Fashioning the New World of Work

Over December 1^st and 2^nd, the largest multi-lateral human resource event of the year took place in SDA Bocconi’s new campus: the 17^th International Organizations Career Development Roundtable (CDR). Led and founded by Michael Emery – Director of the Division of HRM at IOM – the Roundtable brought together international organizations from across the multilateral sector, with the largest participants being the United Nations, European Union and international financial institutions.

The topic this year was “Fashioning the New World of Work”, with emphasis on the future of work within international organizations, and specifically the new roles and responsibilities being placed on HR professionals within the organizations. Yet there has also been a lot of introspection and reflection on what has changed within international organizations over the past 2 years due to COVID-19.

During the 35+ clinics and keynote speeches that took place over 2 days, the nearly 200 participants have been sharing practices on how to unleash the full potential of international organizations. In particular, rather than discussing a ‘New Normal’ (also defined as a “new usual, typical, or expected state or condition”), the community has been combining ideas on the new leadership model of the future. A new leadership also defined by Paolo Gallo – Bocconi Alumnus and Former Chief HR Officer of the World Economic Forum – with 5Cs: self-Care, Cause, Connection, Creativity, Courage.

In this context, innovation and improvement amongst HR practitioners have been recognized and rewarded following what Michael Emery defined “two years of high octane for the HR community to display creativity, resilience and inventiveness” with the Innovation in Recruitment and Employee Engagement Awards received respectively by UNDP for its Graduate Programme and – ex aequo – by WHO for its ADVANCE Programme and by UNOG for its Global Dialogues initiative.

The SDA Bocconi Executive Master in Management of International Organizations (EMMIO) was also very well represented at this year's CDR event, with Greta Nasi – EMMIO Director – contributing to the senior panel on Re-imagining work, and Alexander Hiedemann – EMMIO Program Coordinator – giving two clinics discussing Virtual Reality applications in training and development, as well as introducing a framework for organizations to leverage managerial capacity in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Additionally, EMMIO participants and Alumni were also present and contributed to 2 clinics. The first focused on “Reimagining the Fashion Industry During C-19 - What Can the Multilaterals Learn from This?” and the second on “Career Compass for United Nations - Navigating Talent Acquisition” with the support of Manuela Morelli in her capacity of Career Coach and HR Professional in the UN.

Three key answers emerged to some of the questions raised during these 2 days:

• What has changed forever in the future of work? “Both organizations’ and peoples’ expectations have shifted a lot, and now new boundaries are being created.” – Ruth Blackshaw, Network Enabler for Young UN
• How can organizations do more to be more attractive employers? “Attraction is important, but it’s also important to discover the nexus of needs and results. When we set the right goals and have the right needs, we can empower people, stay creative and achieve the goals of multilateral organizations.” – Greta Nasi, EMMIO Director at SDA Bocconi School of Management
• What organizational capacity is needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda? “Stay curious. Look out for people with broad horizons. Bring in people who don’t only do, but also work to better their environment and those around them.” – Fernando De Benavides, Managing Director of Terra Firma Associates

With a backpack filled with interesting ideas about how to change the world that we work in, and a greater sense of what's coming in the future of work, it’s now time for CDR colleagues to fulfill the prediction of Michael Emery - by going back to their organizations and project all these learnings into the future.

Arrivederci #CDR!



SDA Bocconi School of Management