Kansas City Area Companies Unite to Attract, Retain Top Talent

KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. labor market is the tightest it has been in nearly two decades, with the national unemployment rate holding at 3.5 percent. In the Midwest, these unemployment numbers are even lower, resulting in an unexpected problem: too many open jobs and not enough people. To address this challenge, more than 450 talent acquisition professionals from companies including Garmin, Cerner, Hallmark, Sprint, H&R Block, Geico and KPMG gathered last Friday at TeamKC's third annual Training Camp.

"The Training Camp unveils new TeamKC lifestyle resources that talent acquisition leaders can leverage when recruiting, and provides national thought leadership on HR trends to help our area employers stay competitive in the global race for talent," said Jessica Palm, vice president, lead executive, TeamKC, an initiative of the Kansas City Area Development Council. "We're working hard to address issues that employers face by fostering mutual learning and growth among our HR leaders."

The Training Camp featured interactive presentations from national talent leaders on the latest recruitment and engagement strategies including the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), inclusion strategies, and innovative sourcing and pipelining.

Internationally renowned and award-winning diversity consultant, Risha Grant, gave the keynote presentation. Through her interactive presentation and deep-dive training session, Grant empowered attendees, explaining how to best leverage diversity and inclusion tools to increase the bottom line.

"Diversity, inclusion and unconscious/implicit bias are words we hear almost daily now," says Grant. "They have become buzzwords for many people. There is a competitive advantage and economic value associated with embracing diversity and inclusion if we stop making our issues of bias someone else's fault. Once we accomplish that, we can begin to tackle strategies to build an inclusive culture and attract diverse markets."

Other speakers included chief industrial-organizational psychologist at HireVue, Nathan Mondragon; creative director at First Person, Stefan Mumaw; managing director of Talent & Culture at Lockton, Kelly Reed, Ph.D. and more.

"TeamKC is a powerful competitive advantage for the KC region in attracting talented people and companies who need to hire them," said Tim Cowden, president, Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC). "No matter where someone is in their career, KC Heartland is an incredible place to grow, collaborate and excel, while enjoying an amazing quality of life."

TeamKC was created in 2006 to support KCADC's corporate members in attracting top talent to the Kansas City area and is now recognized nationally as a top talent attraction and lifestyle marketing initiative. To help build an inclusive, enriched and welcoming Kansas City region, the TeamKC advisory board touts the area's affordable cost-of-living and diverse arts and cultural scene as top recruitment tools.

About Team KC
TeamKC is an initiative of the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) with guidance from an advisory board of 20 of the area's top companies including Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, Dimensional Innovations, Garmin International, Honeywell, Children's Mercy Hospital, H&R Block, Hallmark, and Sprint. TeamKC currently serves a network of more than 1,000 talent acquisition leaders and 300 KC area employers. The initiative works to create a competitive advantage by fostering collaboration among the region's HR professionals to amplify Kansas City's livability assets to potential employees, making the region a top lifestyle and career destination. TeamKC.com.  

About Greater Kansas City
Home to 2.5 million people, Kansas City is a vibrant metro in the heart of the U.S., known as "KC Heartland." KC is a center for technology, entrepreneurship and artistry, ranking first in the nation for its startup growth rate. Visit KC.org and follow @KCHeartland for more details.

SOURCE Kansas City Area Development Council; Team KC