Global Employer Young Professionals Academy

Many national employer and business membership organisations (EBMOs) face skills shortages within their own organisations and need to build the technical capacity of younger staff members to become more operational on complex country-based technical issues, but also for international discussions and negotiations. There is potential for improvement in terms of the technical skills development of staff in EBMOs and in particular among their young professionals. Indeed, many of the skills needed to perform well in EBMOs are not part of school or university curricula and must be learned through tailored training, as well as experience. Furthermore, in the current challenging economic context, which also leads to increased pressures on EBMOs for management and financial efficiency, most national EBMOs face a similar challenge: they need to deal with workload increases with more limited resources and capacities to develop, modernise and professionalise their organisations. The Global Employers Young Professionals Academy offers young professionals from EBMOs to learn and exchange on current issues and state-of-the-art techniques to conduct effective lobbying and advocacy. It also offers a global network which will further provide inspiration and possibilities to improve the work of the organisation in which they work. In 2021, the Academy was organised fully online by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO) with the financial support of the European Union. OBJECTIVES At the end of the Academy, participants were able to • demonstrate an understanding of the issues currently on the global economic and social agenda; • demonstrate an understanding of the role of EBMOs and the impact they can have on national, sub-regional and global policy debates; • reflect on their own personal role and contribution to improving the way EBMOs are working and serving their members; • practice the essential influencing and communication skills necessary to represent members’ interests in policy-making processes; and • get inspiration from other organisations’ practices and increase their own professional network. CONTENT Policy issues: • The global institutions and political scene: what should EBMOs look out for? • What kind of economic growth do we want for the future? • Decent Work and the Future of Work: how should they be defined from an employer perspective? Essential work and personal skills for EBMO professionals: • Lobbying and advocacy in practice • How to drive productivity • How to maximise digitalisation in EBMOs • Convincing communication • Managing multiple tasks • Leadership • Networking