To our readers: This article was written by Joanne McClain, editor of Aquatics International, a sister publication to ProSales. We believe her message will resonate with dealers and distributors just as much as it will her audience, so we're reprinting it here.
Last month, we began a series of columns on succession planning by Scot Hunsaker, long considered one of the most influential people in the aquatics industry. He has a unique — or perhaps common — perspective, depending on how you look at it. He’s a second-generation family business owner who faced the same succession planning issues as many do now. Ultimately, his experience transitioning his company into an employee-owned one was not only successful, but transformative. He was impassioned to help other company leaders through the process — so much so that in 2013, he launched Ardent, a legacy planning consultancy.
As I read his column, I appreciated the clear way in which he’d broken down the process and provided specific tools to help company leaders prep their staff. But I found it interesting that he ended with a comment about millennials. He asks whether or not this generation would find your company a desirable place to work.
My immediate response was, I confess, to bristle a bit. It seemed to me that, at every turn, we’re made to kowtow to the delicate sensibilities of millennials. Proof of this can be found practically everywhere, it seemed. One example that really stuck in my craw at the time was a report from a few years back that hotels were eliminating desks from its guest rooms because research suggested that millennials didn’t use them. Never mind that millennials didn’t have the money to travel much yet. Or that hotels’ true bread-and-butter clients comprised businesspeople of an older demographic who actually used and wanted desks.
Or how about the myriad stories of millennials turning up their noses at what they considered menial jobs? Whatever happened to the work ethic of humbly starting from the bottom and working your way up? Whatever happened to putting in your time?
Whoa, I thought. I’m getting awfully riled up. How did I get from being the “irresponsible” and “lazy” Gen X young’un to being a cantankerous “git-off-my-lawn” curmudgeon?
When I stopped to really think about it, I realized it was my attitude that was all wrong. Instead of fostering an “us vs. them” mentality, it’s time to embrace all generations for the different perspectives and abilities they bring to the table, especially when it comes to business.
As Hunsaker points out, in five years, millennials will make up more than half the workforce and, in just 10, it’ll be 88%. If you care at all for the future of your company, it makes sense to look to their generation now to find and mentor the ones capable of carrying your vision forward.
