GALT Consulting LLC

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce's young professionals group (ages 21-40), The Network, has formed a task force looking at recent studies performed for the City of Springfield.  I have had the privilege of serving on that task force over the past few weeks and I think our message is coming together.

Ultimately, in order to attract and maintain young talent, we need to get our talented people opportunities to in the game.  This means that Springfield companies must give their youngest professionals (and really all of their employees) some power to make a real difference in their organization.  This means that we need to get young professionals in involved early in solving problems within our community.  This also means that our strong university and community college system in Springfield must prepare graduates with the basic tools they need to succeed.

Here is are some of the obstacles in Springfield that can scare talent away...

1) Companies that treat their employees like commodities.  Top-down management has been the dominant organizational structure for a long time and baby-boomers LOVE this type of management structure.  This type of management along with the baby-boomer perspective often yields a "wait your turn" philosophy.  Young professionals and even blue-collar employees want to make an immediate impact.  Nothing is worse than companies who don't allow this to happen.  It scares away good people and it limits the success of the company.

2) Students who don't connect with the community.  There are a plethora of opportunities to connect with the community along with some initiatives within the Network itself.  Students who work within non-profit organizations will make valuable community connections (both emotional and practical). 

3) The Universities / Technical Colleges / High Schools have to offer programs that feed the right people to the community.  Apparently MSU has restricted itself from introducing some professional degrees into Springfield as a part of the name-change deal.  This was a potentially damaging move within the community.  We need to train doctors, lawyers, and engineers right here in Springfield.  I spoke to larger companies like my former employer, 3M, who tells me they have to go elsewhere in the state to find qualified professionals.

These are just a few of the topics we discussed in our task force meetings, but it highlights the theme of the discussion.  As we enter into a new economy (not an economic dip, but rather an eceonomic "shift"), Springfield is in a great place to succeed with our strong culture of community.  As we identify our core community issues (ex: child abuse, culture of poverty, etc), we need to tap into our young talent to help solve these problems.  Not only will we make progress, we will also retain young talent!