Okay, the first five parts to this series looked at he examples at how progress is being made in Roanoke and RNR to attract and retain young professionals.
1. The movement is bigger than Roanoke
2. Qualitative stories of people returning
3. Media influence
4. Champions have been established
5. It’s now a political issue
Employers are now beginning to take notice of the real threat of not attracting and retaining young professionals as it relates to maintaining and growing local companies. More and more are asking for strategy assistance. They are asking to come in and talk to their young professionals to get them connected, so they do not loose them to other areas. In fact, NewVa Connects, a YPO, is planning to establish a greeter’s program for local companies for their new young adult hires.
At a recent Roanoke Valley Society of Human Resource Managersmeeting, I spoke to them about some of the facts, communication challenges, and programs that we are offering to address the issues. Over 80 employers attended and I received about 10 follow up emails from the event. Further, the NewVa Corridor Technology Council executive director shared the common issue facing its technology-company membership was attracting candidates with the relevant skill sets with 5-15 years of experience (i.e. 26-40 years of age).
Succession planning is also getting more attention. I have sat in on meetings with very large institutions who employ thousands of workers and they are growing more and more concerned with the mass exodus of Boomers from their organization and a very thin set of middle managers to keep the ships moving.
All of these examples illustrate that employers have finally taken notice of the importance of the issue. Our final installment tomorrow will look at how local college students are embracing Roanoke and the RNR after graduation.