News from an Alumni: Mrs. Tania Van Binst (AeMBA 2017) speaker in “MERIT Executive and Higher Education Summit”, Lisbon (Portugal)

Text by Tania Van Binst

MERIT SUMMIT –  Executive and Higher Education –  Lisbon, 16-18 Jan. 2018 – Organized by the Advent Group

The Summit consisted of a three-day program of keynote speakers, panel discussions, case studies and workshops. The topics focused on HR Learning and Development as well as Talent Management.
I was invited as a guest speaker in the panel discussion ‘How Millennials Are Reshaping the Workplace’ following my MBA research thesis on HR Transformation.
The 250 participants of the Summit consisted mainly of Business Schools focused on Higher Education, academics, HR professionals and consultants.


The main keynotes

Andy Habermacher (Brain Leader, leading expert on Neuroleadership), ‘The Human Brain – Always on and Always Learning’. He presented his neuropsychological theory of human emotional needs and drives, highlighting the importance of sleep and daydreaming to learning.
– Dave Ulrich’s (Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan) keynote on ‘How Do Investments in Learning Create Value’ was much awaited by all the members of the summit and focused on (figure 1):
● Why investments in learning create more value
● What are some of the learning innovations
● How learning can be more effective

Participation to the Panel Discussion “How Millennials Are Reshaping the Workplace” – 18.01.2018, 09:30-10:00

The other participants in the panel discussion on ‘How Millennials Are Reshaping the Workplace’ were:
– Filipa Ferrugento (Global Learning Design and Development, Merck),
– Tania Van Binst (MBA Aerospace Toulouse Business School),
– Ana Vicente (Talent and Leadership Development Manager, Sonae),
– Jacques Durand (Geosciences Education Advisor, Total).

The moderator was Chris Debner (Strategic Global Mobility Advisory, Switzerland).

Introduction Chris Debner by moderator:
Chris is an award winning Global Mobility thought leader and speaker who advised more than 100 companies in over 30 countries in overcoming their Mobility challenges. He runs his own consultancy, based in Zurich Switzerland.

Movie: 3.20min

Introductory words by Chris
Slide Millennials definition
Question to the audience and the panel: Who is a Millennial? Hands-up benchmarking
Introduction panel members

Panel Questions

Question 1.- What is the relevance and the impact of Millenials and are we really dealing with the changing needs of Millennials only or are we dealing with changing workforce needs in general?

My answer (Please note that my answer is a summary of what I have detailed in the discussion)
Needs were there
-evolution of technology
-globalisation
-talent from emerging countries
-demographic changes
And millennials acted as a catalyser for this change to occur

The relevance and impact of millennials, is that they are one of the largest generations after baby boomers and are on the verge or already are in leadership and decision making roles. Its therefore important for organizations to understand why and how this generation works, so that they can be in a better position not only to attract them but also to retain them.
Question 2.-What do you see a general characteristics of Millennials and how do they distinguish themselves among each other?

My answer (Please note that my answer is a summary of what I have detailed in the discussion)

Important not to place generations in a box. In general they are tech savyy, seek feedback and inclusion, not afraid to change jobs as opposed to older generations and prefer collaborative work cultures.

Question 3.- What are you doing in your companies to address Millennials during the employee life cycle, from hiring to retiring ?
Question 4. In a few words, when it comes to learning at work, how do you grab and hold the attention of millennials, who are usually described as short-attention-span, instant-gratification, technologically-savvy individuals?

My answer (Please note that my answer is a summary of what I have detailed in the discussion)
Short, interactive and fun

 

Conclusions
I was happy with the panel discussion, the public seemed quite interested and intrigued in the topic. For a first public panel discussion, I was quite happy with the outcome and feel that the experience was quite positive. I was pleased to know that it’s a topic that interests many learning professionals and business schools.
One key point for the Toulouse Business School, is that the Aerospace MBA seemed to generate a lot of interest. I was approached by the Nova Business School, as representant of TBS, as they are interested in partnering opportunities with the Toulouse Business School on certain programs!

By Tania Van Binst, Aerospace MBA Graduate 2017 (FT18)

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