How to Organize an Employee Development Conference That Moves Behavior (Not Just Calendars)

Most employee development conferences are exposure events with training packaging. Participants attend sessions, get handouts, feel inspired, network over coffee, and return to work mostly unchanged. The sponsor counts attendance, NPS, and session coverage. Nobody counts behavior six weeks later. That is the honest scorecard of most corporate development conferences — and it is why L&D budgets for event-based development are the first to get cut when finance looks for savings.

Five design moves separate a development conference that moves behavior from one that moves calendars. They are not facilitation tricks. They are design decisions about who participates, how they participate, what they leave with (a tool, not a takeaway), and what happens in the 30 days after everyone goes home. Make all five and the conference defends itself in a CFO review. Make fewer than three and it gets cut in the next budget cycle.

Below are the five design moves, what each one installs, the three that matter most if you have a constrained budget, and how Learn2 designs development events where participants drive the outcome. Written for L&D leaders and Conference Carlas who want returns from the development events they buy.

THE BASICS OF ORGANIZING AN EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

Management needs to be pro-active in order to determine how the conference will unfold. The highest priority is to set up a strategy about how the conference will help the company, being as specific as possible. Target, whenever possible, the departments that are performing at a level that is less than optimal. Send an email about to each employee that identifies the conference as well as some of the objectives that the business would like to see achieved from its activities.

GUESTS SPEAKERS AT EMPLOYEE CONFERENCES

The choice to bring in an outside speaker for your conference can be a good one, but if the goal is inclusion and company performance it might be a better idea to have an executive or manager speak instead. While it is not necessary to have a keynote speech, it is a great way to get everyone together and to really harp on the goals of the conference so that there is no confusion about what to expect and how each employee can gain from the day’s events.

ARRANGE FOR EVERY NEED

A conference is no different from any other large gathering, such as that of a sporting event, in that it needs to take track of every human need. Make sure that there is enough space for every person to have elbow room and comfortable seating, with about five to ten square feet of room per person. Have lunch catered or provide enough time for employees to leave the office to get their own lunch (give more than the standard lunch hour) and ensure that there are no problems with the restroom facilities.

FOLLOW-UP

The aftermath of a conference can be just as important as the actual events. Archive a video recording of the most important presentations and speakers so that any employee can go back and look up the day’s events. Circulate a memo thanking everyone for their time and interest, identifying anything important that may have passed over without much attention, and take suggestions about future events.