Accelerate July 2021 Magazine

RET WAUKESHA COUNTY BUSINESS ALLIANCE, INC. | WAUKESHA.ORG 18 It’s no secret that workforce has been one of the top economic development issues in Waukesha County (and surrounding counties) for the last several years. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, workforce continues to be the biggest challenge for employers – which is why it has remained a top priority for the Waukesha County Business Alliance and our sister organization, the Waukesha County Center for Growth. In 2018, the Alliance and Center for Growth developed a Workforce Development Strategy centered on three core tenets: developing our future workforce, attracting new talent, and retaining our existing workforce. Working together with business and educational leaders, public officials and other community advocates, we’ve created action teams and employer collaboratives to ensure that we’re coming up with the most comprehensive solutions. Each of these tenets continue to be vital to the success and growth of Waukesha County. However, in some ways, it is more critical than ever that we focus on retaining talent. For all of the time, energy, effort, money and resources that go in to developing our talent from K-12 all the way through employment, or attracting new employees to our state, region and county, we absolutely must retain talent once we have it. We need our employers to double down on talent retention like they have never before. Whether it is providing resources to help those already employed get ahead or providing opportunities for the unemployed to enter the workforce, we want to ensure everyone in our area is contributing to our economy and reaching his or her full potential. The post-pandemic business climate has created new job opportunities with new career fields. This means there is an increased threat for employers looking to retain top talent. As we continue to face the workforce shortage, it is more important than ever for organizations to evaluate what is working well for employees, and what is not. The bottom line is COVER STORY ROBYN LUDTKE Vice President, Talent Development, Waukesha County Business Alliance PRIORITIZING TALENT TO DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH