I’m excited to be headed to Las Vegas this fall to attend SuccessConnect 2014 on September 9 – 11 because this year’s theme, “Engaging Tomorrow’s Workforce,” couldn’t be timelier. According to a new Oxford Economics study, companies don’t understand what their workers, millennials and non-millennials alike, want from them. Yet employee engagement in a changed global environment has never been more crucial for future success. See below for more details on this myth-busting report that will be shared at SuccessConnect 2014.
In addition to break-out sessions with customer case studies from the likes of Coca-Cola, Time Warner Cable, and Travelers Insurance, participants with hear from SAP CEO Bill McDermott, who will be stopping by, as well as Mike Ettling, Global Head of Cloud & On-Premise HR at SAP, who is a keynote speaker. Networking with HR peers and thought leaders is built into the three-day agenda, and I talked with some of the experts for a sneak preview of what they’ll be sharing.
Josh Bersin, Partner and Founder at Bersin by Deloitte, says his research shows a backlash among overwhelmed top employees as the economy picks up. “The job market is very transparent and if you’re a sought-after employee who isn’t happy it’s not hard to find other opportunities.” Bersin sees the employee engagement industry being disrupted by numerous changes detailed in an upcoming research report entitled, “Simply Irresistible.” He’ll share his thoughts and research during a number of SuccessConnect sessions, including as moderator of the panel discussion “Creating a True Learning Culture – Lessons from BE/Aerospace, SAP, HCL, and ConAgra.
Ed Cone, Managing Editor and Senior Analyst at Oxford Economics will present the firm’s latest findings from the “Workforce 2020” report. Co-sponsored by SAP, the report is based on feedback from 5,400 executives and employees worldwide who answer today’s most burning HR questions including:
- What millennials really want—it’s not what many people think
- The gap between what actually motivates employees and what benefits companies offer
- How companies are poised at the edge of the leadership cliff—and what to do about it
- What it takes to create a learning culture
Jacob Morgan, Principal at Chess Media Group, will be signing his new book, “The Future of Work,” and talking about how companies can navigate a workplace transformed by five trends: mobility, millennials, technology, new behaviors, and globalization. “The war for talent is huge because there are so many opportunities to earn a living without having to work for organizations. To attract top talent, organizations have to shift from assuming people need to work there, to creating an environment where people want to work there.”
Claire Schooley, industry analyst at Forrester research and advisory firm, says that employers are hyper-concerned with retaining valued employees “It’s expensive to find the right employees and retain them. But employees will leave if the culture fit isn’t right or they don’t see how they can grow. Managers and employees need to have trust to work together towards performance goals.”
Schooley will lead a discussion on performance management, including technology-enabled HR, with real-world examples from panelists including Gap Inc., Sun Communities, White Lodging Services, and SuccessFactors. “SuccessFactors is on the cutting edge of helping employees really understand what they need to do and how they’re going to be measured. Attendees at our session are going to get a fresh perspective on performance from panelists who have been selected because they do something that really works.”
There’s no question that employee engagement is entering a new era aligned to the new working environment. The line-up of sessions at SuccessConnect 2014 offers HR professionals a transformational path to a better future.
Follow me @smgaler
- SAP Managed Tags: