14th People Management Symposium – Review

από | 15/03/2011 | ESG/Sustainability

We are glad to announce the successful completion of the 14th People Management Symposium which took place on 16 and 17 February, 2011 at Aegli Zappeiou.

The audience of 180 top HRM professionals and other executives in related positions, had the opportunity to both watch and participate, as a variety of Greek and foreign speakers took part in an agenda rich with talks, presentations, discussions and workshops. The Symposium’s two keynote speakers were:

Provost and Professor of Psychology at Yale University and “father” of the term “Emotional Intelligence”, Peter Salovey. Through his presentation examining the role of EI in the workplace, the professor explained that Emotional Intelligence can help us have increased positive skills in the workplace, but cannot alone be used as a sole indication of professional or personal success.

In an especially useful and interactive workshop, Yiannis Dimarakis, Managing Director at Scotwork analyzed possibly the most important step in every negotiation process – its preparation. He argued that HR executives today are those who are called upon mostly to negotiate with third parties – due to the nature of their job. The basic “weapons” in their arsenal during any preparation process should be to establish clear targets and limits, collect information, develop strategies and allocate roles, and finally to determine possible concessions to be made during the negotiation process.

Later, a panel discussion, moderated by Mr. Chris Vassiliades, Citi Country Officer for Greece took place. Participants in the discussion were the following:
  •  John Kollas, Executive Director, Group Human Resources, Titan Cement
  •  Andreas Liakos, HR Director & Lead HR Manager Greece, Cadbury Hellas
  •  Asimina Mantzavinou, HR Director, I&S Sklavenitis
  •  Mary Nikolaidou, Head of Group Human Resources, Emporiki Bank
  •  Ria Tampaki, HR Director Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Balkans, MSD Greece
During the discussion, all participants admitted that the role of the Human Resources Director as a strategic business partner is critical, in light of current conditions. They referred particularly to decisions to downsize, that HR managers have made due to the current situation, and presented their own strategies for managing new labor conditions. They also discussed how these changes are expected to affect their companies, stating that it is very important for them to remain constantly vigilant.

The more “human” and optimistic side of being laid-off was presented by Ms Irene Siradaki, HR Executive and ex-HR Director at FNAC, while Ms Georgia Stamatelou, Partner at KPMG, presented a more “technical” side to the HR function, looking at labor issues related to international assignments within companies.

The Symposium’s agenda closed with an analysis of legal issues relevant to the HR professionals from Mr. Dimitris Antoniou, Attorney at Law specialized in corporate labor issues and an affiliate of Professor Alexis P. Mitropoulos. During his presentation Mr. Antoniou looked at all recent changes in labor law. The sad conclusion is one: the labor law will be deregulated, and the situation that will arise with all its shortcomings is just the beginning of a much harsher reality.

Like every year, as part of the Symposium, the Best People Management Awards were presented to the three companies in Greece with the best initiatives.

Please click here to find out more about the 2011 Best People Management Awards.