’t give away too much of the detail I did want to highlight a few of my key takeaways.

Sasha Scott ran a session on Inclusion and Diversity: There is a trend towards prioritising inclusion and putting that before diversity. Globally more companies are identifying departments as I&D rather than D&I in order to really highlight where the focus lies. Personally, my take on this is that diversity highlights the differences in identity and who we are, but inclusion is about creating the right workplace culture where you feel you can be yourself and are able to share your ideas and have a sense of belonging.

‘Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance’. Gender and race are still big areas of focus but increasingly socioeconomic issues are being highlighted and discussed as a problem.

A key 2020 trend is ESG (environmental, social and governance). It is important for global organisations, when looking at their I&D agendas, to ensure strategies are adapted for the country they are rolling out an initiative to. This is because differences in local governance need to be considered to ensure employees remain safe and protected. The more we talk and listen to others then the more we understand. Whatever your background your voice should be heard and if we can listen more we’ll learn to understand what truly is important to people.

In 2019 we ran some amazing breakfast roundtables looking into I&D with Sasha Scott in London and we will be launching a new series this year in March, get in touch with Kirstin Hunt if you would be interested in attending.

Thierry Moschetti spoke to us about Resilience: We are our most productive in the morning. Through the diagram below we were shown how our productivity and decision making capabilities fluctuate throughout the day. The peaks on the Judges and Parole graph show how more prisoners are paroled at the start of the day, after morning break and then lunch. It highlights the importance of staying fresh and engaged throughout the day and that means regular breaks and plenty of food and water to ensure you don’t fall away. The best decisions are made by people who are well rested and clear in both thought and mind. 

Social interaction and connections are vital for a well-balanced mind at work. Feeling accepted helps us defeat loneliness and isolation. The power of positive emotions result in a 46% increase in job satisfaction, 16% increase in job performance and 25% decrease in burnout.

 At the end of the conference I reiterated to my teams the importance of their wellness and encouraged them to try something new this year that will benefit them, whether it’s a new exercise class, a wellness app or to incorporate meditation and breathing exercises into their day. Too often we can get caught up in our “daily grind” and it was great to have these key points highlighted to us. By listening to experts and hearing their views we can remind (and educate) ourselves on what is not only important but will help us both professionally and personally. 

Both Sasha and Thierry are guests in the first series of our newly launched podcast ‘HR Insights’. 

The first episode is out on Monday 10th February with Sasha as our first guest. 

Find out more over on the Elliott Scott HR blog and subscribe via most popular podcast apps for future releases.