2026 — Smarter, not harder. Rethinking reward and recognition in HE and FE
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
Introduction
The 2026 Annual Conference saw more than 170 participants from across our membership join us online for a day of standout sessions on the theme Smarter, not harder.
Feedback from the conference has been extremely positive and we'd like to thank all of our speakers, delegates and Your Vision Events for contributing to the success of the event. You can read the post conference report here:
Two powerhouse keynote speakers, Christine Armstrong and Chris Britton, and five highly engaging spotlight speakers addressed key sector challenges, from wellbeing to employment law, the use of AI to performance management.
You can find the conference brochure, graphic recordings by Clare Mills and interviews with our keynote speakers and presentation slides here. Log in to the Members' Area of our website to view recordings of the sessions.
Our Keynote Speakers
Clare Mills www.listenthinkdraw.co.uk
Download keynote speaker graphics here:
Keynote Interviews & Presentations
Keynote Interview: Christine Armstrong
Christine Armstrong: Smarter is a Choice
Keynote Interview: Chris Britton
Christ Britton: High Performance through Appreciation
Spotlight Sessions
Spotlight session recordings and slides can be found in the Members' Area of the website via the login below.
Session 1: Jo Britton
Brain-Smart Difficult Conversations: The Other Side of Reward and Recognition
Session 2: Hayley Bird
AI Enabled Recognition: Keeping Humanity at the Heart
Session 3: Thomas Goubau
Is Performance Management Dead ? How to Transform your Managers into Performance Enablers
Session 4: Simon Allison & Jack Boyle
Avoiding pitfalls in reward: legal lessons for HR
Session 5: Annalie Howling
Recognition as Nervous System Regulation in HE & FE
