If people are a company’s greatest asset then Personnel Managers are the guardians of this most precious asset. In Geneva this week from Tuesday through Friday at the Noga Hilton Congress Centre, the European Association of Personnel Management (EAPM) is holding its 20th Congress. Geneva-based companies and organisations have seized the opportunity to both exhibit and to sponsor themes covering the key concerns of personnel managers.
The EAPM Congress is the most important Human Resources event in the year and is considered a must for any executive in a position to actively influence and shape the engagement of people’s full potential in the global economy. This year the congress was organised by the Swiss Association of Personnel Managers.
Among Geneva-resident companies can be mentioned Interwage Ltd, Manpower, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Miralab (the Geneva University based creative laboratory) is offering a virtual experience to all visitors by developing a ‘virtual clone’ that can be carried home on a CD-ROM to show family and friends.
PME Group Associates, founded in Geneva a decade ago and proud world record holder for the largest single relocation in a one year period of over a thousand people, is sponsoring a theme that includes presentations on global relocation. Relocation is now a very professional business and every aspect of bringing and settling in an executive’s family is taken into account by the Geneva company which was the first full service global relocation management consulting firm to be headquartered in mainland Europe.
It is doubtful that any city in the world is subject to such a high proportion of comings and goings of the working population. Figures as high as 40% of the foreign resident working population in Geneva have been bandied about. Over the years, Geneva has developed a highly professional relocation capability that is second to none.
New expats and their families are cosseted from the moment they arrive. Help is available for finding schools, finding homes, being introduced to various associations, language schools, spouse career development programmes and a host of other useful aids. It is the kind of help that just is not available to the same degree in most other business locations in Europe. Perhaps it is partly because of the 80 year presence in Geneva of many international diplomats and businesspeople but the end result is that it is easier for expats to settle in Geneva than almost any other location.
The EAPM is another in a long line of prestigious congresses being hosted in the city. Last year, Geneva welcomed 250 congresses and is currently among the world’s top twenty congress cities. However, with the completion of the new extension to the Palexpo exhibition and congress complex in two years’ time, Geneva will move up into the top 15. And after that, who knows…
Visit
EAPM Congress details at: Link
Geneva Tourist Office: Link
Palexpo – Geneva’s exhibition and congress centre: Link
Ideal business location at the heart of Europe: Link
World-class infrastructure: Link
