Companies considering sending employees to attend conferences have many things to deliberate including expense and employee time lost; however, there are other factors that companies should weigh that are often not considered. These factors include the quality of employee experience, developing smarter, more engaged employees, increasing employee pride in being a part of the industry and community, and enabling employees to build a professional network in the industry that can lead to collaborations and discoveries.
Wisconsin Biohealth Conference afternoon keynote speaker, Ryan Jenkins, whose focus is on helping companies develop their Millennial and Generation Z workforce, has the following statistics up on his webpage in a blog post:
- Millennials rated “professional growth and career development” as the #1 driver of engagement and retention. (Quantum Workplace)
72% of Millennials value the chance to learn new skills, compared to just 48% of Baby Boomers and 62% of Generation X. (Millennial Branding)
35% of Millennials felt that excellent training and development programs were essential when considering a potential employer (PwC)moreover, beyond millennials, the upcoming class-
- 36% of Generation Z students are more focused on the opportunity for growth rather than salary when it comes to their first job. (Fortune)
Below are two reasons why companies should let their employees attend conferences and how they contribute to the factors listed above and more:
1). It Will Make the Company Better and Help Retain Employees Over Time
Conferences provide a unique learning environment that is hard to duplicate. While a great deal of information is available on the web, it’s hard cutting through the clutter to find quality, meaningful, or actionable content. Guess what? The Wisconsin Biohealth Summit is chock-full of quality, significant, and actionable content.
Besides providing employees with a learning opportunity, they also get a breather outside of the office that can help increase energy, happiness, and prevent employee burn out. Picture it as a grown-up field trip +. A fantastic bonus is that this critical hands-on experience can be brought back to other teams and shared and discussed. Good conferences are often inspiring, insightful, and even necessary to be effective in today’s dynamic working environment.
Lastly, employees want development opportunities. Personal goals and priorities influence everything about an employee’s performance, from their decision to apply to a job at your company, to their decision to stay and grow with you over time.
2). You Can Use It as a Recruiting Tool
After compensations plans, most job seekers seek opportunities for employee development. If employees attend conferences and seminars, be sure that they are loud and proud! Encourage them to share content on social media tagging your company. This content can then be shared on your networks demonstrating happy employees that are engaged in the biohealth industry and are partaking in professional development opportunities. Promoting the fact that employees can take advantage of this opportunity at your company can be a game-changing differentiation in recruiting top talent.
BONUS- What happens when you don’t send employees to conferences:
One of the top reasons that employees leave their current employer is a lack of career mobility in the organization. Young top talent is looking for upward mobility, skill training, or a clearly defined career path with their impact job. If your organization doesn’t have a formal career growth plan or internal professional development opportunities- conferences are a great alternative. Encouraging your employees to go to the Wisconsin Biohealth Summit signals you care about their development.
So, send your employees to the Wisconsin Biohealth Summit!