The last 12 months have marked an unprecedented year of turbulence and uncertainty. As we emerge from the pandemic, trust will have a crucial role to play as organisations chart a new path towards a sustainable "new normal".

With organisations needing to work even harder to match society's and employee's changing expectations, we hosted a thought-provoking discussion with inspiring thinker, author, entrepreneur and CEO – Margaret Heffernan on 25 May 2021, to explore these developing attitudes and what organisational capabilities will be required to navigate the challenges ahead.

Following our keynote, we continued the discussion with our fantastic panel in June. Our panel consisted of Penelope Mantzaris, Senior Vice President at Edelman Intelligence, Jenny Shiers, Senior Director, Employee Success at Salesforce and Brett Terry, People Director at the NSPCC.

Our summary video

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Our panel discussion

In Part 1 of our discussion we’re talking to our panel about how trust has changed over recent years, how organisations can measure trust and the increasingly important role employers have to play in building and maintaining trust. We’ll look in particular at how trust manifests itself through decision-making and leadership, and how that is changing as a result of the pandemic. This follows our keynote event Technology, trust and the evolving employment 'deal' with Margaret Heffernan in May 2021.

Thank you to our panel of speakers the Senior Vice President of Edelman Intelligence, Penelope Mantzaris, the Senior Director, Employee Success at Salesforce, Jenny Shiers and the People Director at the NSPCC, Brett Terry.

Part 2 of the recording provides further insights from the panel on the impact the pandemic has had in shifting organisational strategy from planning to being prepared for whatever might be ahead, the role technology and human relationships have to play in building and maintaining culture as many organisations move to a more hybrid way of working. We conclude our conversation by looking at how, and why, the employment deal is evolving and what that means for employers.

Our keynote

Further Info

The combination of the transformative impact of technology on our lives and the challenges wrought by the pandemic on the way we work is causing profound shifts in how we relate to businesses, leaders and each other.

Anxiety, insecurity and inequality – three themes already closely associated with the world of work as a result of the ongoing impact of automation on jobs, the burgeoning gig economy and the #Metoo and Black Lives Matter movements - have been made even more acute as a result of the pandemic.

With trust in our political institutions and big business breaking down, employers have emerged as the mainstay of trust. This creates an opportunity for organisations to harness the human strength of their workforce to build the resilience and cohesive culture necessary to move forward and thrive in the longer term.

The growing focus on ethical behaviours, people’s individual needs and experiences and “good work”, mean the traditional employment relationship based on job security and financial security in return for loyalty is increasingly outdated. Safety, upskilling and well-being, choice and personal agency have grown in importance. Organisations are increasingly expected to step in and take the lead on societal issues, with employees and consumers demanding to be heard and that organisations respond by acting with purpose.

Our keynote address and panel discussion will consider these developing attitudes and assess what organisational capabilities will be required to meet these challenges and what businesses can do now to prepare.