Last week I had the good fortune of attending and speaking in New York at a two day conference of HR managers from the Engineering and Consulting industry. These firms convene annually to learn how other firms deal with their issues i.e. sharing best practices.
The topics, for this meeting, included navigating the regulatory environment, M&A activity, integrating employees and cultures when completing an acquisition, managing benefit costs while maintaining a quality benefit portfolio, hiring the best and brightest, college recruiting techniques, deploying technology to help automate and manage their business processes more efficiently, doing more with less, etc.
I’m writing this as I return home, sitting in my plush seat, and eating gourmet food on my United Airlines flight! I marveled at the openness of the conference attendees and their willingness to truly want to help their peers.
There were 2 major takeaways from this experience:
- That many other businesses have the same or similar issues that we have in our businesses. Regulation, PPACA, staffing, doing more with less, deploying technology, etc.
- That we, too, are in a business that is very open to sharing. Consider the industry associations that meet on a regular basis with awesome speakers that tell it like it is, industry publications that provide information, insight and real world experiences from your peers and the relationships you have forged with your brothers and sisters in our profession that are ready, willing and able to provide advice, support and counsel.
We are very fortunate to be in our industry with opportunities that abound. Of course, it’s not without its challenges. It’s important to remember that the grass is not always greener — we must maintain PERSPECTIVE, deal with our issues and take advantage of the opportunities.
Torelli, CLU, ChFC, MSFS is president of Newport Beach, Calif.-based e3 Financial.
