We’re already into the second quarter of the New Year and both the micro and macro-trends for the advertising/marketing industry are looking towards significant growth. Unemployment is dropping, budgets and spending are increasing and technology is exploding with new opportunities across the industry and the overall economy is solid. So what to do...
We are living at a time of a confluence of mega trends: the retirement of the baby boomers; the creation and adoption of new technologies and an emergence of a strong economy. Growth brings new challenges to us all:
1. How do you attract talent that can provide the level of service your customers have expected?
2. With the growth of new skills requisite to adopt the new technologies, where do you find the talent and how do you train them?
3. As your own baby boomers prepare for retirement, how do you put a succession plan in place that manages the expectations for your company, your retirees and your bench strength?
4. And do you HAVE bench strength?
5. And who is actually buying stuff today?
A few facts about those Baby Boomers:
1. They control over $7 Trillion in net wealth
2. They are estimated to be inheriting nearly $15T by 2030
3. Combined with the previous generation, they are roughly 35% of the US population
4. They buy 40% of Consumer Products in the US
5. Their estimated buying power is $2.9 Trillion
6. The estimated buying power of GenX=$130Billion and Millennials= $170Billion
7. Boomers have the highest voting participation rate
8. Boomers are the largest buyers of new technology and new cars
9. The estimated percentage of advertising dollars devoted to Boomers is... 5%
Every day we get asked or strongly 'suggested' to search for candidates who are 'young'. Despite EEOC rules and decades of press reports about age discrimination, the fact remains that Boomers are the 900 pound gorillas that nobody wants to ADVERTISE to or hire.
I often remark that the only large global corporation who actively promotes employees above the age of 65 is the Catholic Church. I can't imagine that assuming the papacy at 65 or older is a means of taking a step back in responsibility or stress. Yet, we look at someone in their 60's as one step away from a La-Z-Boy.
Succession planning has been on most companies' To-Do list for several years. The larger corporations tend to have a formal process of defining succession planning; whether the actual plan is ever enacted or not there are names on a list behind every leadership title. And that document is nicely bound and placed on a shelf until the next annual review process.
Succession planning is far more critical to smaller, privately held companies. Generational planning often impacts succession planning, but many privately held companies have no logical relative that has been groomed, mentored and positioned as the rightful successor to dear old Dad. (And let's face it, this industry is largely a bunch of old white guys).
So, what to do? The economy is growing, technology is rampant and a constant barrage of noise that appears as a huge potential market... if we only had the right guy to sell it. The owner has been selling stuff the same way for 47 years, but that approach is an exercise in diminishing returns. New technology requires training, and oftentimes very technical training. Calling on new customers is an affront to a seasoned sales guy who's had the top 5 largest clients as his bread and butter for the past 20 years. So... what to do?
Here's a short primer, for you Mr. Private Company Owner, on succession planning and meeting the needs of selling new technologies to new customers:
1. Talk to your boomers, ask them what they want to do for the remainder of their professional career. You may find that they want to work until they're 75 years old, but they don't want to work 50 hours a week, they want a balanced life going forward. Preserving your largest repository of company culture is a huge win. Strive for balance of both of your needs: less hours for the Boomer, more reliance on the Boomer to help train the next generation.
2. Hire the bench strength. Reach out to local colleges to start an internship program with your company. Hire interns every year and keep the ones who are contributors.
3. Hire the technology guys. The data analysts/scientists and engineers, find the creative thinkers and proactive doers. This may be possible to include into your internship program as well, but for you to catch up; you need to hire fully capable tech guys immediately. And pairing the tech guys with your resident Boomers to explain how products are sold and serviced in your area is a valuable mix of old and new.
4. Talk to your high potential employees about succession planning. This shouldn't become emotional. It's a business. Every business has an asset value, you may have personally created that asset value through 40 years of sweat equity and feel you are 'owed' that equity, but the best succession plan for you is to craft a reasonable value that carries a longer term payout and includes your mentorship through that transition; and preserves the company.
5. Work ON your business, not IN it. Solving the strategic plans for making your business successful over the next 5-10 years takes time to step away and think about what's happening to this industry. Selling concepts and content to clients will never go away; but it may go away from you if your company isn't savvy enough to make creating and buying those products easier and faster.
6. Selling new products to new customers is hard. Its overcoming years of inertia and in most cases can't be solved by using the same people who have created the current system and approach.
With 'smart' systems emerging and the Internet of Things lurking; traditional marketing and advertising channels are changing overnight. Change is opportunity. Embrace it or get out of the way.
This article is a lightly edited version of the thinking of my good friend and recruiter colleague Ted Konnerth. Ted’s company Egret Consulting, it the preeminent recruiting resource for the electrical industry. We are both members of the International Retained Search Associates, an organization adding support and value to our practices and our clients.