embRACE at CIPD ACE #cipdACE

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I was attempting to have a more creative title for this particular post, but last night at the embRACE event at The Midland Hotel Manchester was an event that spoke for itself.

One word to describe last nights event – pride. This meant so much to people in the room and you could truly feel it, everyone was truly proud of who they were and interested in how we could all do our bit to embrace inclusion.

embRACE is a group set up by the CIPD which is designed to create a safe space within the CIPD for those who wish to discuss racial diversity. This has always been a taboo subject that people don’t feel comfortable approaching and this event was designed to change attitudes towards this; why are we not discussing racial diversity more within our workspaces. A point I raised with a couple of the attendees was that employers often say “we are an equal opportunities employer” just to be clear, diversity and inclusion is not a tick box exercise to satisfy your equal opportunities policy,  the conversations just need to simply take place; it is about truly embracing diversity.

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HR Acts of Kindness at #cipdACE

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Yes, you read that right! HR acts of kindness will be at this years CIPD annual conference and exhibition. If you’ve not seen it already, check out the video on YouTube here.

There will be 50 envelopes scattered around the event, so if you find one, send me a message as there is one very special card!

If you find one, please let me know by sharing a picture of it on Twitter and tagging me in @natalieellishr and sing the hashtag #HRActsofKindness

See you in Manchester!

#CIPDACE Free session highlights

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With just over a week to go, the countdown really is on for this years CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition! There is always such a brilliant buzz around this event and this year, the focus is all upon Leading The People Profession which certainly is a powerful theme!

Ok so what does this year’s event have in store for us?

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National Mentoring Day 2018 #MentoringRocks

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“I believe that everyone has the ability to share their experiences; by doing so, you have the power to inspire the next generation of professionals”.

The above quote is one that I wrote back in April 2017 when I was leading a session for the CIPD Northamptonshire Branch member to member mentoring scheme, so it is quite personal to me, but is is one that I wholly believe in.

As HR professionals, we have a world of resources at our disposal; our network being one of the strongest assets that we have, this may not be unique to the HR profession, but it is certainly one that is powerful and has a solution to almost every challenge. This is particularly useful for mentoring, as the mentee may not even know some of the things that you do.

This was one of the many reasons why I decided to become a mentor in 2012 when I joined the CIPD Steps Ahead programme, since then I have been fortunate to act as one of their ambassadors in addition to mentoring job seekers. In 2017 I successfully supported 8 people into work; this was a range of people with different backgrounds some were returning to work after a period of absence, some were working parents looking for a career or returning to work, and others had just left university and were unsure what options were available to them. In addition to this, I co-founded the CIPD Northants branch mentoring scheme in 2016 which is beginning to grow in popularity.

The beauty of mentoring, is that you are supporting people using your existing skills and knowledge so it is not particularly difficult to do, all it takes is about an hour of your time every other week and you can make a big difference to someone’s life. It offers the opportunity to support others to encourage career development and support whilst unlocking their full potential.

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Is it time to rethink how we approach mental health? #worldmentalhealthday2018

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Today is world mental health day and whilst social media is alive with support, I can’t help but think about how mental health has become such a wider issue and how this has been responded to within organisations.

Long gone are the days where people “leave their problems at the door” before walking into their workplaces each morning, now there is a much greater emphasis for organisations to be more proactive when it comes to supporting employees mental health and wellbeing.

Promoting positive mental health at work is a great place to start, many employers have Employee Assistance Programmes, Occupational Health facilities and some are taking it that one step further by implementing Mental Health First Aiders within their businesses to proactively support employees.

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