I have a friend, let’s call him Bill, who has climbed up the ranks at his company. He’s a good guy. And he believes in investing in the next generation.
So he invited the recent hires:
There is a weekly call. Bill decided to include the interns on it so they could learn. The call took up the whole of Friday morning as it did every week. It was mostly a recap of who was doing what and what needed to happen.
Aware they were in the room, at the end of the call, the CEO asked the new blood what they’d thought of the meeting.
Turns out, they didn’t think so much of it.
And they said as much.
It didn’t go over well:
The CEO ordered Bill to deal with them. So Bill took them back to his office and demanded to know what they were thinking.
So they told him.
In the last six months, they’d typed up the minutes from those meetings. And they’d never seen anything really accomplished. The same issues were rehashed every meeting.
My friend Bill thought about it. And decided they were right.
So when the CEO called back demanding to know what Bill had done about the young hires, Bill said:
Nothing. And our office will no longer be participating in the weekly meeting.
He laid out why:
And in the end the CEO agreed to let Bill’s office out of it on a trial basis.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
All business needs new blood:
Any business that wants to effectively market to the next generation needs to give them a seat at the table. And since they are the largest demographic since the Baby Boomers, not marketing to them isn’t really an option.
It’s a smart thing to do:
Millennials bring a completely different perspective. And a much needed one.
Many choose to live their lives according to their values, the values they were raised with, and will not park them at the door for the sake of a pay cheque.
Why should they?
Beyond that, however, if you can’t get buy in from them when they’re on your team, you’re sure not likely to get buy in from them when they’re on the outside.
And unless you’ve just decided that your business can die with the baby boomers, engaging them in all facets of your business may lead to surprisingly good results. And a more invested workforce.
Susan McLennan
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