The 2006 HRO World Europe Conference, scheduled for November 6–8 at the Conrad Hotel in Brussels, is in its third year, and pundits are calling this year’s event the adult version of an adolescent movement. This year’s big question is, what are the adults going to do that the kids couldn’t handle last year?

by Jay Whitehead

While 2005 was a banner year for HRO across the U.K. and the Continent, there was an admittedly large amount of adolescent giddiness around the sessions at the Conrad Hotel. The 2006 HRO World Europe Conference, by contrast, promises to be a grown-up affair.

First, in 2005 November, there were merger talks galore. It was announced that TPI was to acquire sourcing advisory firm EquaTerra. It would take a couple more months for this merger to be called off, but at the time of the event, it was all the buzz. Today, the two firms continue to be separate and robust.

But added to this trade rumor mill were all the wagging tongues predicting that everyone else was being sold to someone, anyone. To make it all wilder, even the HRO World Conference itself was being sold at the time. Effective January 6 of this year, the conference transferred ownership from Outsourcing Today LLC (the owner of this magazine) to LRP Publications; but it continues to be expertly managed by Brussels-based SharedXpertise. This magazine will continue to ably support the conference, giving it a Europe-wide platform.

Next, there was a big bag of big deals that had just been announced or were about to be. Leading the list was DuPont, which had just started talking about its $1.1 billion deal with Convergys. That contract had come on the heels of the same vendor’s deal with Whirlpool. And there was great excitement surrounding the pending multinational Unilever HRO contract, with Guy-Joel de Lonheux of Unilever fueling the speculation with his presentation at the show. And just a few months after the show, the news hit the streets that Accenture HR Services had grabbed Unilever’s account, which ended up being worth well over $1 billion (see this issue’s cover story for the whole account).

And of course, there were lots of folks moving and attempting to move from employer to employer. I counted four rather senior people who hooked up with new gigs on the show floor (and in the bar). However, the larger number of self-described candidates was fishing—attempting impulsive moves based on very little more than adolescent angst. Regardless of the sincerity of their motivation, the list was pretty long. Flying back to the U.S. from Brussels, I counted 18 resumes in my bag. (I remember thinking that if I were a headhunter, I could make a killing. But, alas, I am a mere publisher.)

ENOUGH NOSTALGIA ALREADY
While I expect the 2006 HRO World Europe Conference to offer its share of fireworks and flameouts, the presentations this year are, well, a more sober and considered group. The more measured tone of the 2006 conclave starts with the theme: “Future-Proof HR Transformation.” The phrase itself is meant to convey the new corporate move towards risk avoidance and away from life on the bleeding edge. Let me offer some more cases in point.

• The opening keynote on November 7 will be offered by Emeritus Professor Geert Hofstede of Maastricht University. His talk, “Understanding organizational cultures as the key to successful international business,” developed as a result of the large number of HRO and shared-services executives struggling with change management issues in a multinational workplace. As it turns out, the costs associated with change management can often dwarf the costs of the outsourcing implementation itself. The appearance of Professor Hofstede, a recognized thought leader in the area, represents the debut of his world-class research on the topic in a non-academic setting.

Our second keynote features our cover boy, Unilever SVP global HR transformation leader Reg Bull, telling the HR transformation story at his giant consumer products multinational. When I interviewed Reg for the cover story, he admittedly was in the early days of the contract. The ink had barely dried. As a result, much of what he said the contract will do for Unilever was aspirational. But by the November 7 conference date, much more water will have run under Unilever’s bridge. Reg will have far more lessons to share and success (or even failure) stories to tell on November 7.

While the keynotes are usually headline-gabbers, the panel discussions at HRO World have always been the real draw. When you have the world’s top HRO leaders on stage at once, along with a relatively adequate moderator (me), the crowd at HRO World has so far never left felt unfulfilled. And this year’s first panel will leave no one disappointed.

The 11:50 a.m. panel entitled, “How best to evaluate the different transformation options,” will have practitioners, advisors, and providers alike taking notes like mad. After all, the four panelists are world leaders in the field. Christian Marchetti leads Accenture HR Services’ operations worldwide, with clients such as Unilever, Best Buy, the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), and British Telecom. Mary Sue Rogers is the HCM global leader for IBM and is the documented inventor of the parodied outsourcing term, “my mess for less.” Stephen Randall is a European leader for Hewitt. And Daniel Van den Broeck is the VP for HCM solutions, EMEA, for Oracle. Not only do these providers have remarkably different approaches to the evaluation task, but in many cases, they will vehemently differ. This one should result in some sparks.

On November 8, our morning keynotes had yet to be confirmed as of press time, and the names we heard proposed were quite compelling, I can’t write them here because, well, I just can’t. On the other hand, at 11:50 a.m., if you are a big fan of this market’s newsmaking analysts, then this panel is right up your alley. The CEO of international branding organization Delve Group, Richard Crespin, is your moderator. And his panelists are the who’s who of BPO thinkers: Helen Neale of NelsonHall, Euan Davis of Forrester, Mike Friend of IDC, and Cathy Tornbohm of Gartner. Their discussion, “Key market factors shaping HR transformation today,” should raise some eyebrows and maybe even some stock prices.

After lunch is my personal favorite event. An intimate on-stage discussion with last year’s keynote speaker, Tony McCarthy, the group director of people at the Royal Mail in the U.K. As the guy who runs the largest non-military workforce in the country, Tony understands trends and transformation from the ground up. He’s a lively speaker and a sure-fire ideal way to wrap up your HRO World 2006 experience.

Now, while the main conference is a certain sell-out, there are always a couple juicy morsels the day before, in the pre-conference workshops on November 6. This year, Tom Bangemann of benchmarking leader The Hackett Group joins leaders from Borderless Executive Search and ACS to provide in-depth pre-conference events. Check the conference website, HROWorldEurope.com, for constant updates.

WHY DO AUDIENCES LOVE HRO WORLD EUROPE?
As a long-time HR hound, I have always wondered why HR leaders flock to see and hear the trials and tribulations of their peers. As long as I have been around this field—which is more than 15 years—and as far and wide as the profession reaches, there has been a constant fascination with the challenges faced by other HR pros. What is the attraction? Is it mere curiosity? Or some yearning need to gain confidence by seeing that you are not the only one out there facing these challenges?

Is it a strange form of entertainment? Or does the conference circuit provide a necessary social outlet for professionals forced to constantly deal with the personal peccadillos of all those people? Maybe it’s all of the above. Regardless, the HRO World team seems to continue to answer the need for compelling content mixed with a good measure of networking value. So we’re pleased that HRO World Europe has been able to fill your crying needs in these events. We just want to make sure you know to book your spot early because the food is awfully good at the Conrad. And the seating is quite limited.