Our Business Perspectives half-day masterclass in London on Wednesday 10 February 2016 will look at ways in which care can influence leadership, organisational strategy, HR policy and issues of work/life balance. The event will be hosted by Dr Leah Tomkins, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies at the OU Business School, who has held senior leadership positions in Accenture, KPMG, PwC and the Cabinet Office, Whitehall. Amongst the keynote speakers will be Professor Yiannis Gabriel (University of Bath), Dr Viv Burr (University of Huddersfield), David Macdonald, Director of Organisational Learning at Arup and Zoe Davies, head of Accenture’s ‘Accent on Enablement’ programme.
We’ll explore some of the meanings associated with care, and their implications for our approach to work, career and organisational and personal commitments. In thinking about where these meanings come from – and how they are charged with some of our most primitive emotions – we hope to offer some reflections and provocations for how care might influence organisational strategy and practice. We’ll consider three particular aspects of care, and try to tease out their common themes:
- Care as an element of organisational culture; what does a ‘caring organisation’ look like, and what are its barriers and enablers?
- Care as a central dynamic of leadership; what does it mean to be a ‘caring leader’, and would we really want to work for one?
- Care in relation to work/life balance; how can we reconcile the rhetoric of flexible working with the reality of juggling work and care, especially relevant with our ageing population?
This event will appeal to those interested in issues of organisational strategy and culture, leadership, HR management, demographics and workforce planning, diversity and equality. It will have a special relevance for those juggling these interests with a caring commitment themselves.
For further information and to register, visit our website.
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