Recruit millennials with a culture of teamwork, coaching

LAS VEGAS — The automotive industry needs to understand how the millennial generation thinks and what they expect in order to effectively recruit and train them to be successful.

The influx of millennials, born between 1978-2000, has brought about a cultural change in how we manage, recruit and sell to buyers, said Jim Pancero with Jim Pancero, Inc., in his presentation, “Will you be able to attract the best millennials to your sales team?” on Nov. 3 during AAPEX in Las Vegas.

Millennials may not be a high percentage of the work force today, but they will be soon. Pancero asked attendees two questions:

What percentage of your people are you going to lose because of age or health in the next 5-7 years?
Of these, what percentage of your total revenue did they generate last year?

“In a traditional company, the percentage of people you could lose could be as high as 50 percent. Thirty to 50 percent is a normal answer I hear,” Pancero said. And of these people, they tend to generate 60 to 70 percent of a business’s income.

“The problem that I’m seeing in more traditional industries like automotive is that this change is just occurring to companies now. They are losing senior-level people and are not happy with what they are seeing in the interview process, or they are not able to attract the millennials they would like,” Pancero said.

To best recruit millennials into your business, you need to understand how they think, Pancero says.

Think of the games a baby boomer, typically born between 1946-1964, played between the ages of 10-14, Pancer suggested. Often times it was kick ball or baseball in the street where the rules were made up as you go. But millennials played games that were organized on teams, structured with uniforms and a coach.

This translates into the professional attitudes and behaviors of the generations. Baby boomers often gained success professionally by proving their capability independently without much guidance. Millennials are more conditioned to want a coach, a team and process for success, Pancero said. So companies need to have a structure that values learning, coaching and teamwork, rather than one that encourages individual success and independence.

“The challenge is that the companies often don’t understand these generational differences, so they are trying to find 30-year-olds with the behavior habits of baby boomers,” Pancero said.

Use of technology is also a key difference when looking to replace baby boomers with millennials. “For most boomers, cell phones and computers entered their lives after they were adults and they had already stabilized how they were communicating. But millennials were playing on computers much younger. They’ve never known life without them,” Pancero said. “If you look at the communication process, boomers communicate less frequently, but in bigger chunks. Millennials send much more communication, but with quick thoughts.

So a millennial expects frequent, brief communication. Where the boomer wants to talk on the phone and hash out the issue in one conversation.”

“So companies need to change the way they manage. The leadership team has to change. You are the variable as to whether this works or not,” Pancero said.

“There is a natural tsunami approaching the shoreline — the millennial. Depending on your business, you must change how you do business if you want to stay competitive and attract and motivate employees and attract and win over our customers,” he said. “Who is going to do this first in our industry — you or your competitors? Do you want to lead or catch up? You only have two choices.”

For more information, you can contact Pancero directly at jim @pancero.com. The manual of his presentation is also available free online; visit www.pancero.com/aapex to download your copy today. Pancero’s site also features more than 30 free videos that aim to help you improve your business.