A delegation made up of Bank of Valletta executives as well as representatives of the Malta Union of Bank Employees (MUBE) and the General Workers Union (GWU) attended the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) annual conference and exhibition, held in Harrogate, UK. The delegation was led by the executive head of human resources at BOV, Paul Spiteri, and included BOV’s Head of HR Issues, Charles Grech Soler, BOV group committee member from the MUBE, Neville Bonnici and BOV group committee member from the GWU, Manuel Rizzo.

This international conference provided a good opportunity for networking, reflection and sharing of best practices.

Discussions on the challenges organisations are facing, the opportunities available for the human resources function to play a truly strategic business role and how HR business partnering can deliver effective business solutions and maximise organisational performance were a few of the topics tackled.

Keynote speakers at the conference included Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Charles Handy and Dave Ulrich – considered to be experts in the area of human resources. They gave hints and tips on how to manage and retain talent, attract older workers, tackle the pay gap and how to measure the impact and effectiveness of the different elements of the reward package.

Commenting on the participation of the Maltese delegation at this prestigious international event, Paul Spiteri said: “Our participation at this conference has contributed real value towards the relationship between Bank of Valletta and the unions. The fact that the bank and union representatives formed part of a single delegation underlines the excellent relationship that exists between BOV and the MUBE and the GWU. This conference has also helped us to tap international resources and to keep updated with international best practice in the area of human resources management. The experiences we have shared with our counterparts from other European organisations will definitely help us in further- refining our HR operations so as to continue to be totally supportive of our employees.”