ICFA Seminar Addresses Employee Engagement and Recruiting

Furniture World News Desk on 6/21/2022

Jaime Raul Zepeda, Executive Vice President at Best Companies Group.

How can companies retain their top workers as well as add talented and motivated employees to their staff? Are there ways to get around the long time that it takes to hire quality talent today?

The International Casual Furnishings Association welcomes all attendees at Casual Market Chicago next month to attend the annual Retail Seminar + Think Tank on July 18 and learn from Jaime Raul Zepeda, Executive Vice President at Best Companies Group. The company surveys over 5,000 companies each year, totaling more than one million employees, and knows what matters most to current employees and prospective ones.

Zepeda will help participants create an action plan to keep their rock stars and find their next ones. The presentation will be followed by a hands-on workshop designed to put personnel tips and new ideas for making staff-related improvements into place to take back to participants’ businesses right away.

He has an extensive 12-year track record helping companies to measure and shape their workplace strategies and cultures. Prior to Best Companies Group, Zepeda served as Senior Vice President of Customer & People Success at HIVE Diversity, a virtual recruiting platform that connects companies with employees of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Before that, he was part of LinkedIn's customer success leadership team, helping manage the company's relationships with large global enterprises. He began his career in HR Tech at Great Place to Work, where he served in several leadership roles for nearly a decade, including Vice President of Partnership Programs.

Zepeda earned his B.A. from St. Mary's College of California and his MBA from The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is based in the Bay Area and is active with several local organizations, including serving on the Board of Envisioneers, formerly known as Citizen Schools California, and as a mentor and advisor to Students Rising Above, Latinas in Tech, Bay Area Community Services, and BizWorld.org.

The 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. event takes place in conference room 6-180 at theMART and will open with a networking lunch. The program begins at 2 p.m., followed by the workshop at 3 p.m. and the popular problem-solving Think Tank session at 4 p.m. Treasure Garden is this year’s Table Sponsor. Reception Sponsor Summer Classics will host a cocktail party to cap off the day from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in their showroom, Suite 16-100.

Registration is $50 for ICFA members and $75 for non-members. A portion of each registration will be donated to City of Hope. Attendees will be eligible to win a variety of door prizes.

Sign up online at https://www.icfanet.org/event/icfa-special-events-seminar-2022.

The International Casual Furnishings Association, based in High Point, N.C., represents manufacturers, retailers, sales representatives and designers of outdoor furnishings, plus suppliers to the industry.