On Tuesday, December 15, Redstone’s Carly Silberstein and Maddy Marchildon were thrilled to present at the Association Forum of Chicagoland’s Holiday Showcase. Holiday Showcase® is widely considered the industry’s best and most highly attended one-day exhibition for Chicago’s multi-billion dollar meetings and events market, with more than 1,400 delegates in attendance.
Here is an overview of Redstone’s top 5 strategies on succession planning in the age of millennials.
Partner with post-secondary institutions that offer programs in your industry. Where are you looking to recruit for your membership? Why not start at the source? Connecting with post-secondary institutions is a great way to seek new talent.
Create a young professionals committee or portfolio at board level. BEFORE you start developing your strategy… stop and learn from millennials. Create a position on the board for a young professional member, which should always be filled.
What’s in it for them? At the core of your member recruitment or engagement strategy should be your value proposition. The key to getting millennials excited about your association is making it clear to them what they will gain by joining.
How will they make a difference (and get recognized for it)? Millennials are driven and believe they can make a difference in the world. Engaged millennials that are poised to become leaders are prime candidates for future leadership positions within your organization. They have a passion to change the world and are ready to take on the challenging aspects of making a positive difference in the lives of others.
Embrace technology. Associations MUST speak the same language as Millennials and Gen Z. If you’re not on some form of social media and you don’t have a presentable and reliable website, you have already lost the attention of a portion of this demographic!
What are some of your challenges related to succession planning and engaging the younger generations? Let us know @RedstoneAgency or at info@redstoneagency.ca.