Dream or Nightmare? An HR director's perspective of managing the graduate talent pool into work

When?

Wednesday 23 November 2011, 11:30 to 12:30

Where?

39 BB 02

Open to:

Public, Staff, Students

Speaker:

Barry Hoffman

Abstract

"Finding great people to take our business to the next level of growth is a continual challenge; part of my job is to identify talent in the raw and transform it from an ugly duckling into a high performing swan" says Hoffman.

Over the course of an hour we will discuss what makes an ideal employee for Computacenter, the attributes we look for in our aspiring executives and what practical things you can do to further your career:

- The two simple frameworks used for managers and leaders in Computacenter; the competencies that we would most like Tutors and Academics to nurture in their students.

- The top 10 things students can do to stand out and differentiate themselves when entering the workplace.

"We are looking for high performing, high potential people all the time. We can teach the hard skills in the workplace, but we want to see certain life skills in our people that make us more competitive and more successful in our market."

This aims to be a lively and interactive session. There will no PowerPoint. Come prepared with questions, opinions, provocations and an open mind!

Barry Hoffman Biography

Barry Hoffman is the Group HR Director for Computacenter plc, Europe's largest independent IT Services Company. Founded in 1981 the Company now has revenues of over £2.6bn and 11,000 staff across Europe. Barry is also a non-executive director of the Chartered institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body representing HR in the UK.

Barry Hoffman joined Computacenter in March 2008 as UK Human Resources Director. His remit includes the full range of strategic and operational HR responsibilities as well as Corporate Communications.

At Computacenter the HR function focuses on creating competitive advantage through employee engagement strategies. We pride ourselves on our performance management, talent and succession programmes, which are at the heart of developing our organisational capability. Pivotal to Computacenter’s success is the Business Integration team within HR which is a centre of excellence for all the people aspects of our outsourcing business.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Barry has over 15 years’ experience in the IT industry including IT line management. He has a first degree in Modern Languages, an MBA and a Masters degree in employment law. Barry is married with two children and is a keen equestrian.

About Computacenter

Computacenter is Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services. We advise customers on their IT strategy implement the most appropriate technology from a wide range of leading vendors and manage their technology infrastructures on their behalf. At every stage we make our customers’ businesses sharper by removing cost, complexity and barriers to change across their IT infrastructures.

Our corporate and government clients are served by offices across the UK, Germany, France, the Benelux countries, Spain and South Africa. We also serve our customers’ global requirements through our extensive partner network.