By Chris Bailey From HR Gazette

Human Resources (HR), Human Capital Consulting (HCC) Personnel and the host of other names this department is called has gone through a massive overhaul in the last decade. People want to work for cool companies but what makes a company cool? Sure the brand has something to do with it, really you would turn down a job at Google or Apple? The people are what make a company cool. The people define the culture and the experience you have daily. The companies that have the lowest turnover and highest engagement levels often tend to have the most committed workforce all working towards making the company great.

The heart of that machine is a finely tuned HR practice. The other functions Business Development, Accounts, Marketing, IT, Facilities, Research, etc… all need to understand the strategic direction and the vision to know why they are doing what they do and how they can help achieve that goal. They also have to believe in that goal. That my friend is what makes HR sexy. HR is dull if it is not part of making the above happen. If HR is simply about making sure payroll, pension, healthcare and timesheets are filled in correctly then it is just an administration function, and companies are missing the whole point of what HR can really do.

Once you reach a critical mass of employees (The Society of HR Management, SHRM, in the US says this is around 50-70 employees) then you should have a full-time HR person. But what you have them doing is crucial.  We can’t all be Google but we can all have amazing working environments. We can all have engaged staff and the person who is in charge of making that happen sits at the board table and is a partner with the leaders of the company who also have to buy into the premise that employee of today need to feel part of something.

So I would liken HR to being similar to the “force” in Star Wars, as Obi-Wan said – “the force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.” Replace galaxy with company and that’s how important HR is in an organization!

We invited Jennifer McClure to speak at our HR conference a couple of years ago, she has been back and graced us with her presence ever since even being one of the Judges for the Top Employer awards. Jennifer is probably one of the most in-demand and influential HR experts in the US and is the creator of the DisruptHR brand. This brand is designed in a very similar fashion to Ted talks, 5 minutes about an idea that could change the way you think about something related to HR. It is disruptive.

The events are free for all for HR folk and others to release a message and its proving very popular. DisruptHR events have been occurring all across US cities, Canada the UK and now even Australia! This will be the first disrupt event in the Caribbean and we are very grateful to Jen for giving us the license. It will be the first event that is tied to an HR conference and we did that purely to keep our conference here in Cayman cutting edge. With several of the leading HR influences attending it’s a conference that is going to make waves on the social media platforms and is even being live-streamed on Cayman Life TV.

If you’re a company that truly understands your value is in your people, then understanding the strategic benefits of good HR is key. Sure we have to have some processes in there, that’s the boring bit, but it’s why those processes are in there that is important.

In a market such as Cayman where we have a diverse array of talent, attraction, retention and employer branding are very important. At this year’s conference we aim to give insight into how you can improve in all those areas.

200 of the islands HR super hero’s will be attending and we have even started attracting registrations from Canada and the other Caribbean islands. Huge thanks must go to BritCay for their headline sponsorship as well as DART, Maples, and Caribbean Jobs for their support. Without them, this conference would not be anywhere near the size, scale and caliber we have.

Author: Chris Bailey

Chris has developed a considerable skill set in business development, HR, Talent Acquisition and outsourcing during a successful career covering several jurisdictions including Europe, Bermuda, and Grand Cayman. Being involved in the local and international business community, through memberships and board appointments, has helped Chris develop a keen understanding of issues facing businesses in offshore jurisdictions specifically in areas of talent acquisition, staff retention, outsourcing and HR strategy and practices. Chris is highly experienced in international HR, search and selection and heads some of the most successful offshore HR & recruiting teams in Grand Cayman and the Caribbean. In 2011 he joined CML as the Vice President of Financial Services. He is also the Vice President of The Cayman Islands Society for HR Professionals (CISHRP) and the organizer for DisruptHR Cayman

IMAGE: Chris Bailey of DisruptHR Cayman

For more on this story go to: http://hr-gazette.com/hr-meets-the-caribbean-disrupthr-cayman/