The HR SIG presents…

What Millennials Want In the Workplace: And Why You Should Start Giving It To Them

The Millennial Generation has different ideas about what they want from an employer.  This generation played a large role in electing the first black president and redefined how music is bought and sold.  That generation (which is known as Generation Y, and which spans the ages of roughly 20 to early 30s) will soon represent the biggest chunk of the American workforce.  The results of a recent Brookings Institutional study exploring the preferences  and behaviors of the millennials showed that the business world will receive a shake up as these workers enter the workforce.  They are branded as being passionate and driven to make a difference in the world, and confident they can assume the role of leaders early in their careers and clearly see their careers and the workplace very different than previous generations. Given this reality, isn’t it time to spend less time judging and more time engaging the millennials since a full 86 million millennials will be in the workplace by 2020–representing up to 50% of the total working population in the US.

It is in every employers’ best interest to learn how to attract, develop, motivate and retain millennials.  A few do it well–but most don’t and they soon may pay a price.

The CommNexus HR SIG panel will present the behavior and expectations of the generation of workers who will dominate the workforce for the next 70 years along with insights for you, the employer, on how to give them what they want so that you can achieve business results through this dominant segment of your workforce.

PANELISTS:
Melinda Del Toro
Vice President of Human Resources, ViaSat
With a background in teaching, both in academic and corporate environments, Melinda came to Viasat in 2001 to build an education and development function. She helped develop a competency based leadership curriculum,  succession planning and people review process. Today as VP of Human Resources she leads a team of talented Human Resources professionals who thrive on getting to help shape the employee experience and practice HR in an innovative and dynamic engineering environment.

Dan Negroni
Founder and CEO, launchbox
Dan is a coach, consultant, facilitator and keynote speaker for today’s critical cross-generational issues, bridging the gap between managers and their millennial workforce to increase employee engagement, productivity and profits. Dan leverages his authentic, no-nonsense approach and a successful 20+year career as a CEO, attorney, senior sales and marketing executive, to reinvigorate businesses and people. He speaks directly to millennials and management. His formula incorporates simplicity: teaching them how to communicate, build effective relationships, motivate others, create a personal brand, build a network, and maximize their personal effectiveness.

Prior to founding launchbox, Dan served as CEO for start-up businesses in the health and fitness market and a consulting firm. He also held senior C-suite roles in sales, marketing and operations for a variety of service businesses in the technology industry. In conjunction with most of his roles, he also served as companies’ general counsel and supervised the legal and HR functions. Dan is an active member and frequent presenter at several organizations, including Vistage, University of California – San Diego, Point Loma Nazarene University, and local network stations.

Christine DiDonato
Founder and President, Career Revolution, Inc.
Christine DiDonato, founder of Career Revolution, Inc., has been innovating in the space of employee and leadership development for over 15 years. As the former Head of Talent Development for Sony Electronics, Inc., Christine focused her passion and research on acquiring, coaching and developing organization’s youngest generations of employees to become the next generation of leaders. Throughout her leadership roles in industries like consumer electronics, financial services and consulting, Christine discovered that the newest generations of employees were entering the job market with big expectations and even bigger student loans, while at the same time, organizations were struggling to develop and retain them. Like a perfect storm, both parties experienced losses, affecting not only career satisfaction, but paychecks and company budgets.

This prompted Christine to interview and survey hiring managers and their youngest employees to understand what was getting in the way of mutual success and career growth. Christine’s research over several years revealed 7 specific areas of difference that were contributing to high turn-over and disappointed new talent continuously on the hunt for their next opportunity. The “7 Mindsets” were adapted into an assessment and 360 feedback tool, where young professionals could learn where their personal gaps were and hiring managers could provide feedback that was productive and solution oriented. Seeing the success these tools brought to young professional and the companies they work for, Christine was inspired to create Career Revolution, an on-line resource and long-term development tool dedicated to accelerating the development of a new generation of employees in a voice they can understand. She now travels the world helping organizations, educational institutions and young professionals find mutual career success.

Christine has a M.A. in Speech and Communication from San Francisco State University and enjoys traveling, cooking for family and friends, and watching documentaries and funny movies.

Megan Leonard, CMP
Event Manager, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)
Megan Leonard, CMP is the Event Manager for Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), a mobile technology standards organization based in San Diego. Megan’s primary role, since joining in June 2012, is to organize multiple, international conferences for OMA membership throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. In addition to that, Megan has introduced and led OMA’s social media strategy, educating the OMA team and membership on the benefits of a social presence. Megan also assists the OMA Communications Director in Marketing collateral creation and editing, and managing participation at external tradeshows and events. Megan graduated with her B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed the Meeting and Events Certification Program at San Diego State University. Megan is a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) as well as a certified “Inbound Marketing” specialist.

Jenny Morgan
Human Resources Representative, Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.
Jenny Morgan is the Human Resources Representative at Prometheus Laboratories Inc, a Nestlé Health Science company. In her generalist role, she wears several HR hats, including the areas of recruiting, HRIS, compensation and employee relations. She is passionate about fostering an engaging and authentic environment for the employees and managers she supports and is specifically focused on driving continuous improvement and innovation in the onboarding experience. Jenny received her B.S. in Animal Science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and enjoys trips to the zoo, backpacking, and hanging out at local coffee shops.

SIG EVENT SPONSORED BY:

Questions? Contact Brittany Bjerke at bbjerke@commnexus.org