EDGE Members joined the HR Leadership Group of Northeast Ohio to hear Ashley Basile Oeken, President of Engage! Cleveland and Neal Restivo, CEO of Oatey Corporation discuss the Millennial Generation – Growing and Engaging the Future. Millennials, Gen Z and the Gen Nexters: when engaging these employees where do you begin? Research shows that three out of four Millennials first choose a place to live and then look for a job. Meaning we need to elevate the community and our companies at the same time, finding a good intersection. Millennials need to feel welcomed, valued and supported in their positions. When companies make an effort to actively engage these employees, it goes a long way to assist with the attraction, engagement and retention of this generation and serves as a double win for both employees and the employer. Participants learned some of the newest data about the next generation in Northeast Ohio as well as strategies to implement in their own companies to attract and retain the best and brightest. Thank you, BNY Mellon, Hiring Optics and KPMG for your sponsorship support.

Key Take-aways:

• 2007-2012 millennials were the smallest percentage of the NEO workforce
• Many college age residents leave NEO, losing talent to other cities including Columbus
• Other cities that are attracting and retaining millennials: Columbus, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis
• Change in 2008-2017 starting to experience brain-gain in Cleveland
• Top occupations for Young Professionals in Cleveland: Healthcare, accounting, teaching

How to attract and retain Millennials:

• Communicate your company values Learning and development opportunities
• Give constructive feedback regularly and often, more of a conversation
• show a path
• mentorship program
• Millennials care about causes and want to be involved
• Oatey formed an “Emerging Professionals” Group in 2015 as a platform for personal and professional development within the company and community.
• Key Focus Areas:
• Community Service and Volunteerism
• Networking
• Professional Development
• Benefits to the Emerging Professionals Group:
• Gain experiences in the area of community service, networking and professional development
• Opportunities to network and build relationships with Emerging Professionals who share similar interests within the company and community
• Develop a pipeline to company leaders Receive access to other community leaders in a collaborative environment that allows for professional and personal relationship building
• Gain a greater understanding of economic and social issues in the local community and have a chance to impact the civic agenda.

About Engage! Cleveland: Engage! Cleveland serves as a catalyst for Cleveland’s young professional community and brings awareness of the YP community. EC is a hub for all things young professional happening in Cleveland. Our goal is to attract, engage and retain young, diverse talent to Greater Cleveland by connecting young professionals to people, organizations and events. We also provide support and resources to young professional organizations, employers and nonprofit organizations.

About Oatey: Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network to supply more than 6000 products for professional builders, contractors, engineers and do-it-yourself consumers around the world.

About the EDGE Executive Forum

The EDGE Executive Forum Series is designed with entire management teams in mind, always brings high-level thought to propel middle-sized businesses towards the cutting edge of best practices in value creation.

Upcoming Executive Forum Events

For more information contact: Grant Marquit Grant@edgef.org.