Austria’s HR community gathers at the Vienna Hofburg

The HR Inside Summit is taking place on 12 and 13 October 2022.

This event aimed at HR professionals and executives: it features exciting keynotes and panel discussions by international HR experts, as well as numerous interactive sessions and pop-up workshops. There will be ample opportunity to network and exchange ideas with colleagues and industry providers. (You can find more information about this year’s programme at www.hrsummit.at)

The event will culminate in the HR Awards, which celebrate and recognise the most innovative HR projects and celebrate them at the HR Award Gala. If you would like to know who has been nominated, here is the link to the shortlist => https://hr-award.at/ shortlist 2022)

Have you ever wondered how the programme for the HR Inside Summit is put together? How does the Überall Scene Development team manage to attract such a wide variety of speakers and workshops? The secret to their success is the HR Advisory Board.

I was also a member of it until I left my position as Vice President. of HR at Paysafe to become a freelance coach, consultant and influencer. Unfortunately, this meant that it was time for me to leave the HR Advisory Board, as only people who are currently working as HR experts within a company are permitted to be members. I now had the opportunity to talk to Barbara Schöfl, VP of Human Relations & Organisational Development at Runtastic GmbH. She has been on the Advisory Board since the beginning of the year and provided me with some valuable insights.

Dear Barbara, I would be interested to hear what has been happening with your HR Advisory Board. How did you become involved?

Last year, I was invited to lead a workshop at the HR Summit, and I chose the topic ‚Pause‘. Why we should pause before continuing.‘ In HR especially, there are often so many things to do at once that we completely forget to take a step back, reflect and take a deep breath.

After the workshop, the Überall team approached me and asked if I would like to join their advisory board, which I was delighted to do. Given my business and HR expertise, I felt it was a good fit.

I agree with you, because taking breaks is an important aspect of self-care. The HR Inside Summit provides the perfect opportunity to escape from everyday office life and find inspiration. The pandemic has been challenging for all of us. In the HR sector in particular, many people haven’t had enough „breathing space“. We were faced with issues such as short-time working, redundancies and maintaining business continuity.

The role of HR shifted from being purely operational to becoming a strategic force, which meant that many people had to work hard. Overall, it’s fair to say that the importance of HR in companies has increased overall!

Can you briefly explain to colleagues who are not familiar with the HR Advisory Board what your contribution to the HR Inside Summit is?

The Advisory Board’s work always begins with a kick-off meeting in the spring. At this meeting, the focus areas are determined and the first speakers are nominated.

These are then evaluated and selected for a keynote or workshop session based on feedback from each board member. Sometimes the topic that the speaker will present ist not yet clear. In this case, the Überall team takes over the communication to clarify keynotes and sessions.

Good teamwork must be essential here if such a successful event is to be put together. What happens after the evaluation process?

Meetings are held at regular intervals to review the programme and address any missing topics or imbalanced itopics. We provide the organising team with feedback, which they then incorporate into the programme design.

In summary, what added value does an advisory board offer you?

The participants come from a range of industries, including manufacturing and IT. For example: flexibility at Runtastic means something completely different to what it means for a manufacturing company.

It is important to represent all sides as well as possible. As HR specialists, we provide input on the topics that are currently occupying us.

So, you provide the topics directly from the ‚corporate front‘, which are then used at the summit?

Yes, *laughs* that’s exactly how it is! Based on this, keynote speakers and workshop participants send us their proposals. These always include a summary of their career and experience plus an overview of the topic to proposed presentation.

These are often accompanied by videos to provide an insight into the person and their presentation skills. All of this is reviewed and then evaluated by the entire board of participants.

So if I want to be a speaker at the summit, I need to prepare well and get ready for a skills assessment? *laughs*. What should I expect form your assessment?

Everyone has access to the materials and is invited to complete an online questionnaire based on predefined criteria. There is also an opportunity to submit comments. The points are then totalled and the contributions are ranked. This is evaluated at the next Advisory Board meeting with any feedback is incorporated to justify the assessment.

I like how well thought out everything is. What is the most important thing for you personally about the programme at the HR Inside Summit?

The variety of topics and diversity. The HR Inside Summit is a large-scale event aimed at a wide range of participants. The content is realistic and practical. It provides a space to address specific issues. It moves away from the superficial use of HR buzzwords.

I have great respect for the organising team and their ability to find and inspire relevant speakers.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a speaker?

Participants want reality, practical input and inspiration, and to learn something. With this in mind, I would suggest reflecting on the following: what am I good at, what have I already implemented, what challenges have I faced and how can I get my audience excited about the topic?

I would like to see experienced speakers as well as rookies who can bring a breath of fresh air to the event, because they are its future.

I agree. Thank you for providing such a clear insight into the work of the Advisory Board. There’s a lot of work involved. Outsiders don’t get to see any of that.

Thank you very much for your time, Barbara. I am already looking forward to the HR Inside Summit in October and catching up with my colleagues from the industry.

Marion Eppinger ist die #hrpassionista

Sie ist Influencerin für Trends im HR-Bereich. Richtungsweisend und agil für Top-Themen der Branche.

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