On behalf of the Print Your Future (PYF) project, which combined a number of associations, trade bodies, and educational establishments from across Europe, Intergraf and UNI Europa Graphical coordinated a free to attend conference that took place in-person on Wednesday (3 November) at the Hotel Marriott Grand Place in Brussels. The event was also live-streamed via Zoom for those who could not travel.
The PYF project’s primary aim has been to develop knowledge and tools to support those with an interest in recruiting the next generation to the European printing industry. The project is due to end in January 2022, and the outcomes gathered to date were shared during the conference.
The day featured eight sessions, with speakers from many of the members of the PYF project, and discussion topics included ‘Why is it so hard to find young people for your company? How can you change that? Millennials and Gen Z, how to attract them’.
In one session, titled ‘Best Practice Toolkit: how to find, attract and keep the best talent’, Intergraf secretary general Beatrice Klose shared tips on how to find the next generation, educate students, and get noticed as an employer at relevant events.
“If you go to an event, you have to plan your marketing materials and booth literature and look at banners, pop-ups and giveaways. Choose and select carefully the team that accompany you on site. They need to be briefed, they need to know what kind of information to give to potential employees and they need to be able to engage with the audience.
She added that to attract the next generation, companies need to “shout about your business, and make sure your glass is half-full, as a lot of printers have the tendency to talk the industry down”.
“Make sure that the staff you have are engaged and passionate about the work they do because only that way they can become ambassadors for your company.”
Later in the day Andreas Otterbach, professor for economics and leadership at Stuttgart Media University, hosted a session called ‘Retention management in the printing industry’.
He said HR trends in the German printing industry, which were likely to be reflected elsewhere, showed a higher fluctuation of younger employees, a large percentage of employees over the age of 50, and job dissatisfaction being the main reason that young people change roles – not pay.
“An enterprise should give many reasons to be an attractive employer and to maybe be the one and only employer for the rest of [an employee’s] working life,” he said.
Otterbach also shared top tips for retaining current young workers, which included flexible working and home working where possible, proactive career planning, the availability of a canteen with “healthy and tasty food”, childcare subsidy, fair compensation and a pension plan, and management proximity to the staff – which should include an open-door policy.
