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Steve and the CIPD Community

Oli

| 0 Posts

CIPD Staff

17 Dec, 2025 11:56

Dear CIPD Community users,

I wanted to let you know that at the end of the year we will be saying a fond farewell to Steve Bridger, who has provided community management and moderation support to the CIPD Community for over 20 years now. I know this will be sad news for many of you who have regularly used our community. Steve has been a huge part of making it the valued member service it has become, helping countless people professionals solve their work and career challenges and guiding the development of the site as it has been through many changes. His expertise, calm and supportive approach, and depth of knowledge have been appreciated by everyone.

We remain as committed as ever to building this community as a place for exceptional practical advice and peer support, with our amazing Community Champions at the heart of it and a dedicated team (Michelle, Mark and myself) in support.

I am sure many of you will want to join me in expressing your appreciation for Steve’s outstanding contribution to the CIPD.

Oli, Head of Membership

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  • Rebecca

    | 0 Posts

    31 Dec, 2025 11:02

    Thanks Steve, best wishes!
  • Sharon

    | 0 Posts

    31 Dec, 2025 13:41

    This is such sad news to hear. I'm pleased you have posted this to let us know and to allow us to celebrate and remember the huge amount of hard graft, dedication and support has given to the community and how much his presence will be a loss to it.

    Go Steve. I hope this message finds you even if you might have logged off for the last time now.

    Whilst this is to celebrate Steve, I am also looking for and curious to know what is going to happen next Oli. What are the plans, how will the community be nurtured, fostered, promoted and curated without Steve? I'm hoping this will become clear as we move into 2026.
  • Oli

    | 0 Posts

    CIPD Staff

    8 Jan, 2026 10:24

    In reply to Sharon:

    Hi Sharon and my apologies for not replying sooner. The Community remains an enormously important part of our support for members, and one that we want to grow and invest in. For now, Michelle Battista will be taking over the day to day support for the Community. Michelle has managed our members' LinkedIn group for a while and is an established and trusted member of the CIPD team - you will be in safe hands with her. Mark Wilson, our other Community Manager, will be providing support and cover too. Beyond that, I am in the process of adding some more resource to the team. I hope that reassures that our commitment to the Community is as strong as ever. I will keep everyone updated as things move forward.
  • Sharon

    | 0 Posts

    14 Jan, 2026 13:46

    In reply to Oli:

    Thanks Oli, that's good to know. I appreciate the reply and good things take time to come.
    I wonder if you are going to reinstate the promotion of the forum into the Wednesday weekly CIPD marketing email. It used to have one or two nudges to the community and was a helpful reminder and nudged on a number of levels.

    1. It nudges people like me to post or reply.
    2. It reminds CIPD members of it's existence and value.
    3. It helps know what's on people's minds.

    I've noticed it has had a refresh again and it's dropped off. This has happened before in previous years and I know marketing love to refresh and mix it up and there is a lot on the CIPD agenda.

    My question would be, if it's not nudged here? Where is the nudge - the pull factor to come here- or the the push out to members?

    Thank you to you, and the team for considering this and hopefully replying when you have a moment too.
  • Gemma

    | 0 Posts

    14 Jan, 2026 16:27

    In reply to Sharon:

    Hi Sharon,

    Whilst I agree in principle that it is useful for CIPD members to be reminded of their membership benefits, including this one, I actually think sharing posts potentially dilutes the value of the confidential and safe space here. I had the misfortune of writing using the anonymous function and then my thread was picked up and promoted. That was not my intention at all and actually made something I was trying to get some discrete support about more challenging. So perhaps there could be certain of the groups which are actively promoted and the less sensitive topics not? I was very surprised to see one where I had chosen to remain anonymous shared in this way and made me regret posing the question at all.
  • Michelle Battista

    | 0 Posts

    3 days ago

    In reply to Sharon:

    Hi Sharon,

    Thank you for raising this, completely agree. It’s important that we consistently signpost the community through regular CIPD communications, so it remains visible and members know the value, knowledge and support it offers.

    Marketing did pause the community updates over the Christmas period, but these will continue next week.

    We’ll also continue exploring additional ways to increase visibility and connect the dots through wider communications and promotions to highlight the community’s impact.

    As any changes or improvements happen, I’ll make sure our group champions are kept updated.

    As always, thank you for your support!

  • Michelle Battista

    | 0 Posts

    One day ago

    In reply to Gemma:

    Hi Gemma,

    Thank you for raising this, it’s a fair and important point. We know that members come into the anonymous forum wanting to share discreetly, and we want to protect that sense of safety and trust so we have decided to remove anonymous post links from future member updates and wider communications.

    Instead, we’ll continue to share general conversational links where they align with our communication themes. These will invite members to join discussions, explore shared advice, and access support that helps address common challenges and questions.

    We’re also trialing a more balanced approach by signposting to relevant topical groups here alongside conversational links, so members can choose how and where they want to engage.

    I hope this reassures you, and we really appreciate you taking the time to highlight this with us.
  • Gemma

    | 0 Posts

    One day ago

    In reply to Michelle Battista:

    Hi Michelle,

    Thank you for considering my post and for your response, that is reassuring. I think there are certain topics where there is bound to be broader interest, and others where confidentiality and discretion are more necessary.