Q&A: Young Professionals Network

Following the recent rebrand of Finat’s Young Managers Club, Piotr Wnuk spoke to members of the new Young Professionals Network (YPN) during Labelexpo Europe to find out about their goals and the challenges faced by young professionals in the label industry. 
Following the recent rebrand of Finat’s Young Managers Club, Piotr Wnuk spoke to members of the new Young Professionals Network (YPN) during Labelexpo Europe to find out about their goals and the challenges faced by young professionals in the label industry

L&L: Why did you decide to rebrand? 
Mikaela Harding, Pulse Roll Label Products: We felt that the Young Managers Club, as it was previously known, had lost traction. We were losing members and the congresses were not as popular as we would have liked. We thought that with all significant events happening in the industry this year – such as the 40th year of Labelexpo and the 60th anniversary of Finat – it was the perfect time for us to come away from the Young Managers Club idea. The name didn’t sound serious enough. We also felt that the term ‘managers’ was restrictive, as members do not have to be a manager to join. The Young Professionals Network (YPN) idea is a better fit to build this network. It has worked well so far: since taking over as president, I have been promoting the network in every company I speak to and any customer that comes to visit my company. I always explain the idea behind the YPN, which seems to work well as we have new members signing up. In fact, just thanks to networking at Labelexpo, there are new members joining as we speak.

L&L: What are you hoping to achieve with the rebrand? 
Matthias Vollherbst, Vollherbst Druck: I think we have two main tasks to fulfil. Firstly, we create something for the industry. That’s our main challenge as a young group. We have to develop interesting content and show interesting perspectives that maybe the older generations in the industry don’t have. Secondly, we have to disrupt and develop the culture of the industry: we don’t believe in awards; we don’t believe in shoulder tapping and playing golf together. It’s not only because it’s ‘old school’: we believe this approach actually creates barriers. We love the concept of ‘mistake nights’ where we all share the mistakes that we made, and this helps us to understand how to solve them in the future. I think that this is what an industry network should be about.

L&L: Have new members been joining since the rebrand? 
Mikaela Harding: Yes, definitely. We’ve had a large number of people interested in joining since we rebranded. I think the presentation we gave at the European Label Forum definitely made an impact with senior management in the industry. 

A lot of managing director-level executives are now more interested in sending their young employees to join our network. We presented more insights as to who we are and what we want to achieve. I feel like they are much more engaged with our message than ever before.

L&L: How have you benefited from YPN membership? 
Josh Yerecic, Yerecic Label: I have been a member for the last two years. One of the biggest benefits for me has been learning about sustainability. Europe does it in such an amazing way. Our company is always at the forefront of new technologies, so to learn from the young teams, but also the whole of Finat, and to understand how they’re approaching the situation, allows us to get ahead of the game. We know there is the Swiss compliance system, and a different compliance system in the UK, but we also know that compliance is common in America. So, we want to be prepared for that compliance, making sure that we are prepared before it comes to our side of the globe. 

Chris Spooner, Label Traxx: I joined during the previous Labelexpo in 2017. I didn’t really know anything about it. I was back in the industry after some years outside it and the YPN was a great way to network. It is fantastic to have like-minded people around, supporting you and going through similar experiences. Finding your way in the industry through collaboration was for me a fantastic way of being reintroduced to the world of labels.

Zsofia Kovats, Delfort Group: I have been a member for the last four years and I joined because of a colleague of mine, who was already a member. He suggested that it is a really good place for young people with a great, supportive atmosphere. It is a great arena to discuss the latest technologies in the label industry. We gain access to information that is not attainable in other places.

Mikaela Harding: A tangible example – at Pulse, we were doing a trial with a very specific type of screen. We had some questions, and thanks to a conversation with a friend from the YPN, I knew straight away how to fix the problem and the trial was very successful. 

Matthias Vollherbst: For me the biggest benefit is networking, but not in a business sense. That’s not what the YPN is about. From the first moment it was a group of friends and people of a similar age who can really trust each other, and that is super beneficial. For example, whenever I have a problem with one of the machine suppliers I know there will be a YPN member who I can call for advice.

L&L: It seems you are a close-knit group. Are these friendships also beneficial for business? 
Mikaela Harding: I know that a lot of people at management level may not see it this way, but if I am friends with a converter, that friendship could be turned into a business relationship. When I am visiting my customers as their supplier, I often hear about their struggles in certain aspects of the business. Thanks to the YPN, I might know someone who’s really great in this area and put them in touch. This way we can easily convert it into a new business.

L&L: What initiatives have you got planned for the near future? 
Mikaela Harding: During this year’s Labelexpo Europe, we held a series of flash talks at the Finat stand, which were very popular. We didn’t have a congress this year, because we merged with the Finat European Label Forum (ELF) to announce the rebrand. However, next year we are planning a big conference. We are going to ask all members for feedback on the thoughts and ideas that we have already discussed at board level. We want to find out how to attract more members to our congresses and how to convince them to spend two or three days away from their working schedule, and – most importantly – how we can appeal to senior management in the industry so they see the value of our events. Every time we meet, we create new content with fresh ideas that we share with management to show that we are constantly working on hot industry topics. 

L&L: How do you stay in touch outside of the events? 
Mikaela Harding: We stay in touch mainly thanks to our WhatsApp groups: we have one for the board members and separate group with 35 YPN members. It is a fantastic tool. For example, the members who were not able to make it to Labelexpo Europe will soon receive information and pictures of our activities, and I am sure they will engage with us using the group chat. WhatsApp proved to be the best platform to stay in touch, but also provides all members access to each other’s phone number. If I ever need any information from our members our WhatsApp group is the first place I go to. Very often we use another member’s knowledge and resources to gain information. It’s all about building connections. In the future, one of the members may want to know more about the varnishes my company offers and speak to me about it. It is not what YPN is about, but occasionally, these conversations may turn into business. It often turns into collaborations and projects and that’s what I love about it. It is difficult to explain to senior management, who are covering our membership fees, but for me it’s more about staff retention. The fact that my business is willing to put this investment into me and let me grow through this group is the main reason why I am so loyal to the brand.

L&L: Do you think this could be a decisive factor for a new member to join? 
Mikaela Harding: This is what we were trying to convey during our presentation at the European Label Forum (ELF). Retention of young people in the industry is a massive issue and everyone is talking about it. Of course, we have people within the YPN who still leave the industry and our network is not a guarantee of staff retention, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. For our generation, it’s not necessarily about the job and it is not necessarily about the money. For most of us it is the support we receive from our companies, and the work-life balance. These are the things I think are really key and important to young people today. 

Matthias Vollherbst: I personally think you can sometimes feel alone as a young talent in the label industry. I’m saying that because I have seen a lot of people leaving the industry in a quite frustrated way. I would tell anybody who is keen to stay in the industry to join us – you will make friends and find people who support each other and learn from each other.

L&L: How do you convince senior management of the YPN’s importance?
Mikaela Harding: During our ELF presentation, we told the industry’s senior management – in quite a blunt form – that they effectively are the issue. In our opinion, they need to send young people to the YPN to give them more confidence, to make them feel like valued members of the team who are worth investing in. Senior leaders also need to think about succession planning. There are several customers who I have spoken to who are worried about the future and, for example, where they will find engineers for the presses. Converters are also worried about who is going to be selling to them in 10 or 15 years’ time. We are going to see a huge swing in a decade or so – many senior managers in the industry are approaching retirement age. Then, fingers crossed, we will rise to the top and will be running the industry.

L&L: How would you attract young people to the label industry? 
Chris Spooner: I used to work for a printing industry training provider and attracting young people was very hard. They didn’t necessarily understand the industry, or didn’t consider it particularly sexy. We need to educate people about the different career pathways within the print industry. It’s not necessarily about being a printer: it’s about management structures, sales, marketing and business solutions. The industry is evolving. Printing companies have become modern environments. We have seen incredible technological advancements over even the past five years in automation, workflow, e-commerce – all of these are creating new roles in the industry. Who would have thought ten years ago that social media could become a full-time job? In my opinion, this is not the end of the road: the industry is going to evolve and improve in the coming years.