Recruitment
New skills and
new ways of learning
tfconnect’s Trevor Foley says the Covid experience has brought into sharp contrast who is prepared to
make the most of the new online-only landscape to learn and network
ith the world having
changed shape back
in March, we were all
forced into a different
daily schedule. Not the usual busy,
busy, busy deadline-driven schedule.
A daily deluge of emails, meetings,
travel, phone calls, texts and social
media engagement, previously,
always meant that the non-deadline
driven activity of ‘active learning’ was
always pushed off the agenda… well,
mine at least!
The daily gaping holes of ‘not sure
what to do’ and the proliferation
of webinars meant that we all
immediately jumped online to keep
connected. While we have all felt
a degree of webinar burn-out over
recent weeks there are a number
of upsides that should be carried
forward for the benefit of developing
talent in our industry.
My conversations with clients over
the lockdown period have all centred
on the need for their people to learn
a long list of new skills – some around
virtual environments, data analyst/
science skills, some from a ‘safety’
angle, working from home, managing
a remote team, running a show with
fewer resources, selling cross-media –
the list goes on.
Here’s two things that will
undoubtedly help. Both come from
a perspective of an adage that I’ve
always believed in, one that has
worked for me in my career – it’s not
what you know, it’s who you know.
Firstly, it struck me that early on in
the world of Zoom and Teams virtual
meetings, that it allowed everyone a
far greater access to industry players
at very different levels of their
careers. In-person conferences tend
to separate by peer group or function
– CEO events, sales or marketing
conferences, mid-level management
etc. More generic industry events
such as Awards dinners are not
learning environments. So, it has
been amazing for an industry player,
whatever their level, having access
to another, regardless of seniority,
anywhere in the world. I’ve learned
a great deal and the ‘chat’ functions
have been incredibly illuminating.
People have been asking questions
that I had assumed was basic or
general knowledge, which very
much was clearly not the case. Active
learning has definitely been taking
place.
Funnily enough, a number of
industry leaders have shared the
very revealing factor that has
differentiated their employees.
The ‘furlough’ scheme in the
UK (similar schemes I know are
operating in other countries) meant
that employees were paid NOT to
work, however, training was very
specifically allowed as part of the
scheme. Many employers have told
It has been
amazing for
an industry
player,
whatever
their level,
having access
to another,
regardless
of seniority,
anywhere in
the world.
Above:
Trevor Foley
me that their people split into two
camps, those who were serial or
prolific ‘learners’ and those who
were noticeable by their absence on
internal or industry-wide leaning
platforms. Go figure how that might
pan out.
It reminds me of a brilliant, awardwinning,
billboard ad… “I never
read The Economist” - Management
Trainee, aged 42.
A post-Covid future of ‘quality not
quantity’ of webinars would clearly
be of huge value in developing talent
in our industry.
Secondly, lower revenues of course
lead to reduced overheads. Again,
by engaging in numerous webinars
I have discovered a number of
people and companies that can offer
a range of specific services to event
businesses that can make up for the
loss of in-house expertise. This takes
two forms – industry talent that has,
in recent years, set up ‘laser-focused’
businesses to provide services
such as re-booking at events, new
data services, training and costoptimisation.
The other group of ‘it’s not what
you know, it’s who you know’ is
the unfortunately large bank of
industry talent that has reluctantly
been made redundant. These
talented individuals will be available
on a freelance or fixed contract
basis to provide sales, marketing,
operational, management and other
forms of support to businesses
in a post-Covid event world. This
means that, as we start to re-build
our shows and our businesses, vital
talents are available without adding
to fixed overhead costs.
tfconnect can, of course, directly help
in the connections in this regard.
www.exhibitionworld.co.uk Issue 4 2020 21