“Kelly has a B.S in Finance from Virginia Tech; worked at Wells Fargo for 8 years and joined the IC as Employment Program Manager in May 2013
Organizing an employer meeting is a very common idea with many possible variations. This type of event can be intimidating, labor intensive and can strengthen your employer connections.
The most successful and increasingly common approach now is collaborative and, if possible, includes leadership from employers and/or government partners to lend contacts and credibility.
Kelly Rice, Employment Program Manager with the International Center of Bowling Green, KY is looking for fresh ideas and experience from the field as she begins to plan her next employer outreach event.
There was a similar event in Bowling Green a couple of years ago. That success inspired the Refugee Employment Coalition and a Fall 2013 employer forum in Kent, WA. The energy and anticipation generated from the Bowling Green event two years ago has subsided and a lot has changed. Kelly is drawing on contacts and lessons learned from that event, which is great. She wants to offer something new and different to bring in new employers and keep experienced ones interested and motivated.
Kelly’s hoping for specifics about logistics and organizing details, as well as innovative topics, speakers or resources to include at her event.
Reply in a comment to this post if you have experience and advice to share about organizing an Employer Forum.
Can’t wait to hear about other’s experiences with organizing events for employers. I am thinking of trying to set up some event at our local Chamber of Commerce to celebrate/network employers that we work with / could work with in the future. Any advice/tips that I could pick up would be invaluable!
Hi Kelly and Lorel, great to connect with you both again. We’ve talked on the phone about these topics, but I also wanted to share some ideas here for others to see. Good luck in your planning process and let me know how it goes!
1) Be creative when searching for funding/resource streams. Identify allies in your community or consider collaborating with other agencies that you have not historically worked with. Ask around for assistance from local faith communities or small grants from community foundations. Be prepared for a lot of hard work. Focus on action steps at your event and have a clear plan in place for how you will continue the dialogue after the event.
2) Remember to add a photo release clause into the registration process. We had a photographer, who took many photos, but we ran into some issues when it came to publication.
3) Be sure to include employers in the actual planning process. It is crucial to have as much ‘buy-in’ and ownership from employers and municipal staff as possible. Employers are much more likely to listen to and identity with other employers than non-profit staff.
4) One thing that we discussed is the idea of charging registration fee. Not only would this help us to take a more accurate RSVP count, but it also creates an element of added value over just another free event (i.e. people are more invested if they pay something). Other incentives could also be added to create a more fun and enticing environment (raffles, big name speaker, music, etc).
5) It’s really important to be strategic with your employer invitations. Start early and target the type of companies/industries you would like to invite. We had a great outreach committee who worked on most of the invitations, but we also encouraged all of our network to invite employers specifically. Use your leverage with community leaders/politicians and other employers to invite those companies that you have had a hard time connecting with in the past.
I talked to Kelly as this post was being prepared, as well. Here are the tips I could share from my experience as Job Developer in an Austin, TX resettlement agency.
* Present an Opportunity to Learn About New and Useful Resources:
A keynote presentation can bring in attendees, introduce a valuable resource for clients and help employers strengthen all employee skills. A win-win. One year, we featuredc Community Tax Centers to talk about free tax prep resources and how much $ it brought back into the community. As a result, one big hotel had them come on-site and offer their qualifying staff time to use the service. Another year (the most popular one ever), we brought the three best ESL providers in town to talk about their programs.
• High Level Employers as Salesmen:
We worked closely with a couple of hotel GMs (and a bunch of HR and Line Managers). One of the GMs spoke at an event for lower level hospitality manager across the region. He was a draw for attendance. Having that high level stamp of approval (with lots of working level tips and advice since he really knew our program) was hugely influential. Another event featured a member of our Board of Directors who was also an employer. Point is, high level influencers as speakers giving testimonials seems to add legitimacy.
• Let Employers Brag about their Refugee Employees:
I ended up coming to Higher before we could do this, but we were well into plans to have our first Employer Recognition Awards. The idea my employers were the most excited about was recognizing refugee employees and getting to share their success stories. (Employee of the month. One guy who called 911 in an emergency, promoted housekeeping supervisor, etc.) You could think about how to riff on that idea. Clients are the best salesmen, I think.
• Think About Timing and Logistics to Maximize Attendance:
Parking, location and time of day seemed to be important. I think employers go to lots of these and they’re busy. Employers recommended the best timing as short and toward the end of the work day. (And not on a payday or other busy time for your contacts and higher level prospects.
Thank you all so much. I am so excited to create this event and will take any and all ideas!! Plus I will keep you all updated on our progress!