In 2007, Sarah Lowe had no Human Resources experience. Little did she know that in two years time she would be HR Manager at Sika Limited, supporting a 472-strong workforce through a £30m company takeover.
With such an inspiring journey to share it is perhaps no surprise that Sarah will take to the stage at the CIPD’s HR Software Show in June so that delegates can learn from her experiences.
In a thirty minute presentation and ensuing question and answer session, Sarah will speak openly to attendees about her use of HR software as a valuable change management tool. She explains: “We first invested in technology because we acknowledged the ‘invisible administrator’ benefits it could bring. But for me, our software – supplied by Cascade HR – became so much more. It supported our evolution from a family business to a multinational corporation and was a reassuring constant during a rollercoaster period of uncertainty.”
Of course not all businesses will be facing such a daunting journey however CIPD research shows that organisations experience major change once every three years. Sarah continues: “Change is something that affects all of us in business, and failure to prepare for and effectively manage change can have disastrous consequences on employee morale, staff retention and our bottom lines.”
As well as talking about wider organisational change, Sarah will explain the role that technology can play when making the functional transition from personnel to a fully-fledged HRM approach. Acknowledging the need for HR professionals to continuously enhance their skills and knowledge, Sarah will also elaborate upon her use of software functionality to aid her own personal development.
She concludes: “Many delegates will be attending HRSS because they are serious about investing in a new HR system. But I hope that they will come along to my presentation before they make any decisions, because their current technological criteria may be somewhat different to longer term requirements. I want to help HR professionals and managing directors alike, protect their investment and achieve software longevity.”
Sarah Lowe’s presentation will take place at the CIPD’s HR Software Show at Olympia London, at 11:30 on Wednesday 19th June.