BETTER

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BUSINESS:
Designing the
Future of Work 2022
By Dani Kloap,
Manager of Curriculum, MPI Academy
Sponsored by:

Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 1

Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 2

Leaders converged on Mobile, Alabama,for MPI’s 2022 Thought Leaders Summit,
the seventh annual event of its kind
benefitting the MPI Foundation whileproviding VIP experiences, exclusive
excursions and networking opportunities
with the most strategic leaders in themeeting industry.
Mutual collaboration and connection
happened through micro-keynotes, deep
discussions and tell-all conversations tocreate actionable takeaways about how
to make careers in the meeting and event
industry more attractive, how to elevatethe industry’s brand and how to create

driven environment can help attract andretain employees. To create a valuesdriven culture, the values must be infusedin everything the company does, frompolicies and procedures, to who gets
promoted and how.
Employees want to see their personalvalues reflected in the organization’svalues. With over half of the workforce
reconsidering what kind of work they are
doing because of the pandemic, it’s more
important now than ever before to meetthe needs of employees who want tofeel they have a purpose not only in theirpersonal lives but in the work they do.

To design this kind of environment,
participants learned from Gina Samci,
Marriott International’s senior director of
global sales, that they have to put people
first. Samci shared Marriott’s philosophyof delivering on this ideal by recognizingthat by taking care of their employees,
staff produce quality results and takecare of their customers. The purpose
Marriott instills in its employees and thesense of community it provides has helped
the company move forward from thedevastation of the pandemic. The personalconnection to the company’s values helps
the hotel chain earn trust and loyalty fromits employees.
Samci shared that Marriott has continued
to focus on people first with initiatives
to engage potential employees at a highschool level, workplace readiness andflexibility with remote and part-time
opportunities. The company has worked
to provide competitive pay, increased
benefits and hiring for the skill set thepotential employee has, not necessarily
the experience earned.

Survey Says...

work environments that foster belonging
to both attract and retain talent.
Subject-matter experts delivered several
micro-keynotes throughout TLS to provide
both qualitative and quantitative data
points to spark discussion and help deliveron practical action items the industry
can put in place. Day 1 focused on how
to develop organizations that attract andretain top talent, while Day 2 focused on
how to build a pipeline of professionals
who are ready and willing to fill roles in
the industry.

Expert Advice

Valerie Grubb, a keynote speaker, trainerand executive coach, pulled from her
experiences working at NBC Universal,
Rolls-Royce and establishing the Oxygen
Channel to demonstrate how a values-

Employees want to
see their personalvalues reflected in
the organization’svalues.

For organizations to put people firstand focus on values, the industry needs
quantitative data points to guide next
steps. Somya Mathur, an EX solution
strategist at Qualtrics, presented data
uncovered from its 2022 Employee
Experience Trends survey. In the third yearof this survey, Qualtrics has discovered
legitimate trends in employee experience
across 27 countries, with hospitality
accounting for seven percent of responses
from full-time employees.
Four global trends emerged.

Grubb gave the example of hotel
employees not just providing an overnight
stay for someone, but contributing
to a family being able to reconnect ordelivering on someone’s dream to travel
the world. To create this values-driven
culture, businesses will have to shift tocommunicating to employees the true
value they bring to the workplace.
“The challenge is that we get so busy
we stop talking about (our purpose andvalues),” Grubb said.

1. There will be an exodus of leaders
and women will be the first to
leave, Mathur said. Much of this iscontributed from burnout of notknowing how to lead through the
pandemic. Overall intent to stay ina position dropped to 65 percent
from 70 percent in 2021. The
decline in women leaders can be
attributed to so much responsibility
falling to them during the pandemic.
Mathur recommends making sureorganizations are listening to women
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 1

leaders in a focused manner, to know
their priorities and put systems inplace to retain these leaders.
2. People will demand better physicaland digital workspaces, with more
flexibility. Employees indicate
they feel underwhelmed by thetechnology and tools offered tothem and when that happens,
employee engagement falls to 24
percent. Productivity jumps to 91
percent when the right tools are inplace. About 1/3 of respondents
indicated they will look for new jobs
if called back to the office full time.
Survey data show the future of theoffice will be for collaboration or
technology employees cannot accessat home.

treated more like digital conversations,Mathur recommended. Turn statements
into questions and instead of just asking
for answers such as “strongly agree,” uselogic to ask for more details based on what
the employee shared.
Mathur said organizations should takean intersectional lens to data gatheredfrom employees and see what womenand minorities are saying throughout theiremployee experience. Review feedback
from 30, 60 and 90 days in to their job
experience. Seek feedback at their exitfrom the company and use all of this data
to piece together an accurate view of
employee experience. From there, Mathur
said, organizations can utilize this data toculture employees currently experienceand how this might need to shift.
Gregory Offner, founder and CEO of
Global Performance Institute, shared
his performance methodology and how“tip jar culture” can help leaders get thebest performance from their employees,
and in turn a better experience for theircustomers.
To review company culture, leaders mustfirst examine the types of employees
they have. Offner shared three types of
employees.
1. The Keepers. Two subsets of these
are the rockstars, which are about
10 percent of the company at best.

3. A lack of diversity, equity, inclusion
and belonging will no longer betolerated by employees, according to
the Qualtrics survey feedback. About
75 percent of the future workforce
will be Millennials. “A top driver ofengagement is ‘I feel like I belong at
this company’ not ‘I like the people
here,’” Mathur shared. People want
to work in an environment where
they feel safe and accepted as theirauthentic selves.
4. Employees’ lack of wellbeing is “acountdown to disaster,” Mathur said.
“This is the biggest challenge thatawaits us.” Twenty-nine percent ofrespondents to the Qualtrics survey
indicated they do not always take asick day when warranted. Of those
who refuse to take a sick day, 61
percent cite a heavy workload as thereason they cannot. The survey also
found that a source of anxiety in the
personal lives of employees is linked
to work issues.
How do organizations start to tackle thesefour themes coming from the employee
experience survey? Listen during timesof disruption. This is the time to invite
employees into a conversation and seek
feedback with the intent to truly listen andtake action. Surveys, like the one Qualtrics
created to capture this information about
the employee experience, should be

People will demand
better physical anddigital workspaces,with more flexibility.
take the right action in solving employee
problems for better future retention.
Mathur indicated employees havestruggled with these themes for sometime, but the pandemic brought more ofthis to the forefront.
“People found a voice to express concernsthat the pandemic made more prominent,”
Mathur shared.

Employee PersonasOnce companies solicit this feedback,leaders should consider what kind of

These are the ones we immediately
want to keep who contribute greatideas and work to the company.
There are also the rock-steadies, theones who keep showing up because
they feel called to do their work.
Offner said companies often set upprocesses that forget the people
who are content in their roles andleaders should work to recognize
them because of the success they
contribute.
2. The Leapers. These employees
are highly successful and not at acompany because of a calling; theywant to build career capital. Offnershared a story about a CEO whocreated an alumni program at his
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 2

company to engage the “leapers.” Hechecks on them twice a year to stayconnected and created a network ofglobal talent ambassadors with thesealumni to bring his company to otherclients or make it easy to return tohis company in the future. Insteadof fearing the investment of time
and training into leapers who will
eventually leave the company, Offnerrecommended embracing them byusing these employees to create yourown talent pipeline.
3. Sleepers. They are physicallypresent, but they are essentiallyasleep, Offner said. He
recommended reviewing how to“The moment of disengagement is whenyour problem as an organization becomes
my problem as an individual,”
Offner shared.
When leaders tackle how to stop the
moment of disengagement, Offner said
employee engagement happens moreorganically. Asking employees directly
about their passions and helping develop
those will lead to a more engaged
workforce.

Labor Crisis

Leaders need more information on exactly
who exists in today’s workforce to know
how to better engage them. Altaf Sovani,founder and CEO of Alzen Consulting,manner. Sovani’s research showed if
the manager likes the employee, theemployee will receive preferential
treatment for trainings, promotions
and more. Supervisors have become
too busy and are not always properly
trained, making for an inconsistent
management experience for
employees. “You don’t manage
people; you lead people,” Sovani said.
“You manage things, but you actuallylead people.”
2. A culture of favoring seniority:
Millennials want promotions andopportunities to be based on how
hard they work and not how muchseniority someone has at a company.
A culture of seniority and favoritism
will only hold organizations back,Sovani said.
3. Opportunities for advancement:
Millennials will remain loyal if
presented with opportunities toadvance and grow their career withan organization. They have thedegrees and education, but do notoften have the experience and growfrustrated with limited opportunities
to grow that experience, Sovani
shared.

set better expectations to stopthem from “quiet quitting,” a recent
phenomenon where employees quit
working above and beyond work
expectations. Offner said the key tostopping this is to invest in findingout the moment of disconnect for
the employee, rather than continuing
to pour time and resources into
employee engagement without atrue picture of why the employee isdisengaged.
How does the company culture shift?
Offner said leaders must be friction
hunters. A keeper will turn into a sleeper
or leaper due to unnecessary friction.

Millennials willremain loyal if
presented with
opportunities toadvance and growtheir career withan organization
Inc., shared his research on the labor
crisis in the hospitality, tourism and event
industry. From his research emerged eight
key themes of why Millennials are rapidly
leaving their jobs.
1. Inconsistent application oforganizational policies bysupervisors: Leaders are not
implementing policies in a consistent

4. Baby Boomer culture: Sovani’s
research found a clash of cultures
between Millennials and Baby
Boomers. Millennials do not want
to be “parented” at work. Leaders
should examine which generations
are present in their organization andwork to help these cultures mesh.
5. Communication with Millennials:
Typically, less feedback is given thehigher you move up in a company,
Sovani shared. Feedback is being
given only when someone has
not done well. Millennials want toreceive feedback and truly feel a partof the organization. He recommends
that supervisors build relationships
and get to know Millennials in theirworkforce to build a rapport thatallows for consistent and often
feedback.

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6. Training and Development:
Millennials indicated to Sovani in his
research they felt only those who
the company wants to retain receive
access to additional training anddevelopment. Those who end up insupervisory roles are leaving if they
feel they have not beenadequately trained.
7. Compensation and Affordability:
Sovani said his research found thatcompensation plays a huge factor
in Millennials switching roles in theindustry, looking for an employer
that pays a little more on theirjourney to find higher wages.
8. Work-Life Balance: While this topic
was widely discussed pre-Covid,
trying to balance work and life has
become a huge consideration forMillennials in the present. “For(Millennials), it’s not a choice, it’sa right,” Sovani said of work-lifebalance. “There are too many
competing needs to get donethat it feels like you have to takework home.” Sovani recommends
employers having flexibility and evenconsidering a four-day work week
for increased productivity, looking to
how resilient employees have been
while working from home during the
pandemic.
Sovani also found through his researchthat purpose is a key driver of what keeps
people of all generations in the workforce.
Considering how employees see their
purpose at work will help drive howorganizations retain them.

David Clark with Visit Mobile shared thedestination management organization
has evolved beyond what it is, focusing
also on workforce promotion andattraction. WorkinMobile.com provides anopportunity to connect employers withneeded talent and growing a pipeline tofocus on careers, not just jobs.
Annette Gregg with MPI shared thatthe organization continues to focus on
upskilling faster through the Emerging
Meeting Professionals designation andis setting the standard for curriculum in
hospitality programs with MPI Certified.

Leadership shouldbe able to infuse
the company’s values into everything,from onboarding
to communicationfrom the C-Suite.

Industry Leadership

Several industry leaders from thehospitality and events sector shared how
they are attracting and retaining criticaltalent necessary to help the industry not
only recover, but truly thrive.
Fran Brasseux from the International
Council on Hotel, Restaurant, andInstitutional Education (ICHRIE) sharedthat their partnerships have been
important to rethink what the futureof academia in the industry can lookby utilizing micro-credentials forquick education.

Debra Zabloudil with the American
Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
discussed how the organization is working
with young professionals to learn how tobetter attract them to and retain them in
the industry. Their education efforts arefocused on more micro-credentials, aswell as a new program called ReadyMe
to prepare professionals to move into
leadership roles.
Jennifer Clark Fugolo with the American
Hotel & Lodging Foundation (AHLA

Foundation) discussed the organization’s
initiatives to expand their reach by helping
people build careers and improve lives
by strengthening the hotel industry.
The AHLA Foundation has focused on
workforce development through theirpartnerships with community-basedorganizations to upskill and give others
exposure to the hotel industry.
Tyler Davidson with Meetings Today sharedthat leisure and hospitality roles accountfor 61 percent of jobs lost during the
pandemic, and reinforced data that young
employees are more motivated by learningand opportunities for career growthover money, and that employers should
move outside of their comfort zones tobe flexible and attract more talented
candidates to the industry.

Actionable Next Steps

After learning from subject-matter experts,
Thought Leaders Summit participants had
opportunities for deep-dive discussions
focused on answering the call to craft
solutions to building a more robust andengaged workforce in the meeting andevent industry.
Several themes emerged as thought
leaders identified steps industry
organizations can take to create valuesdriven work environments, utilize
employee experience trends and support
workforce development for the future of
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 4the meeting and events industry. Those
include communication and feedback;talent development; leadership; education;
culture and belonging; hiring practices
and talent attraction; company brand andindustry messaging; pay and incentives,and how to take action.
Communication and Feedback. Employees
in today’s workforce crave transparent andvulnerable communications from those inleadership positions. They want to havea voice and feel that what they have to
say matters and contributes to the overall
success of the company. These people want
to see the company’s values in action as
communications to employees are made.

to understand how to collect thedata needed to truly understandthe employee experience at yourorganization. Leaders must be
committed to not only collecting
this data but looking at thoseintersections to understand what
each type of employee experiences
while working for the company.
Committing to use this data will
foster belonging as employees feelseen and heard.
• Hire analytical firm experts. Want tosurvey employees but not sure howor where to start? Consider investingin help creating a survey that elicits
the data needed to take action.

space for employees to share their
feedback. When employees see thisfeedback being taken and changes
made, this will continue to help the
employee see the company’s valuesin action.
• Ask for continuous feedback.
Employees today seek feedback
throughout their professional
journey, not just a performance
review time. Managers should betrained on how to give consistent
feedback based on the company’svalues and not surprise an employeewith negative feedback months later
during a performance review.

With all of the investment that goes into training and developing
an employee, it makes sense to expose professionals to other areasof the company and other job functions beyond their own.
• Ask for feedback and listen to
employees. Employees want to beheard and to contribute to the overall
organization. As shared from several
subject-matter experts throughout
TLS, employees who feel they areconnected to the values of theorganization and who feel heard
will feel more loyal to the company
and feel they are fulfilling a larger
purpose.
• Communicate values, all the time.
Leadership should be able toinfuse the company’s values into
everything, from onboarding tocommunication from the C-Suite.
Evaluate processes and proceduresto see how those align with theorganization’s values. Wheneverything can be measured basedon the mission, vision and valuesof the company, employees better
understand their role and seethemselves in the company’s values.
• Survey staff for employee
experience. The data provided
through staff surveys is crucial
to driving any organizationalchange. Review assessment types• Share action plans and betransparent in accountability tomeet that plan. As leaders commit
to collect feedback on the employee
experience, they must commit toalso be vulnerable in sharing that
feedback. Transparency in sharing
a created action plan based on thatdata is also crucial to employee buyin that cultural shifts can happen.
• Implement change and model
values. Change may not be easy,
but employees must see thatwillingness to change and seeleadership modeling values throughcommunications to employees.
• Create a “suggestion box” culture.
Provide avenues to receive
continuous feedback through options
like suggestion boxes or regularlyscheduled town halls.
• Provide coffee talks or 1:1 time.
These opportunities to connect
with leadership provide employees
a way to feel seen and heard whenproviding feedback. Leadershipshould be committed to allowing
these times to connect to be a safe

Talent Development. Thought leaders
identified a critical missing piece in workforce
development today: development of skills
for current employees. Those who suddenly
found themselves in supervisory roles had
no experience and did not know where toturn for education. Employees who had
to take on new functional areas or roles
during the pandemic had little to no training.
Onboarding can be rushed and not fully
cover all aspects of the role.
• Utilize each employee’s talents.
Employees leave when they feel
undervalued or underutilized. Builda relationship with your employees
to understand what exactly theirtalents are and how those can best
be put to use by the organization.
• Expose employees to other divisions
or job functions. With all of theinvestment that goes into training
and developing an employee, it
makes sense to expose professionals
to other areas of the company andother job functions beyond theirown. This could help retain top talentas they look to build additional skills
or advance their career.

Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 5

• Help with transferable skill
development. Look for educational
opportunities for employees todevelop future critical skills in areas
outside of their immediate job
function. A micro-course focused on
persuasion or critical thinking canhelp the employee develop skills that
could transfer to another department
at your company or section of theindustry, while also helping themprovide additional output in theircurrent role. Employees who feel

• Trust and empower employees tohave authority. Leadership shouldfind ways to build that empowerment
within employees to have authority
to make decisions. Training for
managers on how to lead a team,
avoid micromanagement andcoach others can help foster thatempowerment.
• Embrace and balance organic
passion. Building meaningful
relationships with employees can• Provide education. So many role
shifts have happened, and continue
to happen, as a result of thepandemic. Suddenly, employees havefound themselves leading teams
with no real leadership training orexperience. Supervisors are leaving
when they do not feel adequately
trained, and employees are leaving
after negative experiences fromsupervisors. We must partnerwith industry organizations
providing education to better equipsupervisors to be leaders.
• Train for tough conversations.
Managers need more training on
how to tackle tough conversations
with courage and vulnerability. These
kinds of conversations are nevereasy, but essential to problem solve
and get back to business.

their managers invest in them will
feel more aligned in their personalvalues with those of the company.
• Create stretch assignments to tap
into passions. This is another way
to assist with transferable skill
development. Work with employees
to create these assignments they
are passionate about, which willlead to more productivity fromthe employee and more sense ofaccomplishment and belonging.
• Provide better and more thoroughonboarding. Onboarding should be
re-evaluated to make sure it ties backinto the mission, vision and valuesof the organization. It should bethorough in training for all aspectsof the job role and the company.
Research has shown that employees
who do not feel properly trained
will leave.

Companies must
evolve and move toan all-encompassing
focus of not only
diversity, equity
and inclusion, but
belonging.
help managers find that person’sorganic passion with a plan tohelp foster it for a more engaged
employee in the workplace.
Leadership. Shifting from the idea of people
management to leader will be crucial toretaining talent. Research has shown thatpeople can become leapers and sleepers frompoor experiences from their direct supervisor.
Supervisors need complete training andcontinued development to provide theleadership experiences employees crave.

• Set goals and give feedback.
Employees want to take part insetting goals together and sharing
not only goals to meet for their
specific role, but their professional
goals as well. They also want theopportunity to share feedback on
how their supervisor can be a better
leader. The culture needs to be inplace across the entire organizationfor employees to feel safe in sharingthat feedback about their manager.
• Make 1:1s a standard practice.
Research shows that employees
need 1:1 time with managers to build
meaningful relationships and direct
their work. These should becomea standard practice to deepen
employee engagement.
• Take more action. Employees want
to see leaders who take action andlive out the company’s values in all
interactions and the work they do.
They also need managers who takeaction on direct feedback and seechanges and shifts being made.
Education. Increasing talent in the workforce
means the industry needs more education
available to potential employees. Curriculum
for hospitality programs needs to be updated
and made available at the high school level.
The industry needs to meet younger talent
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 6

where they are – TikTok and Instagram– and educate them on how they can see
themselves fitting into this industry.
• Educate about the industry on social
media. Highlight employees and how
they joined this industry by sharing
on platforms such as TikTok andInstagram.
• Connect with high schools. Look
to career and technical education
associations for ways to offer
programming for high school
students. High school students canparticipate in education and enter
the meeting and event industry
workforce immediately after
graduation with a certificate.

from other departments or eveneach other? Are people truly allowed
to show up in the workplace as
their authentic selves? Ask thesequestions of employees to gauge theculture and make shifts as needed.

space to confide in someone outsideof their team. Set parametersand expectations around these
relationships to generate relationshipbuilding and professional growth
for all involved.

• Offer business resource groups.
Create resource groups for
employees to connect over bothprofessional and personal identities.
These allow employees to be
their authentic selves and foster
belonging.

Hiring Practices and Talent Attraction.
To evolve for today’s workforce, industry
businesses must be flexible and examine how
they not only attract talent but how theyhire and fill vacant roles. Transparency andflexibility will be key to attracting top talentand retaining them through thehiring process.

• Shadowing and Internships. These
opportunities not only build brandawareness but provide a way foryoung professionals to belong
and see themselves in a position
with your organization. Create
expectations around these positions
and empower an employee whowants to move into a leadership role
to supervise one of these positions.
Culture and Belonging. Gone are the daysof simply figuring out how to infuse diversity
in the workplace. Companies must evolveand move to an all-encompassing focus of
not only diversity, equity and inclusion, but
belonging. Research presented at TLS shows
there is a social aspect to work that people
crave, whether working in-office, hybrid orremote. Creating a culture that promotes
belonging and wellbeing should be a focus
for companies wanting to retain employees
long-term.

With the reshuffling throughout the
pandemic, opportunities are endlessto attract potential
employees looking
for a career shift.

• Be intentional about creating
community. Consider ways forcolleagues to connect with eachother and celebrate each other’s
successes. Establish department
engagement champions who oversee
how those teams build relationships
with one another.

• Hold focus groups. Receiving
feedback in employee surveys?
Create employee focus groups that
seek specific solutions about solving
an issue. Take that feedback to drive
real change and let the focus groupsee that their work is valued
and used.

• Conduct a culture check. What kindof culture does your organization
have? Do employees feel empowered
to take days off? Are teams siloed• Create mentorship programs. Pair
new hires with mentors in a different
department to foster connectedness
and give those employees a safe

• Change hiring requirements.
Consider hiring for potential andnot just experience. Research shows
Millennials want to see fairness in theworkplace when it comes to valuing
work being done over seniority at acompany. Train hiring managers torecognize potential and transferrable
skills could result in filling vacantroles with long-term employees whovalue the opportunity for a career,
not just a job.
• Attract those who want a careerchange. With the reshufflingthroughout the pandemic,
opportunities are endless to attract
potential employees looking for a
career shift. Again, the ability toidentify those transferrable skills
and help those looking for those
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 7

changes see themselves as a fit for
the role can help in attracting newtalent with a fresh perspective.
Consider transparency in your job
listings about hiring not just based on
experience and encouraging those
to apply who are looking for a
career change.
• Lure talent with incentives. While
this may not always be possible,
consider what incentives could be
attractive to someone just coming
out of high school, college or looking
for a change in their career. Perhaps
loan forgiveness, flexible work

There must be more entry-leveljobs created that funnel candidates
with potential into roles in event
management to learn and then move
up in the organization for more longterm retention.
• Create transparency for interview
demographics. Be honest withyour current employees, and evenpotential ones, about your interview
demographics. Demonstrate you arefocused on diversity by seeking out
diverse candidates.
Company Brand and Messaging. The
industry as a whole has a messaging problem.

our brand attract those who wish
to make a career change later inlife? We must consider what is
important to our audience and howthat will resonate with their values.
Perhaps the organization’s focus onsustainability or help charting theircareer path? Craft branded messages
specific to the audience you want totarget.
• Evaluate values. The company’svalues should be effortlessly infusedthroughout the brand and be easily
understood by those who we wish to
attract to the industry. Connecting
the audience’s personal values tothose of the company will help clear
up messaging and help top talent see
themselves as a viable candidate foryour available positions.
• Tell stories. Learning how to tell
the story of the industry and yourspecific organization matters. We
must find what resonates with top
talent we want to attract. Whatmight resonate with a Millennial
may not resonate with a positional
employee from Gen Z. We shouldlook at the platforms our audience
uses and find them there, such as
TikTok or Instagram.

locations, unlimited paid time offor other programs would entice
top talent.
• Emphasize skill development. So
many people in the meeting andevents industry are entrepreneurs
who have created their own
businesses and agencies. Much ofthis work requires skills in project
management and being strategic.
Highlighting these skills will help
talented candidates see the value of
joining this industry.
• Consider entry-level options in event
management. Look beyond the needfor formal education or years ofexperience to create opportunities
for those with no experience but
potential to enter the industry.

Potential employees
want to see thatthe organization
cares about them as
human being.

The public does not understand that meeting
planning reaches far beyond planning menus.
Many do not understand the transferable
skills and opportunities that are available byworking in the hospitality and event industry.
Organizations must align their branding
and messaging to demonstrate the value ofworking in this industry.
• Consider branding. What messages
are we sending young people who
could move into roles in our industry
even out of high school? How does

• Look at different career paths andconnect the dots with transferrable
skills. Potential employees want to
see that the organization cares about
them as human being. Embrace beinga part of upskilling the workforce
with transferable skills, rather thanfearing investing in an employee
only for them to leave. Creating
avenues for those employees to beambassadors for your brand, notonly referring potential businessbut future employees to yourorganization, will help create thatpipeline of talent.
• Consider guest speaking
opportunities. Venture into highschools for career days and attend
job fairs at colleges and universities.
Seek partnerships to highlight what
your organization does and how
to chart their career path in thisindustry.
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 8

• Help employees build a brand. Your
employees can be your biggest
advocates and ambassadors to show
potential candidates the value ofbuilding a career at your company.
Provide training on building apersonal brand on LinkedIn andteach them how to promote theindustry through various social
media platforms.

transparent way. Employees in today’s
workforce want to see those company valuesin action by seeing change take placewhen needed.

Incentives. While professional development
and opportunities to grow resonate with
the Millennials in the workforce, employees
are reshuffling to other higher-paying roles.
Crafting ways to meet pay needs throughadditional incentives can help retain talent.

• Ditch the call center mentality. If
an employee comes to a manager• Offer transparency in problem
solving. Employees are looking toleaders to admit when there is aproblem and then ask the employee
to help identify solutions.

groups or surveys to generate that
actionable feedback.
• Implement ideas and strategies
quickly. When employees makesuggestions or leadership crafts new
strategies, be strategic in how thesecan be implemented. The employees
in today’s workforce need to see aquick turnaround from ideation to
implementation.

• Evaluate pay. Evaluating if employees
are making a fair wage based on
the marketplace or similar rolesat other organizations, and beingtransparent about that, can help
retain employees.
• Create incentive programs. Offer
opportunities to earn incentives
based on performance, meetingcompany goals and recommendations
from colleagues.
• Offer referral incentives. Looking
for top quality candidates for open
positions? Leverage your existing
employees to help find the best andbrightest to apply for these openings.
Provide some sort of incentive orreferral bonus when those referrals
are hired.
• (Re)consider benefits. Look beyond
benefits like vacation and wellness toconsider additional benefits such asa four-day work week, working from
home, and setting a few core hours
employees must work while allowing
them to set additional work hours
based on what works best for them.
• Incentivize on profitability.
Opportunities to profit share canencourage employees in meetingproductivity metrics.
Taking Action. Often, employee frustration
comes from seeing leadership not taking
action on suggestions or not tackling issues
head-on as they arise in a vulnerable andResearch shows
employees want toshare feedback, butmore than that, theywant managers toseek that feedback
from them.
with a problem, managers need
to be equipped to solve it quickly.
Employees do not want to be reada script about why things cannotchange. They want to be part of thesolution and feel heard.
• Seek feedback. Research shows
employees want to share feedback,but more than that, they wantmanagers to seek that feedback fromthem. They want their opinions andideas to be valued and respected.
Doing this gives them more ofa stake in the success of yourorganization. Use employee focus

The Role of Associations

Thought leaders at TLS also worked withmember association representatives in
the industry to make recommendations
on how those groups could bettersupport workforce development, in
addition to plans already in progress by
those entities. The main themes thatcame out of this deep dive include brandmessaging and awareness, education andpartnerships.
• Brand messaging and awareness.
Companies and organizations lookto the associations across theindustry to evolve brand messaging
and industry awareness to attract
more top talent. Using new avenues
to promote the industry andpartnership will be key to elevating
the industry’s brand.
• Find common industry nomenclature.
Associations should partner together
Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 9

to determine a common nameof the industry should even be.
Brand confusion comes from thedifferent names and sectors, suchas hospitality, meeting and event
industry, tour or travel industry,
hotels and more. The confusion
about what the industry is andhow it does starts with having aclear moniker for the industry thatencompasses all sectors, similar
to STEM standing for science,technology, engineering and math.
• Use association members as brandambassadors. Leverage these• Provide educational pathways.
Employers are overwhelmed with
options for education across theindustry. Associations should provide
an educational pathway to help
professionals chart what education isneeded and when for development.
Spell out who would benefit fromcertain educational courses tohelp professionals see themselves
needing that type of education.
• Create micro-certificates. Industry
leaders need quicker avenues to
educate their teams on different
skills needed in the industry, such as

Partnerships. Acting on theserecommendations will require a renewed
spirit of partnership among associations
across all sectors of the industry. Everyone
has a seat at the table when bonded by theneed to promote, build the pipeline for andeducate professionals in the industry.
• Leverage resources. Employers want
to see membership associations
partnering to pull resources toreach more professionals across theindustry who would benefit fromthe development those partnerships
could provide. Work together
to provide educational courses.

Create a collective voice. More partnerships could mean more of acollective voice to advocate for and promote the industry together.
members and help elevate them
to be influencers in the industry,
showcasing their positions and theindustry as a whole on their social
media channels.
• Launch marketing campaigns. Craft
marketing campaigns that highlightnot only the association, but theindustry as a whole. Leverage thismarketing to attract top talent to
the industry by highlighting the
successes and stories of members intheir careers.

supervisory skills. Associations could
partner to develop and provide thiseducation to those who need it most.
• Offer more education to spanvarious sectors of the industry.
Associations must review whatkind of education is needed andreach out to businesses and sectorsof the industry to ask. Hotels, forexample, need more credentials andcertificate programs available for
new employees.

• Find new avenues to spreadawareness. Consider using TikTokand Instagram more to shareindustry awareness messaging. Visit
career days at local high schools.
Leverage chapters or members andprovide incentives for working withlocal programs focused on educating
future professionals for the industry
and capturing their attention early.

• Provide badges and credentials.
Employers want to see more badges
for employees to demonstrate
they are a verified professional
after taking a combination of
educational programs. Consider
offering these badging opportunities
for professionals to highlight theverified skills they have earned after
completing certain education orcredentials.

Education. Associations must focus on
educational opportunities to upskill both thecurrent workforce, and new talent. Quicker
ways to learn and verify skills will be criticalto boosting the industry’s workforce. Usingtangible ways to share this education throughbadging and credentials will be key toverifying skills and elevating the workforce.

• Co-develop curriculum. Seek out
colleges and universities with
programs and majors related tothe industry and work to develop
curriculum based on the needs ofthe current workforce. Leveragethese relationships to attract thesestudents to the industry.

Consider providing a verified badge
after a professional has completed
courses from multiple associations indifferent functional areas.
• Standardize titles. Associations
should partner together to issue bestpractices when it comes to job titles.
With varying titles across different
companies and sectors of theindustry, thought leaders indicated it
can become confusing to understandwhat level a professional is at in theircompany in relation to the rest of theindustry.
• Create a collective voice. Morepartnerships could mean more ofa collective voice to advocate forand promote the industry together.
Organizations want to see more ofthis collective voice and partnershipfrom associations.
These actionable steps created by thought
leaders in this industry will be crucial
to securing top talent and building theworkforce of the future.

Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 10

Contributors

The MPI Foundation thanks the following
contributors for their expertise in thecreation of this report.

Hosts

Kevin Kirby
Gary Schirmacher

Subject Matter Experts
Valerie Grubb
Somya Mathur
Greg Offner
Altaf Sovani

Association Leaders

Fran Brasseux (ICHRIE)
Jennifer Clark Fugolo (AHLA)
Debra Zabloudil (ASAE)
Annette Gregg (MPI)

Organizational LeadersDavid Clark (Visit Mobile)
Tyler Davidson (Meetings Today)
Gina Samci (Marriott)

Thought Leaders

MaryAnne Bobrow
Lateefah Cavit
Michael Clark
Shawn Clary Manager
Nikki DeSantis
Rebecca DeShazo
Joy DesMarais-Lanz
Deborah Dickerson
Dave Duncan
Angie Duncan-Callaway
Debbie Giammanco
Megan Hartt
Jana Hofer
Toby Hollenbeck
Denise Hunter
Patty Kieffer
Tonisha Landry
Megan Lanning
Margaret Launzel-Pennes
Devin Lewis
Ashley Lodovice
Minnie Munoz
Tina Nathalia
Emilie Perkins
Susan Piel
Melissa Riley
John Rissi
Barry Schieferstein
Jacqueline Seltzer
Jonathan Smith
Darlene Somers
Heather Stafford
Johnice Veals
Jorge Velasco
Ana Villar de Jimenez
Kerri Wawrin
Katia Young
Alexandra Zapple

Facilitator
Jessie States

Visit GoToLouisville.com/Meetfor more information.

Premium Sponsors

Q&A WITH CLEO BATTLE

Marriott International
The Battle House Hotel & Spa
Visit Mobile

Event Partners

Destination D.C.
EncoreExplore St. Louis
HiltonVisit Dallas
Visit Lauderdale
Visit Tampa Bay
The Venetian Resort

Meeting Professionals
International

Meeting Professionals International (MPI)
is the largest meeting and event industry
association worldwide. The organization
provides innovative and relevant education,
networking opportunities and businessexchanges, and acts as a prominent voice
for the promotion and growth of theindustry. MPI has a global community of
60,000 meeting and event professionals
including nearly 13,000 engaged members.
It has nearly 70 chapters, clubs andmembers in more than 75 countries
worldwide. Visit www.mpi.org for more
information.

About Dani Kloap

Dani Kloap serves MPI as the Manager
of Curriculum. She earned a Bachelor ofArts degree in Journalism and a Masterof Arts in Adult Education. She pulls fromher experiences as a journalist, graphic
designer, salesperson and association
professional to create engaging educational
experiences to provide both personal andprofessional development. Dani loves
designing curriculum and providing
quality education for the meetingand event industry.

White Paper Sponsor

As the official marketing organization
for Louisville, the agency’s mission is toenhance Louisville’s economy throughtourism - to position and sell thecommunity worldwide, in partnershipwith the public and private sector, as apremier destination for conventions, tradeshows, corporate meetings, group tours
and individual leisure travel. In pursuit of
its mission, Louisville Tourism generates
increased visitor spending, local tax
receipts and job development.

Why did Louisville Tourism feellike it was important to sponsor
this white paper?

Visitors expect a high level of hospitality
while traveling, and our industry needs
to be fully staffed to have the depth ofservice capabilities to meet or exceed
guest expectations. As one of theoldest convention and visitor bureaus
in the country, Louisville Tourism
believes that destination management
organizations should lead the charge andbe the trailblazers within the hospitality
community as the conduit to our industry
by partnering with agencies and educational
institutions from high school to college.
As Louisville Tourism President & CEO andconsidering my upcoming 2023 MPI chairrole, the development of our future leaders
will be a key priority to highlight over thisnext year.

What is Louisville Tourism doing
locally to help with the workforce
development?

Louisville Tourism has and will continue
to co-host hospitality industry career fairs
with our local hotel association featuringcommunity stakeholders, hotels, attractions,facilities and more to connect job seekers
and employers. We have built relationships
with community agencies including our
local Urban League, refugee ministries
and religious charities, while fostering
relationships with area universities, colleges
and local high schools. We routinely
discuss staffing challenges during speaking
engagements and media interviews to raiseawareness in and outside of our industry.

What does the future hold for
hospitality when it comes to
employment?

As demand continues to drive employer
needs, we’ve seen bolder steps to recruit
staff, which has resulted in increased
wages, more flexible hours and a dedicatedfocus on cross-training to be ready tomeet travelers’ needs. As we’ve welcomed
the rapid return of leisure travel, cities
like Louisville are quickly trying to adapt
to the inconsistent travel trends versus
the stability of corporate travel—but inboth cases, the consumer demand is there
thankfully. The silver lining is that while
leisure travel trends have rebounded—meetings, conventions and corporate travel
are all incrementally showing a very positive
upward trajectory.

Designing the Future of Work 2022 | 11