Distinction Events

CIPD Central London: Systems Thinking For HR Professionals

Wednesday, October, 2

18:00 to 19.30

Online

Tickets available here

CIPD Central London: Culture By Design

Tuesday, June 18

4:30 – 6pm GMT+1

Online

Tickets available here

A value packed webinar to help you learn how to build the culture you want. Culture is your unseen key to success. It’s the intangible quality that sets top-performing teams apart from the rest. Are you navigating hybrid working, talent shortages, DEI challenges and seeking to foster high levels of wellbeing for your team? Culture plays a critical role to your success in all of these areas!

So how do you build your culture by design?

Culture expert and best selling author, Shane Hatton will be sharing a practical and clear framework for creating a team culture by design. Backed by research of over 1,000 front line managers exploring their contribution to building and shaping culture through the lens of communication, Shane explores five practical conversations to design your team’s culture and elevate your role in shaping the future of your organisation. Whether you’re a seasoned leader or new to the game, this session will equip you with the tools you need to become a culture champion in your organisation.

Shane will then be joined by two industry leaders to discuss real world examples and the lessons, insights and impacts investing in culture has brought about for their organisations.

Key Learning Outcomes
• Understand the critical role of frontline leaders in shaping team culture.

• Understand the impact of culture on wellbeing, engagement and performance.

• Learn a clear, actionable framework for creating a strong team culture.

• Identify key factors that contribute to or detract from a strong team culture.

• Learn the culture conversations to have to rebuild and strengthen trust, especially in a post-COVID context.

• Gain practical tools for designing a team culture that aligns with organisational goals.

About the speaker:

Shane Michael Hatton is a 2x bestselling Author and global expert on Team Culture and Leadership. With a prolific career as a speaker he has spent the last decade developing remarkable leaders and teams across industries, blending his experience in business and psychology to help them to communicate, connect and collaborate more effectively.

His expertise can be found in notable publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The Australian, Foundr, Company Director, and more. Currently, he is elevating the conversation about culture across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA, upholding his reputation as a global thought leader.

Organisation Design and Development: an integrated HR practice

Thu, 9 May 2024

18:00 – 19:30 BST

Online

Tickets available here

Organisation Design and Organisation Development are typically seen as two different but related fields of HR practice. Design emphasises the formal, tangible organisation: structures and processes for example; meanwhile Development looks at the informal, intangible organisation, such as leadership, relationships and culture. Seasoned HR professionals are expected to be strong in both domains and, in practice, often find themselves doing both at once.

So what does integrating the two ODs really look like? What does it mean for the HR practitioner, the wider organisation and for good OD practice? In this engaging workshop Martin Saville, Helen Charles-Edwards and Clare Joghee, of ‘People Change’ consultancy Mayvin will share the joys and perils of an integrated OD approach and invite you to share your stories, knowledge and experience in small groups. You will deepen your understanding of the issues at play, strengthen your own HR practice and leave with new things to try out.

CIPD Change Management Conference

17 April 2024

Montcalm, Marble Arch, London

The CIPD Change Management Conference 2024 invites you to a day of interactive learning. Throughout the conference, we will journey through topics guided by a typical change management cycle, embedding theory and practice of change models and where applicable using organisational development and design principles. Delivered through a mix of case studies, workshops and panels; relate to speakers from similar organisations and be inspired by Change Makers disrupting the industry with fresh perspectives.

We are delighted to be leading a session on the power of cultural alignment in embedding long-term change and success

4-day week- could this work for your organisation?

Wednesday 3 April

18:00 to 19:15

Online

Tickets available here

Come and hear from our speakers about how they’ve made a 4 day week work in their organisation:

– What worked for them

– What challenges they came across

– How they got senior buy-in

– What they learnt

About the speakers

1. Claire-Louise Hall, Head of People and Agile Working at Citizens Advice Gateshead Claire-Louise Hall FCIPD | LinkedIn

2. Gary Conroy, CEO of 5 Squirrels skincare Gary Conroy | LinkedIn

CIPD Central London: How to build leadership capability in your organisation

12:00 to 13:15 GMT

Tuesday 16 January 2024

Online

About the event

In today’s dynamic and ever-evolving business landscape, the need for effective leadership has never been more crucial to achieving your strategic objectives. A strong leadership team can drive innovation, navigate internal and external challenges, enhance employee engagement, and steer your organisation towards long-term success. However, building leadership capability requires careful planning, development, and support.

Join us for an enlightening event as we explore the art and science of leadership development. There will be insights on how to align leadership development with your organisation’s strategic goals.

The session will be delivered by Garin Rouch FCIPD and Dani Bacon from Distinction Consulting. Garin and Dani are organisation development practitioners who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in transforming leaders and enhancing organisational effectiveness. They have extensive experience supporting leadership teams across private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including boards, senior leaders, middle managers, and high potential individuals embarking on their first steps in leadership in leadership development.

Key Topics to Be Covered:

• The key attributes of effective leadership in modern work environments

• How to identify the leadership capabilities you need to develop in your organisation

• Building a customised leadership development strategy tailored to your organisation’s unique needs

• Creative options to build the capability of your leaders

• Evidence-based tips to maximise the impact of your leadership development efforts

• Nurturing a culture of continuous learning and leadership growth

Event Highlights:

There will be lots of engaging discussion and Q&A sessions to address your specific leadership challenges. We’ll also encourage you to build your network with fellow HR and L&D professionals.

Whether you’re an HR professional, a senior leader, or anyone interested in fostering strong leadership within your organisation, this event promises to provide valuable insights and actionable strategies.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to develop leadership capability and drive your organization to new heights.

Book your tickets here

CIPD Central London: Team Coaching – How to help your team triumph

18:00 to 19:30 GMT

Thursday 8 February 2024

Online

Join us with Declan Woods from teamGenie learn more about team coaching.

How does it differ from facilitation… or team building… or group action learning…

What is involved in a program of team coaching?

Is the team ready for coaching yet? Is the team’s leader?

How might a team benefit from team coaching?

What should I look for when choosing a great team coach?

If you’re confused by team coaching, then you’re not alone. We know what great team coaching practice looks like – we created the global industry standard in team coaching.

The interactive webinar will be delivered by CIPD Fellow, Dr. Declan Woods, Global Head of Team Coaching Standards and Accreditation with the Association for Coaching (AC), and CEO of global team coaching company, teamGenie®.

Tickets available here

CIPD Central London: How to build organisation development capability in your organisation

Tuesday 21 November 2023

18:00 to 19:30 GMT

London – venue tbc

Organisation Development (OD), has the power to transform organisations, shape cultures, and empower individuals. But where do you begin if you want to apply OD in your organisation? It can feel a bit overwhelming knowing where to start, so we’ll be exploring the key questions:

• How do you assess if you need to build OD capability?

• What problems can it help you overcome? What goals can it help you achieve?

• How does it create value and impact?

• How do you know what kind of OD support you need?

• Should you develop internal capability or should you bring in external support?

• What are some of the challenges along the way?

We’ve invited 2 first class guests who will be sharing real-world case studies and approaches to support you. They’ll be pulling on their own experiences of building OD capability in very different environments across the public and private sectors. We’ll explore common hurdles organisations face when trying to understand how OD&D can support their organisation.

If you’re new to Organisation Development, don’t worry we’ll also give you a quick explainer to bring you up to speed.

You will come away with actionable strategies and best practices for enhancing your organisation’s OD&D capability.

Who Should Attend:

This workshop is ideal for HR professionals, organisation leaders, and anyone interested in understanding and enhancing their organisation’s capability for delivering on their strategy, solving difficult complex problems and improving the employee experience.

Book your ticket here

CIPD OD and D Network in London: New horizons – How to implement new ways of working in your organisation

Get your tickets here

CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition

Wednesday 8 November 2023

Manchester Central Convention Complex

Join Garin at the Careers Hub Panel session: What I wish I’d known before becoming an HR consultant or coach and then on the HR Insights Transformation Stage on Thursday 9th November 2023

Get your tickets here

CIPD Central London: Agile HR: How to Get Started

Thu 5th October

18:00 – 19:30 BST

Online

An Agile mindset and ways of working are now crucial capabilities for all HR, People and Culture teams needing navigate our current climate of business complexity, uncertainty and change. People professionals also play a critical role in modernising people practices for the now of work and helping to steer business agility across the broader organization.

Agile HR is an exciting topic transforming our profession, but it can be intimidating and hard to contextualise. Natal Dank, co-author of Agile HR: Deliver Value in a Changing World of Work, will help you understand what agility means for People teams and how to apply the mindset and tools to enrich the employee experience and deliver business impact.

Be inspired to break boundaries and explore an outside-in perspective on how you can revolutionise your own team, function and career.

In the session Natal will explain the why, the what and the how of Agile HR. She’ll also share some of her most recent real-world case studies gained from working with People teams across the globe including companies such as TomTom, Unilever, Cambridge University Press and Assessment, Tombola, Macmillan Cancer Research and Arup.

This session is perfect if you:

 

• • are new to Agile HR and want to get started.

• • already work with Agile HR and are looking to be inspired by new approaches and learn from a real-world case studies.

• • are experienced with Agile but want to apply the skills within an HR context.

• • just curious!

Tickets for the event are free and can be booked here.

Asia Organization Development Network: Proactive OD for Thriving Organisations

10:00 – 11:30 IST / 11:30 to 13:00 BKK / 12:30 to 14:00 China Time

Saturday 29 July 2023

We are delighted to have been invited to deliver a session for the Asia Organization Development Network (AODN). We’ll be sharing our OD practices and insights on the critical subject of ‘Prevention is Better than Cure’.

To attend, please email asiaorgdevnetwork@gmail.com

Civil Service OD&D webinar: Prevention is better than cure

Wed 12 July 2023

13:00 to 14:15

Are you ready to shift your focus from reactive to proactive?

Organisations often misuse their OD practitioners, relying on them to fix problems instead of preventing them.  Join us for an enriching, immersive session featuring Dani Bacon and Garin Rouch FCIPD from Distinction Consulting. Together, we will delve into strategic and practical methods for positioning Organisation Development at the frontline of problem prevention and optimising our potential in the increasingly volatile BANI world (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible).

In this webinar, we will dive into three key areas:

Creating Tripwires by Building Psychological Safety: Learn how fostering a culture of psychological safety can serve as an early warning system for potential issues. We’ll explore ways to encourage employees to voice ethical dilemmas, suggest improvements, and challenge unsafe practices.

Stack the Odds in Your Favour when it Comes to Strategy: Discover the importance of participative decision-making and how OD can bring diverse perspectives into the decision-making process, leading to more creative, adaptive, and successful strategies.

Assessing and Building Change Readiness: Understand the critical role of assessing organisational and individual readiness for change and how OD practitioners can help build resilience and adaptability to ensure successful change initiatives.

This webinar is for you, if you are looking to continue to develop your OD practice in proactively preventing organisational issues and increase likelihood of thriving organisations in the face of complexity and uncertainty.

Please contact Susanne Gidda, Civil Service OD and D Professionalisation and Capability Lead at the Cabinet Office

CIPD Organisation Development and Design Group: From VUCA to BANI: Rethinking Your OD Practice in a Complex World with Martin Saville, Mayvin

Tues 27 June 2023

12:00 to 13:15

It’s no longer news that the world is becoming increasingly complex and unknowable. VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) has been part of OD practitioners’ lexicon for many years now, but even VUCA no longer seems to capture people’s experience. More recently the term BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible) has found favour in these overwhelming, near-apocalyptic times. What does this mean for us as OD people, as leaders, as humans?

Our guest expert is the brilliant, Martin Saville from Mayvin. Mayvin have been developing the notion of ‘practice’ as a possible response. This powerful, simple idea, which underpins our Masters in People and Organisation Development, is helping organisations, their leaders and change-makers learn closer to the grain of their work and find some peace in the storm.

In this interactive session we will share more about their approach to ‘practice-based learning’ and offer a chance to play with some simple tools to help you think about your own OD practice development.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-vuca-to-bani-rethinking-your-od-practice-in-a-complex-world-tickets-646016872857

CIPD Central London Branch: How to Be a Productivity Ninja

Tue, 6 Jun 2023

09:30 – 11:00

Overwhelmed? Struggling with constant distractions, information overload and a rapidly changing business environment? Under pressure to juggle productivity and wellbeing? Challenging time ahead? We’re here to help.

Time is not your most precious resource: your attention is. We help you manage attention and focus, projects and actions, as well as choices and habits.

At the end of this session you will have developed an understanding of the systems and techniques set out in Graham Allcott’s ‘How to be a Productivity Ninja’ book.

You’ll reduce stress by eliminating those nagging feelings of doubt, guilt and overload panic, and replace them with a focused, playful, purposeful and productive momentum.

With guest speaker – Hayley Watts, Think Productive:

Hayley helps people who have too much work and not enough time. Hayley is interested in helping organisations and individuals to improve their meetings and meeting cultures. She is an accredited facilitator and loves nothing more than facilitating conversations that help move teams forward. Hayley is an experienced Productivity Ninja, discovering the world of productivity whilst working as a stressed-out CEO she has learnt to implement tools and techniques that will work for anyone whose role gives them some level of autonomy over deciding what they can do next. Hayley has trained thousands of people to help them do the same. Hayley is the Co-Author of ‘How to Fix Meetings’ (shortlistsed for the Business Book of the Year Awards 2022). Hayley is especially interested in habits and how different people can create habits and motivate others to do so too.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-be-a-productivity-ninja-tickets-609260804467?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

CIPD Central London Branch: Leading change without the chaos

Wed, 17 May 2023

18:00 – 19:30 BST

CIPD Organisation Development and Design Conference, Montcalm Marble Arch

20 April 2023

13:50 – 14:30 (BST) Montcalm Hotel, Marble Arch

Join us at the annual CIPD OD and D Conference where we will be running a workshop on Day 2 all about the role of OD in supporting effective decision-making

Workshop: Evaluating effective evidence-based practice for decision-making

Get ready for an engaging and thought-provoking session that will answer the question on every leader’s mind: “Is it possible to implement change in an organization without creating chaos?”

Join us as we share strategies and tactics for leading change, while minimizing disruption to your teams and organisation.

Our experienced change leaders will take the stage to share their experiences, challenges, and insights on how to manage change effectively. From engaging employees proactively in the change process to effective communication, building trust, and what to do when things inevitably go off course.

We are excited to be joined by Liz Childs, Organization Development Consultant at the House of Commons, and other engaging guests. The session will be facilitated by Garin Rouch FCIPD, Co-chair of CIPD Central London and Chair of CIPD London Organization Development Design Group.

By the end of the session, you’ll leave with a better understanding of how to lead change in a way that inspires teams, improves organizational performance, and drives success. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best and feel equipped to approach change with greater confidence!

Get your tickets here.

CIPD Central London Branch: Organisation Design: Top Tips for Getting Started

Tue, 14 March 2023,

18:00 – 19:30 GMT

Are you keen to learn more about how organisation design? Are you about to embark on your first organisation design?

Organisation Design is so much more than shuffling boxes on an organisation chart. HR should be at the heart of any organisation design, rather than relegated to implementing the plans handed to them by other leaders. To make a full contribution, HR needs to be engaged early and often in the design process.

In this interactive session, we’ll be exploring the key questions:

 

• • What is organization design and what does it involve?

• • How to start your career in Org Design

• • What are the pitfalls of Organisation Design?

• • What are the misunderstandings of Org Design?

• • How is organisation design changing?

We’re inviting 3 Organisation Design experts to share their insights and experiences of designing and restructuring organiations for optimal performance. Our expert speakers will guide you through some of the approaches, tools and techniques they use.

So, whether you’re just at the beginning of your Organisation Design journey, you’ve already taken your first step or you’re just curious to know more, we hope you’ll find this session enlightening and useful.

Tickets here

CIPD Central London: How to host and design transformative hybrid spaces

Wed, 1 March 2023

 12:00 – 13:15 GMT

We’re excited to announce our involvement with the Winter CIPD London Organisation Development and Design group session open to senior OD practitioners.

We’ve invited the extremely engaging Gwen Stirling Wilkie to be our guest practitioner. An accomplished author and practitioner, Gwen will be sharing her knowledge, insights and expertise on Hybrid working. She’ll be exploring how we can deliver results in an Omni-Working environment.

She’ll be covering:

How do I approach designing change interventions blending different approaches (hybrid, asynchronous, F2F)?

How do I design and deliver an engaging and inclusive hybrid workshop?

What capabilities do we need to develop in our managers to thrive in a hybrid environment?

What is the role of HR and OD in building that capability?

You’ll even have the chance to contribute to her doctoral #research!

This interactive session is open to senior and experienced OD practitioners

CIPD Central London: How to Start Your Career in Organisation Development and Design

Thu, 26 January 2023

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT

 

Are you curious about going into Organisation Development? Are you just at the beginning of your career, or are you an HR practitioner who would like to take on more OD responsibilities. Maybe you’d like to go into OD consulting? We wanted to run a practical and insightful session to help you get started. Every person’s journey into Organisation Development is different so we’ll be exploring different routes into it!

So, we’ll be inviting a range of OD practitioners

In this session, we’ll explore a number of different pathways:

· How to become an internal OD practitioner

· How to become an organisation design expert

· How to become an external OD practitioner

Our panel of experts will be sharing their experiences and answering your questions. We’ll explore how they got started in OD, what does a day in their life look like and what courses they’ve studied. So, whether you’re just at the beginning of your OD journey, you’ve already taken your first step or you’re just curious to know more, we hope you’ll find this session enlightening and useful.

CIPD Central London: Organisation Development Skills for HR Practitioners

Tue, 20 September 2022

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM BST

This interactive and engaging 90 minute session is all about how you can apply an Organisation Development approach into your work as an HR practitioner. There has never been a greater need for OD skills in the workplace to support your stakeholders and initiate and drive change.

Organisation Development is a highly developed field that takes a systems based approach to improving the effectiveness of our organisations. Adopting the mindset and skillset of an OD practitioner into your HR practice can be extremely valuable.

This session will introduce the essential skills and approach you need to add value to your stakeholder relationships and create significant change.

The session will cover:

• Introduction to OD and how it works

• How to work with your organisation as a system

• How to take an OD partnering approach to working with your stakeholders

• You’ll also receive a toolkit of tried and tested decision-making tools to enhance the quality of your decisions

The session is based on high-quality research with rich insights to help HR leaders sharpen their OD skills.

So, whether you’re in HR or Learning and Development and want to understand how to incorporate OD skills into your approach or you’re simply curious about understanding what organisational development is and how you can apply it this session is for you.

CIPD Organisation Development and Design Conference

20-21 April 2022

10:20 – 11:00 (BST) , Leonardo Royal London Tower Bridge Hotel and online

Garin is joining Karen Dumain, National OD Capability Development Lead, NHS England and Improvement and David Wilson, Global Head of Organisation Development, Standard Chartered Bank on the panel to discuss:

How can OD&D be aligned with business goals to improve performance?

Friday 25 February 2022

10am BST Inside Track Podcast

Last week Dani spent some time talking to Tony Lockwood on his Inside Track podcast. They had a great conversation about change and transformation and the importance of putting people front and centre of our programmes.

It’s on all the usual podcast apps but quick links to a couple here:

Apple Spotify

Thursday 16th September 2021

09:30 to 16:15 BST CIPD Lincolnshire

CONFERENCE: The World is Changing. Are We?

This event is open to all & will explore the concepts and practical issues around returning to the workplace. How do you make it right for your business, build on what’s worked during lockdown and ensure the ‘new approach’ aligns to your business’ needs rather than reverting to what was in place before?

Excellent speakers covering culture and engagement, leadership and hybrid working: Jo Moffatt Jo Mason Dani Bacon Garin Rouch MCIPD MSc FLPI 

plus a panel of experts for a practical Q&A session  Thomas Martin Paul Burrows Chris Owen CMIOSH

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-world-is-changing-are-we-tickets-166136750493?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Monday 28 June 2021

18:00 to 19:30 BST CIPD Central London

WEBINAR: Effective Decision Making for HR professionals

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/effective-decision-making-for-hr-professionals-agm-tickets-159105834835?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Wednesday 7 July 2021

12:30 to 13:30 BST Culture Recruitment

WEBINAR: How to Achieve Hybrid Working Success

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-achieve-hybrid-working-success-tickets-158727075957

Wednesday 21 April 2021

12:00 to 13:00 (GMT) The Progress Club

WEBINAR: 4 Steps to Supercharge your decision-making

Book here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theprogressclub

Wednesday 17th March 2021

12:30 to 13:30 (GMT) Culture Recruitment

WEBINAR: How HR leaders can sharpen their Decision-Making skills

Book here: http://How HR leaders can sharpen their Decision Making skills