Guest Commentator: Carol de Fries, Vice President, Workforce and Economic Innovation, Community College of Philadelphia @CCPedu @CaroljdeFries
Why is it important that employers provide young professionals access to leaders within their organization? How does this strategy help them retain talent?
The Community College of Philadelphia works with businesses across Philadelphia in many capacities, whether it is helping to create pipeline programs in specific industries, providing professional development training for existing employees, working with business owners on their growth plans, or partnering with employers to create innovative internship or apprenticeship programs. The College’s Workforce and Economic Innovation Division that I lead is in constant conversation with employers about their workforce needs and challenges. We hear their struggle to attract and retain quality talent and the cost for that constant turn over.
Often in these conversations, we discuss whether they are thinking about their employees’ career pathways and what opportunities they provide to make their employees understand where they are headed and where they can go. Although many larger companies might have these well mapped out, smaller less resourced organizations may not. Having these mapped out is a great resource, but there is nothing better than real-life examples, and this is why providing access to leaders is so important for a company’s retention strategy. Leaders within your organization help contextualize to a young professional the path they took to get there. The employee who is eager to learn from the company’s leadership is someone who is thinking long term, and that is an employee worth the investment. Leaders who interface with those just starting out in their career can also help gain that employees greater buy-in to the vision and mission of the business.
At the College, we know that our students’ success is tied directly to mentorship programs that enable them to persist, complete, graduate, and gain employment. We recently received a major investment from Parx Casino to support our Center for Male Engagement, our Women’s Center, our LGTBQ Center, and our Veteran’s Center. All of these programs work to expose our students to leaders and role models that help them see a successful path in front of them. That is no different when they enter the working world and want to build a future ahead. Leading the way will be those businesses who make a concerted effort to create direct linkages between their young professional talent to the C-suite.
Upcoming Program
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
8:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Mars Drinks Conference Center at the Chamber
Empowerment Room
200 S. Broad Street
Suite 700
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tickets starting at $35
