The challenges of recruitment, retention, high performance and skills shortages are global concerns, judging by Watson Wyatt’s recent survey on reward and performance. The consultancy will be drawing on the findings in a showcase presentation at the 2008 CIPD annual exhibition, highlighting the importance of aligning reward strategy with performance and talent management to engage and motivate employees.

The programme of free showcases is one element of this year’s exhibition, which runs alongside the annual conference. Some 300 suppliers of HR and development resources will be demonstrating their latest innovations and offering advice on people management concerns. As well as checking out the half-hour showcase presentations, the thousands of HR and development professionals due to visit the event in Harrogate will be looking to get some hands-on experience of various tools and techniques, as well as assessing the effectiveness of different solutions.