The 2025 Programme- 2026 coming soon

REGISTRATION & NETWORKING

Chair's welcome and opening comments

Darren Sanderson-Williams, General Manager, Specsavers

Retail HR Scene Setter: Putting your own oxygen mask on first - HR in retail in challenging times

The economic headwinds of increasing costs in a flat/declining market means that retail organisations are facing challenges without necessarily communicating them affectively to teams. How can we support leaders to deliver high performance in an era when employees are not always engaged as they fear the unknown with the current economic climate and inevitable job uncertainty.

• Motivating teams in a business where’s there’s limited growth
• Managing change, both rapid growth and down-sizing
• Developing good culture when budgets are being cut
• Engaging your teams with little or no budget
• Ensuring the HR agenda is relevant, current and supported by the SLT
• The importance of brand and vision in a cultural transition - HR as ‘culture agents

Retail HR Insights Panel: Talent retention succession planning - engagement to thrive at work

• Retention - meeting the expectations of new and great talent
• Decreasing the level of staff turnover - particularly at store level
• Incentives and benefits packages fit for an entire workforce
• How can we drive a more flexible workforce?
• Upskilling the workforce – driving internal mobility through re-skilling and continuous learning
• What specific strategies can organisations implement to retain staff?
• Identifying current and future skill gaps across the organisation

NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK

Retail HR Perspectives: The future of retail digital transformation - use of AI with the HR function

Streamlined workforce planning, prediction and management are just a few benefits that can be unlocked by clever strategic tools and technology, enabling HR to have the agility to quickly realign as priorities change. With the increase in technology how can we ensure we retain the ‘people / human’ part of the business.

• Utilising technologies to streamline certain functions and ensuring successful roll out
• Why data integrity is crucial - how to ensure AI-driven workforce planning delivers real value
• Implementing a new HR system in a business which isn’t tech savvy
• Engagement with HR / ATS systems
• Effective workforce management and talent development - how can HR utilise AI?
• How to harness your HCM data and enhance the employee experience
• How AI can help enrich retail jobs and act as a staff retention driver

NETWORKING LUNCH BREAK

HR Retail Learning Lab: Lazy or liberated - the hidden human cost of AI in retail

Employees increasingly turn to AI for efficiency and endless ideas. But in our retail teams it carries hidden costs. Emails start to sound generic. Relationships feel thinner. Confidence in our own ability to think, write, and decide has already started to erode.

In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the impact of AI on human connection and creative confidence, and all this really matters in retail - an industry built on people. Our speaker will focus on where AI helps and where it doesn’t - to co-create a manifesto for using AI in a way that protects and enhances our organisation’s creativity and culture.

HR Retail Legal Spotlight: Are you ready for the new employment laws - the impact on retail

This session will delve into the details and provide insights into the recent reforms, their practical implications and how businesses need to adapt.

• New legislation coming in - governance and regulation
• The cost implications of minimum wage increases and National Insurance
• New legislation and employee rights eg NMW / NLW
• TU empowerment – an internal forum to give employees a voice

NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK

Retail Strategy Perspectives - From shop floor to c-suite - recognising the importance of belonging in the workplace

• Aligning with industry standards around DEI / ERG’s with minimal resource
• Managing and developing a multi-generational workforce
• Adapting training and development to meet neurodivergent needs
• How do we remove barriers around disability for employees?
• How can HR leaders create a culture which transcends intergenerational differences
• The power of authenticity and representation

Retail Spotlight on: How retailers are supporting redundancy programmes and exiting staff

There’s a real emergency out there at the moment and very wide disparity between organisations doing outplacement support. This session will show you how to meet this challenge and support your middle managers.

Chair's closing comments