By Aoife McCrum, Director of Digital at SoolNua and Gráinne Ní Ghiollagáin, Business Development Manager at SoolNua – both co-council members at Meetings+MillennialsThe hiring process can be daunting and time consuming – shifting through CVs, sitting through endless interviews, salary negotiations, ensuring the correct fit and then once the individual is hired, the endless coaching and training that goes into that one individual to ensure they can thrive in that role – then perhaps after 6 months, you have a strong employee!But the process does not end here.According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report (https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2018) 93% of employees would stay longer at a company if it invested in their careers. Training and development is no longer an optional perk that companies offer, it is expected by today’s talent.Not only does a comprehensive training programme increase overall profit and productivity (According to the Association for Talent Development, companies with a formalized training program have a whopping 218% higher income per employee than companies that don’t invest in their staff!!) – it also signals that employees appreciate and value their people – that they are willing to invest time and money in an individual and thus in turn, the employee is motivated and engaged with the company – decreasing the amount of time YOU have to spend on the hiring process when employees opt to move on.Understanding what training and development programs to invest in for your employee can be hard to navigate - so we have highlighted below, 4 different training opportunities for your millennial employees:FYP – Forum for Young Professionals.This programme takes place right before IBTM in Barcelona every year and is by application only. Facilitated by ICCA, the 35 delegates that attend the 3 day programme are comprised of ICCA members (ranging from convention bureaus, venues, PCO, transport companies and meetings support) and associations, and are within the specified target group of less than 30 years of age and with 1 to 3 years of experience within the meetings and events industry. The wide range of demographics allow for a full spectrum of opinion and experiences across a series of educational sessions and deep dive discussions. We have both had the privilege to attend this programme and have kept in contact with the people we met – we are even still in the WhatsApp groups that are created every year 3 and 4 years later!PCMA – webinars.Encourage your employees to sign up for webinars and allocate time in their week to log in without distraction to topics that are of interest to them to further their knowledge and development. There are lots of online education webinars out there, PCMA have a wonderful range of topics to choose from. Think of this as the Netflix for education option – choose when you want to digest it!SITE Young Leaders Conference.SITE Young Leaders Conference.This conference takes place right before IMEX America in Las Vegas every year. If your employees are within the first five years of their career in the incentive industry, this conference will help to kick start their professional journey. The SITE Young Leaders’ Conference presents an opportunity to meet young professionals from around the world and gather to learn, energize and focus on both personal and career goals. Read what Heidi Goettemoeller, Conference Co-Chair had to say in her event testimonial: “Setting aside our precious time is never easy, but when such a great opportunity arises, it is worth it! Attendees get to experience a stellar combination of networking opportunities with each other and with recognized industry leaders, keynote speakers, and innovative sessions that draw on the experience of being a young professional. With these new connections and education opportunities I found that my passion for the MICE industry was reignited”.Talk to your team members about what professional development they might be interested in pursuing – from online courses, webinars, industry publication subscriptions, conferences or intensive programmes – there are lots of options!

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