Talent - Attracting, Retaining, and Growing the next generation of workers

Presented by Rebecca Ryan & Hosted by Whittaker Associates, Inc.

Experts agree that “Quality of Life” is critical to your city’s ability to retain and attract mobile, knowledge workers. As we enter a new era in which cities have fewer resources, civic and economic development leaders must remember what, or rather “who” cities are for, and make smart, contemporary choices to endear them to generations to come.

In this dynamic presentation, audiences will learn about Next Generation Consulting’s extensive research on “Next Cities” - places that have the attributes to become knowledge-based talent magnets - and will help cities gather momentum for “The New Normal.” This presentation addresses three key questions that will determine the future of our cities:

• Why does the next generation of talent matter?
• What is the next generation of talent looking for in a city?
• How can your community design a clear, authentic strategy to attract and retain talent? 

Speaker's Bio:

Rebecca Ryan is a human sparkplug. She’s NGC’s founder and author of Live First, Work Second. She’s a former professional basketball player, an Entrepreneur of the Year, and leads the team that Richard Florida calls, “One of the most reliable sources for leaders who want to attract and retain the next generation of creative workers.”

Corporate and community leaders rely on Rebecca and her team to understand “kids these days.” NGC helps clients design strategies to retain their young, future leaders; they have helped some of America’s best workplaces achieve rankings in the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work, and helped cities including Nashville, Milwaukee, and Columbus, OH design award-winning workforce strategies.

Rebecca’s firm, Next Generation Consulting, hustles. Since 1998, they have conducted interviews, focus groups, and surveys with over 40,000 young professionals. With this wealth of insight, Rebecca wrote Live First, Work Second: Getting Inside the Head of the Next Generation. Rebecca speaks at 40-50 conferences each year about her firm’s work and research.