Focus on Manatee | Focus on recruitment, training and retention as important as ever

Last week my team had the pleasure of attending the International Economic Development Council’s Leadership Conference in Tampa. Unsurprisingly, the No. 1 topic from economic development partners from across the U.S. and Canada was workforce development. As we here at CareerSource Suncoast ramp up our efforts for the 2020 State of Talent Conference, hearing this from our friends across the country underlines the fact that focusing on recruitment, training and retention is as important as it has ever been.

In fact, according to a survey of the council’s 5100 members, 64% of respondents said that increasing workforce development is their number one priority and has been for the past 3-4 years. This is exactly why we’ve been having this conversation with our community for just as long.

With an energizing event the past three years and ongoing positive conversations with the community, I am excited to announce the 2020 State of Talent Conference this May 14 at the Art Ovation in downtown Sarasota. We are very lucky to have a fantastic lineup of speakers from across the nation who are focused on talent development, and who are ready to give you ideas and action steps to propel your organization forward in making informed decisions on recruitment, training and retention.

We’ll hear from Minda Harts, CEO of The Memo, LLC, a career development platform for women of color and James Robilotta, author, professional speaker, personal coach and trained improv comedian. Director of UpSkill America, Jaime Fall, will share the Aspen Institute’s employer-led movement to expand opportunity for America’s workers and to help our economy and communities thrive by promoting training and advancement practices to help workers progress in their careers and move into better-paying jobs.

Joan Kuhl, author of Dig Your Heels In, joins us as an international speaker and consultant on talent management, career, communication and leadership trends. We also look forward to hearing from Dr. David DeLong, President of Smart Workforce Strategies where he helps leaders implement practical solutions to critical skill shortages and create major changes in workforce demographics, shifts in generational values and new technologies.

If you’re interested in joining leaders from the community and experts from around the nation at this one-day conference completely focused on the future of workforce and talent development, I encourage you to register at stateoftalent.org.

Ted Ehrlichman, president and CEO of CareerSource Suncoast, writes about workforce issues across the region.