About this event
Uncover what drives you by building deep self-awareness to anchor your development as a successful modern people professional.
The CIPD Branch in Manchester is thrilled to introduce our new Personal Development Special Interest Group!
This group isn’t about technical HR, L&D or OD knowledge and skills – instead it’s all about you. We’ll be focusing on strategies to enhance your growth, your confidence, and your future as a modern people professional.
The group is exclusively for CIPD members living or working in Greater Manchester and in their early- to mid‑career. If this sounds like you and you’re eager to understand yourself better, boost your impact, and build key transferable skills and core behaviours aligned to the CIPD Profession Map, this is the perfect community for you!
Whether you’re aiming to shine in your current role or looking ahead to your next big move, the Personal Development Special Interest Group will give you a motivating, supportive space to build the clarity and confidence you need alongside like-minded peers.
You’ll gain insights from a diverse range of experienced people professionals whose expertise will inspire, challenge, and accelerate your personal development journey.
What to expect at our first session
We’re kicking things off with one of the most powerful foundations of personal development: self‑awareness.
Together, we’ll explore:
- Practical models and tools to help you understand yourself better
- Insights into your personality style
- What drives you and why, and how to use that knowledge to maximize your impact.
Expect interactive discussions, reflective moments, and to come away with a better understanding of your strengths, your development areas and strategies that promote personal growth.
All this, plus light refreshments, food and opportunities to build your professional network.
Shape the Future of the Group
The Personal Development Special Interest Group is for you — so we want you to help shape it.
During the first session we’ll also be gathering your thoughts on which personal development themes you’d love us to tackle next.
Speakers bio:
Dr Lujia Feng, Senior Fellowship Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), is a Programme Director and Module Leader in Human Resource Management at the University of Manchester and a CIPD Academic Member. She specialises in HR practitioner development through applied learning, organisational projects, and action learning approaches that connect professional standards with workplace practice.
She leads postgraduate HR and management programmes and designs employer-engaged modules that integrate reflective learning, organisational fieldwork, and practitioner collaboration. She has organised and led international fieldwork and organisational learning visits across Belgium, Paris, Cyprus, and the UK, providing HR learners with direct exposure to diverse organisational and cultural contexts. She also contributes to international research collaboration, including partnership work with colleagues in Singapore.
Her recent peer-reviewed publication, “Applying action learning in democratic educational practices: using a triple-layered reflective approach in an MSc HRM Enhancement Programme (HRMEP)” (2025), demonstrates how democratic educational practices and action learning strengthen reflective capability, learner autonomy, and practical HR application in professional development.
She was commended in the University of Manchester (UoM) Teaching Excellence Awards 2022 for Educational Leadership and Inclusive Education, and received the UoM Faculty of Humanities Outstanding Teaching Award in October 2025. Through her training and mentoring work with CIPD and professional networks, she supports current and emerging HR practitioners in building reflective, ethical, and evidence-based HR capability across Greater Manchester.
Please note:
1. Reminder emails will be sent to you the day before, with a further reminder on the day of the event.
2. Photography and video production may be taking place at the event, and these images may be used in the CIPD newsletters.
3. By attending the event, you are giving your consent for your image to be used on any CIPD promotional materials.
4. As we are supplying refreshments, if you can no longer attend, please cancel your place either on Eventbrite, responding to this email.
5. This event may include an external speaker who has prepared their own presentation. Any views or opinions expressed by the speaker are their own and do not reflect those of the CIPD.
6. If you require any reasonable adjustments to enhance your experience, please get in contact with us by responding to this email and we will do our best to accommodate.
