This year’s WIN in Workforce content focuses on the creation and development of strong employer branding and how this fundamental corporate strategy combines human resources and marketing tactics in order to set the foundation for businesses to attract and retain desirable talent that’s essential to their grow and expansion within the Sioux Falls Region.

Over the next nine months, we will use data analyzed from resources, such as Deloitte Human Capital and Gartner’s Human Capital Insights, to share what we feel are some of the best tools available for smaller organizations within our community to engage and effectively win the war for top talent within the upper North Central Region.

We have also surveyed 279 member organizations within our community to understand what they are doing to embed talent attraction and retention practices together, which internally requires cross-function teams to work effectively and in tandem together while balancing their own departmental priorities as we all work together to expand our labor market by 15,000 by 2021.

As the University of Sioux Falls class of 2019 received its diplomas this month, the school’s president, Brett Bradfield, knows each person could migrate out of his or her field seven or eight times during the career ahead.

Preparing students for that unpredictable future means continually honing the education provided and increasingly working closely with industry to connect and equip students for the workplace.

It’s a persistent notion that all companies, large and small, are facing today: where will the next employee come from, and what can be done to retain a current employee?

In response to a tight job market marked by historically low unemployment rates and the need to meet employee expectations that are on the rise, the answer for some organizations seems to be as simple as bait on a fishing line: incentives.

If your business finds itself trying to attract talent, develop talent or determine what resources are available to help, this event is for you. The WIN in Workforce Summit will be held from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

This annual event sponsored by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation brings together industry leaders, innovative educators and engaged business leaders from the greater Sioux Falls area to engage and share best practices for workforce development.

“We’ve put together an incredibly deep, informed group of experts to ensure you will leave this half-day event with actionable information and strategies you can immediately begin to put to work in your organization,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

The new decade is here, and with that, experts in all fields, including business and human resources, are making projections and predictions for what’s to come in 2020 and beyond. Accordingly, the first meeting in 2020 of the Recruitment Council, hosted by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, presented a variety of HR trends for businesses to boost talent attraction and retention efforts in the new decade.

From the use of HR chatbots and other data-driven HR platforms to talent incentives and employer branding, the best practices that shape workforce development are the unifying themes that call together the Recruitment Council on a quarterly basis each year.

Led by Brad Schoenfelder, senior executive director of shared services for Sanford Health, and Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, nearly 85 members of the Recruitment Council registered for the event on Feb. 27 at the Sanford Research Center.

Talent Draft Day, a first-time event from the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, got off to a strong start with its debut event last week.

Designed to connect students pursuing high-need careers with the schools and businesses and that want work with them, it drew more than 600 talented area students from Harrisburg High School, Southeast Tech, Lake Area Tech and the Lake Area Multi-District Schools.