Resetting & Relearning Within the Meetings and Events Industry

There are a number of areas to consider when we look at how the meetings and events industry is resetting and also re-learning how to approach the future of work.

Recruitment, Retention and Development

Talent shortages have remained one of the greatest challenges facing many companies across industries. Research recently undertaken by a leading consultancy suggests a few steps that organisations can take to address the concerns of unsatisfied employees and strengthen the bonds with satisfied employees. They include:

• Career growth and upskilling. Invest in reskilling, upskilling, and retraining employees and all individual contributors; actively identify career pathways.
• Expanded benefits. Understand that not all employees require or value the same thing; adapt benefits to best match the needs of different workers and groups.
• Demonstrate support and commitment. Spend time actively listening to and acting on employees’ views and needs.

It’s also important for employers within the events industry to recognise that people look at several different factors when considering a move to a new company which include, but are certainly not limited to:

• Mission. The purpose of the company and what it stands for—the attributes that get people excited to go to work.
• Opportunities. Career advancement, training, development, job rotations, personal challenge and growth. The opportunity to work with a varied mix of people and teams.
• Working conditions. Innovation, work-life balance, flexible work hours, and remote or hybrid work—those things that mattered so much during the pandemic.
• People. Senior leadership reputation, diversity, values, work ethic and behaviour—the ability to work with people you respect and whose values you share.
• Rewards. Salary, variable compensation, and benefits—the “hard” components of an Employee Value Proposition that matter.
• The principles and ideologies of an organisation. The environment you create for your employees and the sum of your organisation’s traditions, interactions, attitudes, values and behaviours.

Companies that adapt their offerings to reflect changing preferences, requirements and behaviours demonstrate their desire to listen, understand, and respond to their employees and clients. It helps deepen trust in the organisation, fostering the kind of bonds and relationships that can drive future growth and success both internally and externally.

Reviews of internal rewards and benefits packages should also be seen as a priority. Organisations should ensure rewards programs align with the personal needs of their workforce. What is most important is ‘making people feel like people’. Our industry and associated organisations need to develop their people to develop their businesses.

Human Connection & Collaboration

Post-pandemic, no one is questioning the need to meet; yet the ‘how’ is ever-evolving. Hybrid events now take many different forms, and planners need to flex their creative muscles to define what human-to-human connection looks like in meeting programmes for their organisations. The building blocks of event planning (personalisation, engagement, targeting) have changed, but the need and desire to meet have not.

The past year or so has created a unique climate where often previously siloed functions now work together to help organisations respond, adapt, scale and flex rapidly to change. This has created a significant opportunity for businesses to collaborate in solving critical business challenges.

Collaboration has been key in reconnecting with teams post-pandemic. A time to relearn, restructure and recuperate, the need for event professionals to work together across all areas for the greater good has never been more important.

Relationships and human connectivity are arguably even more crucial in the digital era also. To maintain a sense of connection we must be purposeful in building relationships and connections across the whole organisation, internally and with suppliers and clients.