Matthew Owenby, Chief Human Resources Officer at Aflac, believes companies should focus on retaining existing employees through continual learning and development rather than hiring new staff. With more millennials entering the workforce, companies must create a constant learning environment and invest in employees' development to retain them. At Aflac, employees can access career development resources and work with coaches. The company evaluates employees' skills and connects them to opportunities to further develop within Aflac's culture.

1. Interview with: Matthew Owenby,
Senior Vice President/ Chief Human
Resources Officer, Aflac
“We believe there is more value in
maintaining an existing workforce and
continually developing people than
hiring new staff. With more millennials
coming into the marketplace, organiza-
tions have to create a constant learning
environment and invest in their
development in order to retain them,”
according to Matthew Owenby, SVP/
Chief Human Resources Officer, Aflac.
Owenby is a speaker at the marcus
evans Corporate Learning & Talent
Development Summit 2016, in Palm
Beach, Florida, July 21-23.
How is the labor market transition-
ing? Why should organizations
focus on employee retention?
The U.S. labor market is fairly tight,
meaning people have many employment
opportunities available to them, so
organizations need to retain their talent.
Aflac is aware of this, and regardless of
the hiring market, we consider it more
valuable to maintain our existing
workforce and continually develop
people through assignment manage-
ment, internal education, courses and
so on, so they can continue their
employment opportunities within our
company. This approach has many
positive ramifications, employee
productivity, satisfaction and engage-
ment. With more millennials coming in,
they expect companies to invest in their
ongoing future opportunities.
When we develop internal talent, we
develop them in the context of our
organizational culture and value system.
Maintaining our culture is very
important to us, so ongoing develop-
ment is far less expensive.
Can you outline the Aflac strategy?
What works best?
Most corporations that are successful
have very precise organizational training
programs for their executives as well as
people who have been in the company
for one year, two, five or even 10.
Where most companies have an
opportunity to improve is at the entry
level. This is about developing the
pipeline of future capabilities and talent
very deep in the organization and
ensuring that people are in jobs that are
connected to their skills and career
goals.
At Aflac, an individual interested in
further development shows up at the
Career Success Center to get their
capabilities assessed. Depending on
experience, we might use our 360,
leadership mirror or trimetric tools to
determine what their baseline capabili-
ties can be. We evaluate current
performance and connect it with their
view of their skill set and begin a
coaching session that can last four
weeks to six months.
What is absolutely vital for retain-
ing top talent?
It is vital to have a systematic approach
to ongoing development of emerging
and top talent to ensure they are
utilized and constantly challenged. The
plan must be agreed upon and executed
in an orderly fashion.
What trends should learning
executives prepare for? What
makes millennials “tick”?
Learning executives will have to build
attractive programs for the millennial
workforce, as they have high expecta-
tions for learning and development.
Generation X employees saw their
careers as their own issue to manage,
but millennials want plans that are
connected with their own desires and
achievements and a higher level of
interaction. Learning professionals have
to design and customize programs
based on their needs, wants, desires
and capabilities. The broad, one-size-
fits-all approach to learning will not be
effective anymore.
Millennials have grown up in a world of
technology and constant connectivity,
so they want high touch from their
leaders, information available 24/7,
conversations and external knowledge
about the competition. Many companies
will have to modify their approaches to
attract millennials. Aflac is doing an
unusually good job because it already
has a parental, care-for-employees
culture. We will see more companies
shift to such a cultural advantage, as it
will be the only way to attract a new
workforce.
The broad,
one-size-
fits-all
approach
to learning
will not be
effective
anymore
How to Retain Your Top Talent

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About the Corporate Learning & Talent Development Summit 2016
The Corporate Learning & Talent Development Summit is the premium forum bringing
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place at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, Palm Beach, Florida, July 21-23, 2016, the
Summit includes presentations on the importance of learning and development
strategy for senior management, retention strategies, developing new leaders
through effective succession planning and revealing ways to improve global talent
management strategies.
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