Directors Forum | National HR Summit Australia

8:00 AM

Registration opens
9:05 AM

Opening remarks from the Chairperson
9:15 AM

Welcoming remarks from the Event Partner
9:20 AM
The future of HR – looking at 2030 and beyond

In this session, hear how emerging trends are affecting your workforce and how HR can lead during disruptive times.
- HR jobs of the future – what skills will we need in five years?
- Trends in workplace flexibility – where are we heading?
- Future of work and changing employee expectations
Dionne Woo

Chief People Officer
SiteMinder

Dionne Woo

Chief People Officer
SiteMinder
9:50 AM
Transforming the leadership mindset

We’re seeing an evolution of leaders in the workplace today, with a shift to non-linear leadership development paths. How are companies shaping their leaders to invest in their growth and development?
- How can we build accountability and self-motivated learning in leaders?
- Rethinking leadership development programs with flexible and personalised options
- Navigating the balance between flexible working and fostering valuable connections at work
Jodi Sampson

Chief People Officer
Nanosonics

Jodi Sampson

Chief People Officer
Nanosonics
10:30 AM

Morning tea and refreshments break
11:00 AM
CASE STUDY: Leveraging internal mobility to retain and upskill talent

How are companies developing and implementing internal mobility initiatives to upskill employees and improve retention? Hear how a top company implemented an internal mobility strategy to engage, retain and develop their workforce.
- How internal mobility can improve employee engagement
- Examples of how to design diverse career pathways
- Understanding the connection between internal mobility and organisational performance using data
Angela Wiggins

Chief People Officer
BAE Systems

Angela Wiggins

Chief People Officer
BAE Systems

Angela is a senior executive with 20 years of corporate and defence experience. Angela has been with BAE Systems Australia since 2009 and was appointed as our Chief People Officer in January 2023.

In her role as Chief People Officer, Angela is responsible for leading the human resources function to help enable operational performance by supporting a healthy, safe and high-performing workforce of more than 5,500 employees across Australia.

Angela leads a team of professionals who provide a range of people solutions and services, including people business partnering, workforce planning, talent management, recruitment, reward, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and culture and change.

Prior to her current role, Angela was our Chief Counsel, where she led a range of functions, including legal, security, export control, business continuity management, risk and insurance, records management and business assurance.

Before joining BAE Systems Australia, Angela was a Partner at Fisher Jeffries in the firm’s corporate and commercial practice.

Angela attended the University of Adelaide and obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law with First Class Honours in 2002. She is also a graduate of the Institute of Directors and Companies Secretaries course.

Angela is passionate about the ongoing development of our people. As an active coach and mentor, she provides individuals with ongoing support and guidance to encourage their growth and development and support them with their career progression.

Angela is married with one daughter and enjoys spending quality time with her family, keeping fit and indulging in all the good things life has to offer.
11:45 AM

Session details to be announced shortly
12:15 PM

WORKSHOP: How to influence decision-making in the C-suite

Securing buy-in from C-level leaders is critical to driving HR strategies. This session will discuss how HR leaders can overcome challenges to effectively contribute and influence others at the C-level.

Deborah Howcroft

Vice President Organisation Development and Corporate People Team
Bluescope

Deborah Howcroft

Vice President Organisation Development and Corporate People Team
Bluescope

Deb Howcroft is a senior business executive with experience in both the Australian and international markets. Deb has successfully worked in organisations that are complex and have required strong leadership and influence to achieve desired outcomes. Deb’s primary focus is on the management of change and development of people within businesses to achieve strategic objectives.

With a corporate background Deb currently holds the role of Vice President Global Organisational Development and Corporate Advisory for BlueScope Steel Limited. Prior to this Deb held the role of Executive General Manager Group Organisational Development for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (2014-2018). Deb also worked internationally and locally for the Vodafone Group as Global Director of Organisational Capability for Vodafone Group Limited (2005 – 2008) and Director, People and Brand, Australia for a period of 5 years.

Deb has also worked for many years in a consulting capacity, some of her clients included Origin Energy, NBNCo, Coles Group, Telstra, CBA and NRMA. Working with these clients has ranged from HR strategy, alignment of people practices with organisational strategy, facilitation of groups to achieve outcomes; and coaching individuals to successfully influence the organisation to appropriate agendas.

Throughout her career Deb has led business turnarounds, been involved in start ups and has worked within corporate centers to affect the changes required to align businesses with customer needs. Deb’s key skills are in providing clarity to strategic thinking and being able to break this down into effective operational plans that achieve results. This combined with her commercial and customer understanding, and ability to identify and manage risk, enable her to provide leadership needed both directly, and indirectly, to help businesses and individuals define, and successfully implement change.
1:00 PM

Networking lunch
2:10 PM

LEGAL UPDATE
2:55 PM

Speed networking

Expand your network, make connections, and meet fellow delegates in a structured networking session.
3:15 PM

Afternoon tea and refreshments break
3:45 PM
PANEL: Learning and development to engage remote workers

How can companies deliver effective learning experiences for a hybrid workforce? This session will discuss strategies for employees to capture learning opportunities both in and out of the workplace.
- What learning initiatives are best delivered face-to-face versus virtually?
- Encouraging a learning culture for time-poor and burnt-out employees
- Tips on delivering L&D programs on a budget
- How to secure buy-in for L&D initiatives
- Measuring the ROI of L&D investments
Panellists

Rachel Tschannen

Vice President International HR
Blackhawk Network

Rachel Tschannen

Vice President International HR
Blackhawk Network
4:30 PM

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

In this interactive session, delegates will discuss key HR challenges covered at the conference and develop action points to implement change.
4:40 PM

Day one ends

8:45 AM

Registration opens
9:25 AM

Opening remarks from the Chairperson
9:35 AM
Nurturing the employee experience with psychological safety

IMDEX’s commitment to cultural transformation has been deliberate and intentional, shifting from achievement-oriented to innovation and people-oriented. This culture was created to support a global leadership commitment to building a psychologically safe work environment. In this session, Kiah will share how simple initiatives can have a global impact, including the following:
- Workplace support mechanisms that truly make a difference to employee wellbeing
- Practical measures that contribute to psychological safety
- Authentic and meaningful actions that promote a culture where trust, fairness and inclusion as part of its DNA
Kiah Grant

Chief People Officer
IMDEX

Kiah Grant

Chief People Officer
IMDEX
10:15 AM

FIRESIDE CHAT: Improving productivity and accountability within a remote workforce

The hybrid environment and a diverse range of jobs can make it challenging to track productivity and maintain accountability within teams. In this session, hear how BGIS is rethinking how it measures productivity of its teams.

Sarah Novelli

Executive Director, People & Culture – APAC
BGIS

Sarah Novelli

Executive Director, People & Culture – APAC
BGIS

Sarah Novelli is the Executive Director, People & Culture at BGIS. Having worked in HR leadership roles for over 10 years, Sarah is particularly passionate about developing and executing People Strategies which align with and achieve business goals. Sarah holds a Master of Legal and Ethics, specialising in Industrial Relations and a Bachelor of Business majoring in Human Resources Management. With a strong interest around people analytics and benchmarking, Sarah provides counsel to all levels of leadership around retention, strategic talent management and future capability. Sarah also holds a passion for Diversity & Inclusion, working as an advocate for D&I across various areas.
10:45 AM

Morning tea and refreshments break
11:15 AM
WORKSHOP: Managing ChatGPT in your workforce

It’s essential for HR leaders to ensure employees are using ChatGPT responsibly and effectively to mitigate risks. This session will discuss how to manage ChatGPT use at work.
- Drafting robust policies and clear guidelines to manage the use of AI tools at work
- Ethical and legal considerations for mitigating potential risks
- Monitoring employee usage of ChatGPT
12:00 PM
CASE STUDY: Driving performance through reward, recognition and rest

With a competitive talent market, high delivery expectations and limited budgets, companies need to think differently about how to motivate talent to achieve results. How are companies thinking about reward, recognition and rest as drivers of performance?
- Examples of reward, recognition and rest initiatives for a diverse workforce
- Rethinking the total rewards strategy
- Implementing a modern approach to motivation
Kama Ghosn

Chief People Officer
NobleOak

Kama Ghosn

Chief People Officer
NobleOak
12:40 PM

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: Creating bonus and incentive schemes

In this interactive session, delegates will participate in structured discussions on tailoring and drafting reward schemes.
1:00 PM

Networking lunch
2:10 PM
PANEL: Engaging the next generation of talent

Gen Z employees have a different set of expectations from other generations in the workforce. From remuneration, wellbeing, to growth opportunities, hear how top companies are engaging and retaining their Gen Z workforce.
- What are the key factors that define a great place to work for Gen Z?
- Providing non-traditional career pathways and growth opportunities
- Creating opportunities for on-the-job training and collaboration in a hybrid setting
Panelists

Elise Ward

Chief People Officer
Prospa

Elise Ward

Chief People Officer
Prospa

Elise is currently the Chief People Officer at Prospa – a growing FinTech with a purpose to unleash the potential of every small business. In her role, she has responsibility for the design and delivery of our people strategy. A passionate strengths coach, Elise has more than 15 years’ experience in delivering progressive people and culture strategies across start-ups and multinational organisations. Prior to joining Prospa, Elise led the People & Culture team for Canadian-based technology company Elastic Path Software and has held senior HR roles at Samsung and Tabcorp.

Elise has a Bachelor of HR Management from Macquarie University, a Graduate Certificate in Change Management from AGSM at UNSW, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jodi Paton

Chief People Officer
HOYTS Group

Jodi Paton

Chief People Officer
HOYTS Group

Jodi joined The HOYTS Group in 2013 in a newly formed role heading up the People, Performance and Culture function. She is a key member of the Executive Leadership Team with a primary focus on partnering with senior leaders and key business stakeholders in building organisational capability and employee engagement to foster a learning culture in a high-performance environment. Her remit includes HR, Recruitment, Learning, Payroll, Health, Well-being & Safety and ESG. Jodi has been invited to speak at various conferences and participate on panels, and her team has been awarded the AHRI Award for Technology.

Jodi holds a Master of Organisational Development and Training, a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology (Sport), a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is on the Employer Leadership Group for Workplace Giving Australia. She is also accredited in LSI 360, 360 Profiler Report Interpretation, DiSC and McQuaig.

Prior to joining The HOYTS Group, Jodi held positions in Learning & Development and HR for Jones Lang LaSalle and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

Charmaine Higgins

Group Executive People & Capability
Ventia

Charmaine Higgins

Group Executive People & Capability
Ventia

Charmaine Higgins is an experienced People Leader with 30 years of experience gained across large diverse organisations in the public and private sectors.

Charmaine joined Ventia at its inception in 2015 and has held various Executive and Senior People leadership roles, most recently as Executive General Manager People Business Partnering & Employee Relations.

Charmaine is known for her strong passionate leadership, strategic thinking and business partnering with senior leaders in translating strategy in operational outcomes that drive organisational performance and engagement. She enjoys working within organisations that are values driven, people and customer centric and foster an open, collaborative and results focused culture. Demonstrated success in building strong partnerships with diverse senior executives and leaders and the ability to influence stakeholders in adopting new ways of thinking and working.

Having had both strategic, corporate and operational ‘hands on’ responsibilities in a number of businesses, Charmaine’s strengths and capabilities lie in: Strategy and execution, organisational development, employee relations, transformational change, leadership development, business restructuring, business acquisition, talent acquisition and management, organisational design, learning and development ,remuneration and benefits, HR start up, program and project management.
3:00 PM

How HR can drive innovation

With limited time in the office for collaboration, there are less opportunities to organically work together as a team to generate fresh ideas and strategies. How can we reframe our work environments and mindsets to foster a culture of collaboration and innovation? This session will examine how HR leaders can create opportunities for innovation with teams.
3:45 PM

Directors Forum concludes
3:50 PM

Grand Prize Draws

Expo Passport Grand Prize

Collect all exhibitors’ stamps on the Expo Passport for the chance to win a $5,000 cash prize!

Workshops All Star Grand Prize

Attend all workshops for the chance to win a $5,000 cash prize!

Sponsor Prize Draws

Visit the exhibitors to join prize giveaways!
4:00 PM

Event concludes

Day 1

Day 2

8:00 AM

Registration opens

9:05 AM

Opening remarks from the Chairperson

9:15 AM

Welcoming remarks from the Event Partner

9:20 AM

The future of HR – looking at 2030 and beyond

Dionne Woo

9:50 AM

Transforming the leadership mindset

Jodi Sampson

10:30 AM

Morning tea and refreshments break

11:00 AM

CASE STUDY: Leveraging internal mobility to retain and upskill talent

Angela Wiggins

11:45 AM

Session details to be announced shortly

12:15 PM

WORKSHOP: How to influence decision-making in the C-suite

Deborah Howcroft

1:00 PM

Networking lunch

2:10 PM

LEGAL UPDATE

2:55 PM

Speed networking

3:15 PM

Afternoon tea and refreshments break

3:45 PM

PANEL: Learning and development to engage remote workers

Panellists

Rachel Tschannen

4:30 PM

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

4:40 PM

Day one ends

8:45 AM

Registration opens

9:25 AM

Opening remarks from the Chairperson

9:35 AM

Nurturing the employee experience with psychological safety

Kiah Grant

10:15 AM

FIRESIDE CHAT: Improving productivity and accountability within a remote workforce

Sarah Novelli

10:45 AM

Morning tea and refreshments break

11:15 AM

WORKSHOP: Managing ChatGPT in your workforce

12:00 PM

CASE STUDY: Driving performance through reward, recognition and rest

Kama Ghosn

12:40 PM

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: Creating bonus and incentive schemes

1:00 PM

Networking lunch

2:10 PM

PANEL: Engaging the next generation of talent

Panelists

Elise Ward

Jodi Paton

Charmaine Higgins

3:00 PM

How HR can drive innovation

3:45 PM

Directors Forum concludes

3:50 PM

Grand Prize Draws

4:00 PM

Event concludes