TAG Hosts Awards to Honor Innovative and Dynamic Millennials

Young professionals in Georgia making a positive impact in their fields were highlighted and honored last month at the third annual One in a Millennial Awards in Atlanta.

The signature event of the TAG Young Professionals society was the culmination of leveraging TAG’s extensive membership with the generation that makes up more than half of the national workforce.

Reports show that millennials will comprise nearly 75 percent of the workforce by 2025.

The YP Society aims to connect and help young professionals develop in their careers and expand their horizons. “Knowing the size of the Technology Association of Georgia (36,000 members) and its extensive network of companies and reach on its media outlets, I thought it would be a great idea to have an awards ceremony backed by TAG focusing on individuals under 35 to recognize the difference they are making in the workforce,” Jake Jones said, board chair who presented the idea of the awards to the rest of the board.

How Millennials Are Leading the Workforce

Despite some negative media coverage, millennials are catalysts for positive change in the workforce. And they’re really not so different from Gen Xers and baby boomers in the sense that they want the same things from the workforce including the ability to change jobs until they find one that fits, higher pay, demanding that their work have purpose, perks and stability.

Learning new skillsets and being able to use them in their position to add value to a company is paramount for millennial workers. “Millennials don’t inherently want to change companies, they want to learn new things,” keynote speaker Ted Pappas said speaking from the stage. Pappas is the Vice President of People as a Service at Corus360.

Millennials have also been instrumental in introducing companies and seasoned leaders to the digital side of business – where more customers and business exist.

The world has moved from paper to webpage and from newspaper to iPhone in many cases. This means for countless industries, not having a social media presence means you’re not reaching your full potential market or measuring your efficiency in your business.

Pappas attributed a major change at the company that he works at to a millennial on his team galvanizing their social media. He also spoke about how personal branding, influence and loyalty can make a stand out millennial leader.

The Awards

Personal Brand was one of the eight categories for the awards, along with Top Newcomer, STEM Leader, Professional Services, and Top Sales Leader. This year they added a ninth new category, the Millennial Culture Leader Company Award.

Nominees were chosen in a process where submissions were first reviewed by the YP Board, then finalists send to various other boards in TAG for anonymous voting. In the final phase, submissions are then sent to an employee at the accounting firm Cherry Bekaert who tabulates all of the votes. The winners are a surprise as much to the YP Board, as it is to everyone else, says Jones.

This year’s awards proved to be the biggest yet with 164 people pre-registering. This prompting the board to move the venue from General Assembly to Moxie which holds space for 200 people.

Winners were announced after guests were treated to food catered by Tacos and Tequilas Mexican Grill and an exciting round of trivia games with prizes. Sponsors included State Farm, Peachtree Tents and Events, Cherry Bekaert, Moxie and Corus360.

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