We take a light-hearted trip around last week’s Festival of Work at London Olympia, which displayed more than a few trappings of a summer music festival…
The CIPD’s Festival of Work. Invigorating panel discussions on all the hottest HR topics, with dashings of celebrity in the form of comedian Katherine Ryan and broadcaster Fearne Cotton.
A heady atmosphere prevailed with panellists universally appearing animated, engaged, enthusiastic – in keeping with an event billed and branded as a “festival” though, admittedly, payroll solutions and employee engagement systems are unlikely to go down quite as well at, say, Glastonbury. Perhaps the CIPD could pitch the concept of an HR stage at Worthy Farm?
One conference session chair let out a loud “Whoo” towards the end of one main stage session, then quickly explained she’d been determined to do this to help inculcate a festival atmosphere. It definitely added something. But undeniably, “whooing” a session on former prisoners returning to the workplace is not quite the same thing as welcoming the Arctic Monkeys on stage.
Loud noises
More loud noises were experienced by delegates at a session on learning and motivation, during which an audience member volunteer was asked how many different ways there were to say the word “Wow”. A star was born as our plucky volunteer took to the stage, head bowed in deep contemplation over his forthcoming performance.
Suddenly, arms outstretched and reaching forward into the audience, he uttered a thunderous “Wow”, causing several attendees to jump out of their seats, then reach for their smartphones as they realised they were witnessing something truly remarkable.
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Andrew Finlay of The Method, who was hosting the session, suggested the “Wow” could be improved upon and perhaps expressed more naturally, given that it was supposed to be uttered in a work environment. The result was an equally enthralling “Wow” delivered with an awed incredulity, as if our volunteer had been presented with a real-time view of the birth of the universe.
Further “Wows” delighted the audience but possibly our volunteer’s flamboyant performance – surely a career in theatre beckons – overshadowed the message about how acting techniques can help us become more purposeful and motivated at work.
A dog’s life
Puppy love at the Festival of Work
Image: CIPD
Meanwhile, in the touchy feely Wellbeing Village, long queues signalled the presence of a free massage area. But next to this the Personnel Today delegation was fascinated to witness HR professionals in their droves lining up for “puppy therapy”. Different strokes as they say …
In a blatant display of ageism, tiny sleepy dogs were placed on cushions where they were gently caressed by people saying “ahh” quite a lot. A smaller crowd, with smartphones at the ready, huddled around the backstage area where the puppies relaxed in between being pawed at by hominids. (Another nod to the music festival – puppy groupies.) No larger, older dogs were in the vicinity (thankfully!) – too smelly, too noisy, too irritable and disruptive, perhaps. And definitely not as cute.
A later session was entitled “Recharge your batteries: Discover the energy-boosting benefits of cobra breathing”. Cobras!!!!? Surely that would be a petting opportunity too far. I hoped the puppies would be safely tucked away by the time the cobras demonstrated their breathing prowess.
“Wow”, indeed. Or should that be “Whooo”?
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