HR GIG 7 – Breaking The Silos
The 7th Edition of HR GIG – ‘Breaking the Silos’ took place on 2nd September 2022 at The Xara Lodge.
Hosted by Darine Aboulezz, this year’s HR GIG focused on different aspects of organisational silos including those resulting from departmental or hierarchical structures, geographical locations, lack of mental health and wellbeing, data or data accessibility, and hostility between competing businesses, amongst other aspects.
The subject was tackled through opening keynotes by Joseph Farrugia – Director, StreetHR, Yasmin De Giorgio – CEO, Shireburn Software and Martin Hignett – Managing Director, Trelleborg. These were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Marisa Xuereb – President, The Malta Chamber with the participation of Christina Galea – CEO, Costa Coffee Malta, Stephania Dimech Sant – CEO, Richmond Foundation, Joshua Zammit – Consultant, Novargo Ltd and Jaques Barnard – Business Development Manager, Cleverbit Software.
As the discussion evolved with input also being given by the audience, it was clear that silo mentalities and barriers across multiple functions are commonly experienced issues. Even worse, they hurt organisations, hinder productivity, diminish innovation, affect employees’ engagement and break alignment with the overall strategy.
One of the key messages that emerged during the event was that sweeping this topic under the carpet can leave organisations battling themselves as opposed to moving forward! Silos are a real challenge that most of us face at some point. They are an inevitable side effect of lacking communication, toxic work cultures, poor mental health and misuse of technology. However, those same elements can be made key to breaking the silos: building healthy work cultures, being mindful of mental health and explore the opportunities which technology offers and above all, open and respectful communication.
In their typical slot, Outdoor Living Malta entertained the audience with a fun and energetic activity ‘Beat the Box’. This activity encapsulated the core point of HR GIG 7: how collaboration breaks down silos! Moving onto the traditional fun element of HR GIG, Wayne’z World kept the audience entertained with live music during the final slot reserved for food, refreshments and networking.
