
centre, Melbourne
centre, Melbourne
centre, Melbourne
WHAT
GOES ON





About
the event
The HR Evolve Forum will explore the emerging future focused developments in human resources at a high strategic level, where we will bring together a group of over 150+ senior HR leaders from across the country, represented via a diverse range of industries.
Taking place on the 11th October, 2023 at the Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne. This years theme will be focused around “The evolving future of HR”.
meet
our speakers
Debbie Shagam
Stacey Dowdell
Rita Williams
Anu Villarosa
Amanda Green
Brett Reid
Helen Anderson
Sam Pupillo
Rita Newman
Kiria McNamara
Katie Whelan
Fiona Andrew
Gus Worland
Corinne West
Rachel McIver
Shanyn Payne
Jacqui Bainbridge
Kristen Bugeja
Robert Tanti
Tessa Naidu
Donia Abdel-Megeed
Keong Yeo
Luke Amundson
Samantha Huddle
Daisy Corfield
Shane Whooley
Ross McDonald
Jim McKerlie
Michael Sacco
Priscilla Famularo
Francois Lancon
Angus Lade
Richard Wilson
Margaret Pettitt
why
join us
POWERFUL AUDIENCE
Engage and interact with an audience of 200 + HR leaders
PERSONALISED PROGRAM
Select sessions that are pertinent for you and your business to attend
NETWORKING
Form new relationships with like-minded individuals on site
SPEAKERS
Over 30+ International and local HR leaders presenting on stage
FORM NEW PARTNERSHIPS
Connect with leading HR vendors directly via the HR Marketplace
STRENGTHEN YOUR SKILLS
Learn, grow and evolve your skills through engaging sessions
schedule
details
The conference schedule is a draft and is subject to change.
REGISTRATION AND MORNING REFRESHMENTS
Welcoming address
Sam McCool, CEO & Founder, www.sammccool.com.au
Opening Remarks
OPENING KEYNOTE - Aligning human resources with your overall organizational strategy - the nexus of HR leadership, value creation and business performance
Rodrigo Pizarro, Managing Director, L’Oreal Australia
- Aligning human resources with your overall organisational strategy
- The nexus of CEO, HR and Communications leadership
- HR value creation and business performance
KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION - The critical role of leadership in creating a healthy and nurturing workplace culture
Anthony Mitchell, Chairman and Chief Potential Officer, Bendelta
The events of the last two years have massively accelerated some trends, and flipped others on their heads. The evolution of organisational form, culture, conduct and ways of working is now happening faster than at any point in our lifetimes.
What must all organisations do to survive and thrive and how must leaders change their mindsets and behaviours, as well as their people’s, to ensure success?
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Harnessing persona mapping to better understand how your employees think, feel, and behave
Gus Worland, Founder/ Director, Gotcha4life
- Mental Fitness - with the focus on building emotional muscle, and social connection and making a significant impact in raising the mental state of men, women, their families and communities.
- Meaningful Mateship / Talk and Communicate. Build a deeper level of chat with your friends, family and others in your community. Don’t worry alone.
- Speak up, reach out - encouraging everyone to speak up, reach out and develop the skills and connections needed for mental wellbeing.
NETWORKING BREAK
PANEL DISCUSSION - The importance of humanity in human resources – the critical business case for being a purpose driven organization
Panellists:
Jo Cullen, General Manager, Organisational Culture, NRMA
Andrea McDowell, Head of Experience, Lendi Group
Moderator:
Kim Hamrosi, Executive Director, Corporate Mental Health Alliance Australia (CMHAA)
- Measuring employee stress and its impact on performance
- Identifying positive and negative working styles and how to navigate them
- Developing and implementing better coping and problem solving skills to manage workplace stress
SPEAKING PRESENTATION
Fiona Andrew, National Manager Health and Wellbeing, Australia Post
- Rising workload demands coupled with increasing cognitive complexity means we need to understand the activities that promote and protect worker mental health.
- A lead indicators assessment approach is used to predict psychosocial risk factors, benchmark current levels of risk, and predict future trends
- Achievements and learnings of the Australia Post program of work will be shared
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Employee lifecycle management from recruitment to the exit interview and beyond
Michael Kim, Head Of HR JAPAC & SAMEA, Spotify
- Creating a company culture that enables future of work
- Working with Senior Leaders to build commitment
NETWORKING LUNCH
PANEL DISCUSSION - Striking a healthy balance between remote and officebased work in a post-COVID-19 world
Panellists:
Phil Reed, Chief Executive Officer, Pizza Hut
Kate Lewis, General Manager, People and Culture, The Reject Shop
Sarah-Ellen Maxwell, People & Performance Director, Solotel
Moderator:
Josh Vernon, Co-Founder & CEO, Wagestream
Employee wellbeing is now more important than ever, with businesses increasingly aware and active in this space. However, despite financial wellbeing being the largest contributor to overall mental and physical wellbeing it’s often missed by employers. By utilising unique strategies and digital tools, employers of choice are significantly reducing the financial strain on their employees and improving business performance.
This panel will discuss the importance of preventing wellbeing issues rather than just responding to them. They’ll also talk about the impact this shift in focus is having in terms of faster recruitment, increased productivity and shift-filling and reduced turnover.
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Leading the new remote and flexible workforce
Terry Wong, General Manager, Move 4 Life
- Innovative thinking about how to build physical wellbeing in your workforce beyond the standard offerings.
- Discover the research around the Healthspan concept and why it matters to your wellbeing program.
- Uncover the four pillars of building physical wellbeing, including some practical examples on how they might be implemented by your organisation.
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Striking a healthy balance between remote and office-based work in a post-COVID-19 world
Linda McEntee, Global Cloud HXM Go-To-Market Services Lead, SAP
As businesses grow and evolve, it's important to maintain a focus on how to keep your people engaged and productive. With a growing expectation from employees to work wherever, whenever, and however they want, it is essential for businesses to create connected experiences that drive outcomes.
Join our session as we talk through:
- Create connected experiences for your employees by eliminating disparate system and data
- How to better understand employees’ needs to serve business needs
- Discover ways to maximise and deploy your existing talent in an ever-changing environment, to ultimately drive organisation growth
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 1 - Employee Experience - Creating a satisfying office environment and day to day experience of work
Jen Jackson, Chief Visionary Officer, Everyday Massive
Join Jen Jackson for a deep dive into how to design learning experiences for hybrid workforces.
As strategic and creative partners for organisations such as Amazon, Everyday Massive has been redefining what is possible when it comes to capability building, communication and connection in evolving work environments.
At this roundtable we’ll be exploring:
- Individualised end-to-end learning strategies — that can be scaled
- Skill-building throughout the whole employee experience
- Why ‘Wordle’ went viral and brought teams all around the world closer together
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 2 - Leadership - Identifying and building critical skills and competencies throughout your organization
Yu Dan Shi, Principal Behavioural Scientist, CoachHub
In 2020 and 2021 businesses were faced with new challenges on how to manage a remote workforce.
In 2022 the challenge is how to retain staff in the face of The Great Resignation. Experts predict Australia will see this issue start to have a major impact from March 2022 with 40% of the workforce considering leaving their current role.
In this session, we will discuss how HR Leaders can act now to help their organisations turn the Great Resignation to the Great Re-Engagement.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 3 - ohesive interpersonal relationships and teams in mental health and wellbeing
Natalie Micarone, Co-Founder and Director, Bendelta
Leaders in 2022 have a huge amount to take on. They have to:
- engage diffused, deflated and/or distracted workforces, by generating cultural renewal and crafting narratives of purpose, optimism and direction
- deal with the hybrid organisation as the new normal by both embracing and shaping further changes to ways of working
- move towards the permissionless, networked organisation by empowering and connecting networks of teams, and lubricate the flows between them
- manage incredible talent volatility by shaping and delivering a compelling employee proposition
- take on greater societal responsibility by hard-wiring better community and environmental actions into core business processes
At this roundtable we will learn how best to equip leaders to flourish in this complex context.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 4 - Future of Work - Developing a clear future of work strategy and managing effective business transformation
Vicky Bartolacci, APAC Managing Director, Kineo
At this roundtable we will be unpacking, learning and providing ways to look at the role of HR within value creation and business performance.
The needs and expectations of HR Leaders have changed - and are more complex than ever before. How have organisations and individuals adapted?
Today HR can include addressing skills gap, digital transformation, D&I, flexible working, employee experience. HR also incorporates many other areas.
- Are organisations adapting HR functions to be in a position to thrive?
- What can we learn from organisations that have tried something different?
What is the ever changing role of HR in organisational performance, how is value created?
To many, HR is the way to ‘fix everything’ In this roundtable, we look at HR’s role in strategy, the ways business performance is measured today- and ways we can create value.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 5 - Talent Management - Integrating talent management across your business processes and activities
Tegan Davies, General Manager, Oranges Toolkit
In a rapidly changing, fast-paced economy, everyone needs effective self-management strategies to ensure they can be well at work and home. 'Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility' is listed as one of the Top 10 Skills of 2025 in the Future of Work report by the World Economic Forum. So, what should current HR leaders be doing right now to prepare their employees for the future?
Join Tegan Davies, General Manager of The Oranges Toolkit, to explore proactive, science-based workplace wellbeing strategies that build emotional agility. We will discuss:
- How can organisations use the latest neuroscience research to teach self-management, resilience and emotional intelligence?
- How do leaders and organisations best manage rising burnout and fatigue levels in a constantly changing, challenging environment?
- How can leaders amplify positive emotions and wellbeing practices through effective systems and processes?
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 6 - Diversity and Inclusion - Leveraging the innovation and business improvement benefits of a diverse workforce
Linda McEntee, Global Cloud HXM Go-To-Market Services Lead, SAP
In today’s ever changing environment, keeping your people engaged, productive and satisfied with their work has become more and more critical. With a growing expectation to work wherever, whenever, and however they want, it is essential for businesses to create connected experiences that drive outcomes. Join our roundtable to discuss:
- How to connect data and create connected employee experiences for your organisation
- How to better understand employees’ needs to serve business needs
- Discover ways to maximise and deploy your existing talent in an ever-changing environment, to ultimately drive organisation growth
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 7 - Employee Experience - Giving employees opportunities to have their say in decision making – the importance of agency in productivity and performance
Jen Jackson, Chief Visionary Officer, Everyday Massive
Join Jen Jackson for a deep dive into how to design learning experiences for hybrid workforces.
As strategic and creative partners for organisations such as Amazon, Everyday Massive has been redefining what is possible when it comes to capability building, communication and connection in evolving work environments.
At this roundtable we’ll be exploring:
- Individualised end-to-end learning strategies — that can be scaled
- Skill-building throughout the whole employee experience
- Why ‘Wordle’ went viral and brought teams all around the world closer together
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 8 - Leadership - Ensuring strong leadership and operational excellence across your entire supply chain
Yu Dan Shi, Principal Behavioural Scientist, CoachHub
In 2020 and 2021 businesses were faced with new challenges on how to manage a remote workforce.
In 2022 the challenge is how to retain staff in the face of The Great Resignation. Experts predict Australia will see this issue start to have a major impact from March 2022 with 40% of the workforce considering leaving their current role.
In this session, we will discuss how HR Leaders can act now to help their organisations turn the Great Resignation to the Great Re-Engagement.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 9 - Mental Health and Wellbeing - Creating a healthy workplace supporting mental health and wellbeing
Natalie Micarone, Co-Founder and Director, Bendelta
Leaders in 2022 have a huge amount to take on. They have to:
- engage diffused, deflated and/or distracted workforces, by generating cultural renewal and crafting narratives of purpose, optimism and direction
- deal with the hybrid organisation as the new normal by both embracing and shaping further changes to ways of working
- move towards the permissionless, networked organisation by empowering and connecting networks of teams, and lubricate the flows between them
- manage incredible talent volatility by shaping and delivering a compelling employee proposition
- take on greater societal responsibility by hard-wiring better community and environmental actions into core business processes
At this roundtable we will learn how best to equip leaders to flourish in this complex context.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 10 - Future of Work - COVID-19 and the new normal of remote and flexible work
Vicky Bartolacci, APAC Managing Director, Kineo
At this roundtable we will be unpacking, learning and providing ways to look at the role of HR within value creation and business performance.
The needs and expectations of HR Leaders have changed - and are more complex than ever before. How have organisations and individuals adapted?
Today HR can include addressing skills gap, digital transformation, D&I, flexible working, employee experience. HR also incorporates many other areas.
- Are organisations adapting HR functions to be in a position to thrive?
- What can we learn from organisations that have tried something different?
What is the ever changing role of HR in organisational performance, how is value created?
To many, HR is the way to ‘fix everything’ In this roundtable, we look at HR’s role in strategy, the ways business performance is measured today- and ways we can create value.
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 11 - Talent Management - Understanding and meeting emerging talent needs and expectations
Tegan Davies, General Manager, Oranges Toolkit
In a rapidly changing, fast-paced economy, everyone needs effective self-management strategies to ensure they can be well at work and home. 'Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility' is listed as one of the Top 10 Skills of 2025 in the Future of Work report by the World Economic Forum. So, what should current HR leaders be doing right now to prepare their employees for the future?
Join Tegan Davies, General Manager of The Oranges Toolkit, to explore proactive, science-based workplace wellbeing strategies that build emotional agility. We will discuss:
- How can organisations use the latest neuroscience research to teach self-management, resilience and emotional intelligence?
- How do leaders and organisations best manage rising burnout and fatigue levels in a constantly changing, challenging environment?
- How can leaders amplify positive emotions and wellbeing practices through effective systems and processes?
ROUNDTABLE SESSION - 12 - Diversity and Inclusion - Overcoming invisible bias around diversity and inclusion across your HR management
Linda McEntee, Global Cloud HXM Go-To-Market Services Lead, SAP
In today’s ever changing environment, keeping your people engaged, productive and satisfied with their work has become more and more critical. With a growing expectation to work wherever, whenever, and however they want, it is essential for businesses to create connected experiences that drive outcomes. Join our roundtable to discuss:
- How to connect data and create connected employee experiences for your organisation
- How to better understand employees’ needs to serve business needs
- Discover ways to maximise and deploy your existing talent in an ever-changing environment, to ultimately drive organisation growth
NETWORKING BREAK
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Fostering workforce resilience and adaptability in a disruptive global and local market
Kay Goodman, Director Accor Academy & Talent Development, Pacific, Accor
- Key pillars of change to consider when building an inclusive culture that embraces differences
- What actionable steps can be taken to start the process?
- How can you effectively measure the impact of implementing a business integrated D&I strategy?
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Promoting resilience and mental wellbeing through effective work design
Alison Webb, Future of Work Lead, Lendlease
What shifts do we need to embrace to create workplace environments and experiences that deliver the most value to our people and organisations?
With 42% of Australians likely to resign if their work returns to 100% on-site, our workplace strategies for tomorrow must both support business growth and consider non-traditional alternatives that align to changing employee and customer needs.
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Crafting a compelling and competitive employee value proposition for a changing labour market
SCaren Schadel, Chief People Officer, Ramsay Healthcare
PANEL DISCUSSION - Taking a proactive approach to wellbeing through positive mental health interventions and employee assistance programs
Panellists:
Pritho Saxena, HR Leader - China, Australia, Singapore & Philippines, Amazon
Natalie Devlin, Chief Experience Officer, Charter Hall
- What challenges are organisations facing with hybrid work, and where have they been finding opportunities to perform better as a workforce?
- Managing the people challenges hybrid work has triggered to ensure business outcomes and employee wellbeing
- Strategies for re-entry and establishing the new normal after COVID– how are leading organisations managing the friction points, hesitations and discomforts?
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Strengthening talent management fundamentals - recruiting, skilling and retaining a capable workforce
Panellists:
Siobhan Savage, Chief Executive Officer, Reejig
Carmel Pelunsky, Director Executive Talent, Woolworths Group
Steve Hill, Group Executive, People & Workplace Environment, Aware Super
Yvonne McIntosh, Division Director Leadership, Talent and Culture Macquarie Group Limit
Moderator:
Louisa Grundy, Chief Marketing Officer, Reejig
To win in the new world of work, organisations need a zero wasted potential strategy. This means having the agility to adapt your workforce to meet your business needs, and get the right skills in the right place at the right time. Hear from industry leaders on the changing nature of work, how to make mobility work and how to drive impact in your organisation.
SPEAKING PRESENTATION - Fostering good employee work/life balance for more sustainable workforce performance
Panellists:
Afroditi Sebastian, Global Head of Organisational Development, Unispace
Julia Clayton, Senior Manager, People & Culture, Goodman
Sarah Oquist, Senior HR Manager, Trustwave Pacific
Stephanie Ley, Head of People Solutions, Employee Experience, Domain
Moderator:
Georgie Duthy, Enterprise Customer Success Manager, Enboarder
The world as we know it has changed.
Distributed & disconnected workforces have made working together even harder. Your people are being pulled in a million directions at once. Which is why it’s no wonder organisations are struggling to gain traction on their people programs.
The best employer brands are rising to the challenge.
Join us for an exciting panel discussion on how leading organisations are driving action on & engagement with their people initiatives.
Leave ready to bring your organisation into the age of People Activation.
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Fostering deep cultural change promoting diversity and inclusion mindedness
Rob Cassidy, Director of Sales - ANZ, CoachHub
- Harnessing AI and Predictive Analytics in talent acquisition for fair and efficient recruitment
- Building learning programs to augment business growth
- Maintaining an attractive employer brand to retain high performers
KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION - Going beyond social good wash to truly achieving diversity and inclusion on the ground
Panellists:
Vered Keisar, Chief People Officer, ResMed
Shruti Ganeriwala, HR Director, Unilever ANZ
Cinda Viranna, Head, Indigenous, Diversity and Inclusion, ABC
Moderator:
Eileen Baldry, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity Diversity and Inclusion, UNSW
- The imperative for HR leaders to respond to racism and move the needle on diversity in their organisations
- How can organizational leaders manage how bias influences decision making, hiring, promotions and retention?
- Best practice models on education and training programs to move workers into management
CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR AND END OF THE FORUM
Sam McCool, CEO & Founder, www.sammccool.com.au
NETWORKING DRINKS
POST EVENT REPORT

Download the post event report from our previous event.
pricing
plans
1 TICKET
-
Access to onsite mobile APP
-
Meals and refreshments
-
Access to all sessions
-
Presentation slides and photos
-
Access to HR Marketplace
GROUP TICKET (2 - 4)
-
Access to onsite mobile APP
-
Meals and refreshments
-
Access to all sessions
-
Presentation slides and photos
-
Access to HR Marketplace
GROUP TICKETS (5+)
-
Access to onsite mobile APP
-
Meals and refreshments
-
Access to all sessions
-
Presentation slides and photos
-
Access to HR Marketplace
official
sponsors

"The speakers were all good and there was a great diverse mix of panel and industry specialists. The event flowed well and the content was on point."
ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA

"There was energy in the rooms and it was a great opportunity to network. Everyone associated with the event was professional and did a very good job. The organisers facilitated conversations and introductions between attendees and vendors."
METCASH

"The forum was so well run and I really enjoyed the conversation at the roundtable sessions. Everybody from the Focus Network team was excellent to communicate with. Can't flaw the event!"
UNILEVER
event
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the
venue
Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne
Reception info
Telephone: +61-3-9292-6222
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