Enjoy our Welcome coffee and connect with fellow attendees, CHROs and global HR leaders shaping the future of work.

Moderator: PERRY TIMMS – Forum Chair, Founder and Chief Energy Officer PTHR, Number 1 Most Influential Thinker in HR for 2022.

Perry Timms opens the day by setting the stage for HR’s evolving role in 2025. Exploring the synergy between technology and empathy, he highlights how AI, analytics and human-centric leadership can unlock human flourishing.

Speaker: Meisha-ann Martin, Ph.D. – VP, People Research WORKHUMAN

Drawing on research and real-world observation, this session explores:

• Why traditional engagement and performance data no longer tells the full story
• How everyday human signals reveal what people are actually working on
• The opportunity for HR to shape strategy through lived organisational insight

Speaker: Armand Sohet – Chief Human Resources (CHRO) and member of the Executive Committee, AKZONOBEL       

Discussion topics:

• Why traditional performance management is losing credibility
• How organisations recognise value beyond targets and scores
• What “good performance” looks like in complex, collaborative work

A panel discussion on:

• Moving beyond annual surveys toward continuous insight
• What recognition and feedback reveal about capability, effort, and priorities
• How leading organisations use human insight in executive decision-making

Recharge your batteries, engage in valuable conversations with your peers over a cup of coffee or tea.

Moderators:

• Perry Timms – Summit Chair, Founder and Chief Energy Officer, PTHR
• Clare Moncrieff – Senior Principal Consultant, Workhuman

A 90-minute, highly interactive tabletop session focused on peer-led sense-making.

Format

• 8–10 participants per table
• One strategic topic per table
• Confidential, facilitated discussion

Structure

• 60 minutes: Table discussions
• 30 minutes: Insight share-back
  • One key insight
  • One tension or open question
  • One practical takeaway

No slides. No reporting. Just distilled leadership insight.

Topics:

1. From HR Data to Business Narrative

How are you translating people insight into a story that resonates with your CEO and board — and where does that translation still break down?

2. Strategy on Paper vs Strategy in Practice

What signals do you rely on to understand whether your strategic priorities are actually landing in the organisation?

3. Redefining “Performance” in Knowledge Work

If ratings and KPIs no longer reflect real contribution, how are you — or how should you — redefine performance?

4. Recognition as a Strategic Lever, Not a Programme

Where have you seen recognition meaningfully shape behaviour or priorities — and where has it remained symbolic?

5. The Manager Bottleneck

With manager engagement declining, how are you supporting managers without overloading them with more processes and tools?

6. Listening Without Over-Surveying

How do you balance the need for insight with growing fatigue around surveys and feedback mechanisms?

7. Skills, Capability, and the Reality on the Ground

How confident are you that you truly understand the skills and strengths inside your organisation — and what blindsides you most?

8. Stakeholder Insight in Strategic Business Decisions

To what extent does stakeholder insight genuinely influence workforce planning, investment, or restructuring decisions today?

9. Trust, Fairness, and Transparency at Scale

What undermines trust most in large organisations — and what signals tell you trust is strengthening or eroding?

10. HR’s Strategic Credibility

What has most helped — or most hindered — your ability to be seen as a strategic leader rather than a functional expert?

Speaker: Joanna Abboud – Enterprise Account Executive, Workhuman

A concise demonstration showing how recognition signals can be translated into insight that supports strategic decision-making.

Speakers:

• Riccardo Falconi – Senior Vice President HR EMEA, HUNTER DOUGLAS
• Laureen Rwatirera Chivere – VP Talent, PROSUS

Key Points:

• Where strategic priorities break down in execution
• How culture, recognition, and visibility influence focus and effort
• Why informal signals often matter more than formal frameworks 

Drawing on research and real-world observation, this session explores:

• Why traditional workforce planning models are failing in volatile environments
• How organisations are using human insight to understand real capability and capacit
• The role HR plays in balancing agility with fairness and stability
• What “good enough planning” looks like when certainty is no longer possible

Recharge your batteries, engage in valuable conversations with your peers over a cup of coffee or tea.

Speakers:

• Carlo Steenvoorden – EVP HR People Services, Analytics and HR AI, KPN

• Mariëlle Sonnenberg – EVP People Experience & Organizational Development, KPN

Today’s organizational transformation is different because it is faster, deeper and more connected. HR moves from business partner to workforce architect by building AI literacy, managing the workforce like a living system, orchestrating skills and designing conversational employee experiences. Everyday human signals such as behavior, contribution, collaboration, recognition and leadership guide better decisions, trust and performance.

• AI literacy for all as foundational capability (how we build up AI literacy)
• Strategic Workforce management as a continuously updated film instead of photo
• HR as ultimate skills orchestrator
• Employee experience (future HR is conversational & human sustainability)
• Human intelligence as a system of everyday signals shaping decisions
• Leadership behaviors as strategic signals influencing trust, energy and performance 

A strategic wrap of the day, drawing together:

• Key patterns and insights from across sessions
• What stakeholder capitalism changes for HR leadership
• The three shifts defining the next chapter of HR influence
• What CHROs should watch next

An exclusive opportunity to unwind and network with peers in a relaxed setting, enjoying curated drinks and hors d’oeuvres.