(By Sara Hopson, Community Engagement Associate)

This is what engagement looks like for me: I’m a note-taker. During the Boston Globe’s first Building A Better Commonwealth forum tonight at the gorgeous Paramount Theater, I couldn’t get the pearls of wisdom down fast enough (luckily, the rest of the auditorium was busy tweeting the ones I may have missed with the hashtag #betterma — a live-stream that I highly recommend reading through whether you were present or not).

“Cultivating Talent”, the forum’s tagline, acted as a sort of springboard for the types of topics and conversations the panel, Mayor, and Governor would have with each other and those of us in attendance — as well as, at least to a certain extent, the not-physically-present but Tweet-present audience projected onto the screen behind the panel. 

Chris Mayer, publisher of the Globe, emceed the event. Mark DiNapoli, President and GM of Suffolk Construction Company (which sponsored the forum) used Suffolk’s talent retention process as a model of success, explaining that its key was in the answer to the question, “What does this region have that others don’t?” For them, it was an initiative asking employees what their needs were — what would keep them in this region. They cited balance: a healthy one between work and living. The company utilized focus groups to find a solution that would result in that balance between work and life. The action? iPads for everyone.

Nadira Hira’s Generation-Y commentary was less grounded in practical evidence of talent retention, but more systematic and geared toward addressing the needs of the ‘Millenial’ generation. Hira looked at the modern workplace as a barbell, with the Baby Boomers at one end; the smaller Generation-X in the middle, not thick enough in the ranks to fill the positions of the aging Boomers; and Gen-“Why”ers pulling up the rear — effectively, flooding the ranks and filing into higher positions. Her conclusion, and suggestion to employers interested in snagging talented Gen-Yers and keeping them in this area, went something like this: “Stoke their desire, cultivate their ability, engage them in a wonderful mission”. She gave the example of JP Morgan, which recruits heavily at college campuses. They were noticing that most of their potential hires were impatiently sitting through long power points about expected salary and benefits, and instead wanted to make actual connections with the recruiting staff. They decided to shift their strategy. Rather than spending $75,000 on JP Morgan pens, notepads, etc, they told recruits they could go on their website and donate to the charities of their chose. 

The panel was a survey of different Boston area companies including Communispace, KAYAK, Dancing Deer, and Vertex. Scott Kirsner of the Globe mediated as much as entertained, with a bit of, as he termed, “stirring the pot” comments and questions. The panelists addressed questions like, “What keeps potential hires from relocating to Boston?” by referencing their own experiences in these successful and varied companies. Diane Hessan of Communispace referenced that her (currently) Watertown-based company’s 325 employees boasts 225 Gen-Yers; Paul English of Concord-headquartered KAYAK said that it’s all about atmosphere: even the Gen-Yers normally want the job if they make it into the office for the meeting. Trish Karter of Dancing Deer said it’s more of the question, “Are we cool?”, referring to the cultural diversity or lack thereof in Beantown versus other hot spots like New York and San Francisco. She also mentioned the assets of the region—which includes people with a great sense of intellectual curiosity who want to be exchanging new ideas and learning from others.

Governer Patrick responded in turn with a resounding yes in his spirited and off-the-cuff remarks following the panel and Mayor Menino’s comments on the up-and-coming Innovation District downtown (one gem I captured: “Neighborhoods have to be strong, schools have to be good, housing has to be affordable, but the whole state needs to collaborate, and Massachusetts is doing it”).

The Governor was a treasure trove of interesting statistics. Massachusetts, he said, in cultivating and retaining talent here, is doing the same thing that Texas does with oil or Illinois does with corn: preserving and capitalizing on its natural resources: talent and intellectual capacity. “Education is our international calling card”, he continued, and “we have to show that we’re open to talent” — learn to look out instead of only in is key, responding to the outsider’s observation that Boston is a “tight, inward-looking place”. 

Collaboration between innovative individuals to create communities that will naturally cultivate and retain talent in Boston. That’s what I took away from this — that along with this great anecdote from Diane Hessan: a company she worked for years ago would pay extra for young hires to sit first class on planes in hope they’d rub elbows with a future client. Investing money in creating serendipity - because there’s always a moment of pivot, a moment in which the talented person in question decides, “I want to be here”. I’ve had that moment. Have you? Let’s talk about them. Tweet me or shoot me an e-mail.

Check back to Boston.com/better to find out details about the next Building A Better Commonwealth Forum.