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About this Event
Join us on 20th March 2025, in London for an opportunity to explore one of the most important issues facing employers. This dynamic and interactive event will bring together HR, TA, Learning and Business leaders to create thought-provoking conversations that will explore crucial topics such as:
- The criticality of the skills-based challenge
- How to develop an impactful skills-based strategy
- Practical approaches to effective implementation
Last summer, TALiNT Partners’ Global Advisory Board identified “How to Build a Skills-Based Organisation” as a top talent challenge for 2025. Finding no practical playbook available, we partnered with Randstad Enterprise to create one, and we’re thrilled with the results. Download a summary of our ultimate blueprint to unlock the potential of skills-first strategies.
A day packed with thought-provoking keynotes, insightful panel discussions, stimulating interactive sessions, lively debates and amazing peer-to-peer networking, all designed to deliver practical solutions to one of today’s biggest talent challenges. Register Below
This conference is for TA, HR, Learning & Procurement Leaders.
Companies Attending:
Agenda
- 08:30 - 09:15 Coffee and Registration
- 09:15 - 09:45 Welcome and opening remarks Ken Brotherston, Founder & Chair, TALiNT Partners
- 09:45 - 10:00 Skills-based hiring report insights Jo Matkin, Chief Executive, TALiNT Partners & Mary Appleton, Director, Applewick Creative
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10:00 -
10:30
Opening Keynote and Q&A: Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith
Employability and progression in the workplace.
Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith is a trailblazing business leader and former FTSE 100 CEO. Currently, she holds several prominent positions, including Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and Airports UK, and she is recognised for her influential contributions to diversity, workplace inclusion, and public service. -
10:30 -
11:00
The journey to a skills-based organisation
Panel 1 Discussion
The business case for skills-first. Can you afford not to do it? - 11:00 - 11:30 Networking break
- 11:30 - 12:00 Ask me Anything: A Conversation With Sandra Loughlin, Chief Learning Scientist, EPAM
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12:00 -
12:30
Harnessing technology to supercharge talent development
Panel 2 Discussion
The key ingredients of an effective skills strategy - 12:30 - 13:15 Networking Lunch
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13:15 -
13:45
‘Realist/Idealist’ Debate sessions
Three quick fire debates on relevant, topical issues delivered in a fun and informative way. With voting and prizes!
> Job-based vs. skills based
> Remote vs. Back to the office
> AI: Regulator vs. Liberator! -
13:45 -
14:15
Results, results, results
Panel 3 Discussion
Future challenges and ensuring the skills agenda is delivered effectively. - 14:15 - 14:45 Networking break
- 14:45 - 15:15 Just a minute An interactive audience participation session
- 15:15 - 15:45 Closing Keynote: The Key Skill CEOs are looking for: Nurturing the Capacity and Motivation for Independent, Creative thinking Dr. Margaret Heffernan is an accomplished author, entrepreneur, and thought leader, recognised for her six influential books, including Willful Blindness and Uncharted. A TED speaker with over 13 million views, she mentors global executives, teaches responsible leadership, and serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Bath while continuing to inspire through her work in business and governance.
- 15:45 - 16:00 Closing remarks
- 16:00 - 17:00 Networking Drinks
Speakers
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Dr. Margaret Heffernan Author, Speaker, Chairperson, Mentor, ProfessorDr. Margaret Heffernan produced programmes for the BBC for 13 years. She then moved to the US where she spearheaded multimedia productions for Intuit, The Learning Company and Standard & Poors. She was Chief Executive of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and then iCast Corporation, was named one of the “Top 25” by Streaming Media magazine and one of the “Top 100 Media Executives” by The Hollywood Reporter. The author of six books, Margaret’s third book, Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. In 2015, she was awarded the Transmission Prize for A Bigger Prize: Why Competition isn’t Everything and How We Do Better, described as “meticulously researched…engagingly written…universally relevant and hard to fault.” Her TED talks have been seen by over 13 million people and in 2015 TED published Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes. Her most recent book, Uncharted: How to map the future was published in 2020. It quickly became a bestseller and was nominated for the Financial Times Best Business Book award, was one of Bloomberg’s Best Books of 2021 and was chosen as the “Medium Best of the Best” business book. She became a member of the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame, in recognition of her lasting impact on management thinking. She is a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath, Lead Faculty for the Forward Institute’s Responsible Leadership Programme and, through Merryck & Co., mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organizations. She chairs the board of DACS and is a parish councillor.
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Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE Chair / Non Executive director, former FTSE CEO and Fellow of the ICAEWBaroness Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE is an established Chair, former FTSE CEO, and a Fellow of the ICAEW. Her current Chair appointments are the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and Airports UK. She is the Deputy Chair for the Tideway Tunnel and Tunnel and a non-executive director for AtkinsRealis Inc, Thales SA and Everyman Media Group plc.
She is the former President of the British Chambers of Commerce and the current President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Ruby was the Chief Executive of Mite Group plc between 2007 and 2016.She is one of a small number of women who have held the position of Chief Executive in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 and is the first Asian woman to be appointed in such a role within that group of companies.
She was recognised as a top 50 female world business leader by the FT in 2013.
Ruby is a member of the House of Lords , having been granted a Life Peerage in 2015 .She is responsible for the Independent Report to the UK Government on Race in the Workplace published in February 2017 .She was the Chair of the UK Government’s Women’s Business Council between 2012 and 2016 and a Business Trade Ambassador for the UK from 2012 to 2019. She was appointed by the UK Government to be the In – Work Progression Commissioner in 2020 and is now a Member of the Labour Market Advisory Board. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in 2015, the professions’ most prestigious award.
Ruby has received honorary doctorates from Cranfield University, Kingston University, and the University of the West of England.
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Sandra Loughlin EPAM Systems Chief Learning ScientistDr. Sandra Loughlin is the Chief Learning Scientist at EPAM Systems, a global leader in digital platform engineering and a company with three decades of experience as a skills-based organization. Sandra uses her expertise as a learning scientist and organizational psychologist to ensure EPAM’s numerous people initiatives work together under one skills umbrella and collectively drive business growth, quality, and results. She also leads the global effort to share EPAM’s skills-based experience and insights to help other organizations maximize human potential and navigate the AI-enabled future of work.
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Sam Schlimper Randstad Enterprise Managing Director -
David Vincent Randstad Enterprise Managing Director EMEA -
Teresa Wykes eightfold Senior Director, Talent-Centered Transformation -
Oliver Harris PageGroup Global Managing Director -
Neeta Saggar Coca-Cola HBC Skills Lead -
Sarah James-Bryan De Beers Group Global Head of Executive Talent Acquisition -
Abi Dudley EY EMEIA Associate Director - Digital HR, People Consulting -
Lauren Tait AssessFirst Client Success Manager -
Mark Coad GSK Head of Talent Acquisition -
Jo Geraghty Culture Consultancy Co-Founder & Director -
Mary Appleton Applewick Creative DirectorMary is an award-winning writer and editor specialising in HR, talent, and the world of work. She has built a career shaping thought-provoking content that informs, inspires, and drives meaningful change among business and HR leaders.
Before launching Applewick Creative, Mary led the editorial division at Changeboard (later Future Talent), where she was instrumental in building an engaged community of 50,000+ senior HR professionals across the UK and Middle East. She spearheaded the launch of a multi-award-winning magazine for HR leaders, ran a national schools magazine, and curated large-scale Future Talent conferences in London and Dubai.
Mary’s expertise spans thought leadership, report writing, research, book editing, events, and content strategy for global organisations, including London Business School, Randstad Enterprise, IBM, Made By Dyslexia, Heidrick & Struggles, Barclays, AMS, Mercer, and ASHRM. With an extensive network of C-suite leaders and influential thinkers, she excels at translating complex ideas into compelling, high-impact content.
A champion of editorial integrity and values-driven storytelling, Mary is passionate about social mobility, inclusion, and raising aspirations among young people. Now based in Yorkshire, she balances her love for theatre, hot yoga, and Yorkshire tea with a deep disdain for rogue apostrophes and lukewarm opinions on flexible work.
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Duncan Ward Fidelity International Head of Experienced Hires -
Gemma Aldridge Siemens Head of Talent Acquisition
