Monday Morning Quarterback - Hiring Youth in the Industry

Dealing with an  Aging Industry

 By ROB KIRKBRIDE
 
 Steelcase recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Since it took the company a few decades to find its footing and really start to grow, it makes sense that many who grew up in the burgeoning industry are now retiring from it while those who founded it are passing away.
 
 When walking around NeoCon on Monday afternoon during the showroom parties, it is a wonder the drink of choice is not a Geritol Gin Fizz. We work in an aging industry based on the gray heads bobbing along the halls of the Merchandise Mart (my own graying head included). But is the industry as old as it seems? And if it is, is that necessarily a bad thing?
 Those are a couple of questions we are asking as we embark on a series of stories that will study the age of the industry. This series will look at what manufacturers are doing to bring in younger workers and why it is important. We will talk to young folks (under 30) who are in the industry and find out what drew them to the job — and what they think could change. Finally, we will talk to dealers about the young people they employ and the tricky challenges of selling the business and transitioning it to the next generation.
 Assuming we are an aging industry, these initial questions lead to others. What are we missing out on by thinking “too old?” What are we doing to bring in fresh talent and ideas? What will happen if we don’t?
 One of the reasons it seems our industry is aging is simply because we are growing old with it. The office furniture industry is relatively young — though at the end of its first generation. It is no coincidence that several of the designers and industry titans who helped found it are dying. People like Humanscale designer Niels Diffrient and Steelcase executive Bob Pew championed the industry for years. Both have died recently.
 Steelcase recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Since it took the company a few decades to find its footing and really start to grow, it
 
 makes sense that many who grew up in the burgeoning industry are now retiring from it while those who founded it are passing away.
 Stephen Viscusi, chief executive officer of The Viscusi Group, an executive search practice in New York City, has arguably connected more executives with jobs in the office furniture industry than anyone else. Viscusi is rarely called upon to hire young, inexperienced people since he focuses on higher level positions, but he does have the hiring pulse of the industry. He sees the issue from both sides: Very few on the sales side of the business want young, inexperienced people and for good reason. It is an industry mostly based on who you know more than what you know. As for other areas of the business, programs that manufacturers started in the 1980s to attract young talent seem to have petered out, with a few notable exceptions.
 “What do you call it when a furniture dealer starts to hire a young person under 30 to teach them about the industry? Usually the answer to that question is nepotism,” Viscusi said. “Usually only the son or daughter of high ranking executives catch a break in getting hired under 30. Manufacturers not publicly traded tend to have this kind of nepotism.”
 Yet a few manufacturers understand the issue and while most claim it is not a crisis, they are addressing the problem. Knoll Senior Vice President of Communications David Bright said the company hires young talent in its sales and marketing areas as well as its supply chain organization. “In the sales and marketing areas, new associates participate in our New Associate program, which includes an important mentoring component, especially for recent college graduates,” he said.

 Steelcase spokeswoman Katie
 
 Hasse said the company has been working to bring more young people to Steelcase as well, noting that it has an “amazing” Young Professionals group.
 While some programs at certain manufacturers might be in place, it is not across the board and nowhere near the level it was in the 1980s, Viscusi said. “Never do I hear about major contract manufacturers wanting to invest in people fresh from school and train them along the way, as Haworth, Steelcase and Herman Miller did back in the 80’s,” he said.
 Viscusi went on to say, “The only companies I see hiring people fresh out of school today are Humanscale, Clarus Glassboards, Teknion, and all of the HNI companies. Allsteel, in particular, hires more young people under 30 than all the other companies combined. They are smart enough to invest in young talent and groom them for the future.”
 Still, don’t blame manufacturers for hiring experience over youth. There is a reason there are so many middle-aged “retreads,” some of whom have bounced from company to company to company over successful careers. Youth isn’t enough for an industry so geared toward generating revenue. Revenue comes from contact, which comes from experience, which comes from age, Viscusi said.
 “A furniture manufacturer today would rather have an aged-out retread, because they know the design firms and can continue milking those contacts, as opposed to some young person who must build and keep contacts and revenue into the millennial decades,” he said. “And it’s The Viscusi Group’s observation that hiring in this age-range is almost non-existent on a dealer level, because dealers need immediate revenue, and they need it fast.


They simply don’t trust young people to deliver so quickly, and they’d be making a mistake to hire someone young without proper contacts.”
That does not mean office furniture makers are ignoring the need for the top young workers. The ability to recruit and develop the best talent is absolutely critical for Herman Miller to continue to succeed in the global market, said Kathy Spinelli, the company’s vice president of Talent Management & Total Rewards.
“At Herman Miller, we have several programs aimed at bringing in new talent and new perspectives to our workplace,” she said. “The college internship program provides significant work experiences within departments, and cross-functionally, as interns are assigned to teams that tackle real business questions we’re currently working to answer. During the final week of the program, each intern team presents their results to members of our executive team and has the opportunity answer questions and receive feedback. We anticipate a class of more than 30 college undergrads to begin in just a few weeks.”
Herman Miller also has its Building Operations Leadership Development Program (BOLD). BOLD recruits early-in-career professionals to join an accelerated rotational program, designed to build their ability to run a part of the company’s manufacturing operations. BOLD candidates have multiple assignments, including at least one international project. After about two years, the BOLD candidates graduate, and move into leadership roles within the company.
Talent scouting happens even early at Herman Miller. The Herman Miller Academy engages high school students in a one-year program that allows them to explore different career opportunities while learning skills needed to be successful in the workplace. Students gain hands on experience through summer employment, are given an employee mentor to help guide them, and get a first-hand look at careers in manufacturing, engineering, marketing, R&D and finance.
“After students ‘graduate,’ many come back to work with us during the summer or through an Advanced Manufacturing Program (AMP) partnership with Grand Rapids Community College,” said Spinelli. “With AMP we hire high school graduates to work part time while they pursue a specialized degree in manufacturing full time.”
Haworth has a slightly different approach. The company is committed to attracting talent of all generations, said Ann Harte, vice president of global human resources since, “our communities and customer are multigenerational.”
“Naturally, this means that attracting young new talent is important,” she said. “We do have a practice that provides the right platform for attracting emerging young talent. This includes a robust internship program and events, that align both internally and with other West Michigan companies, to ensure a delightful experience that will cement our location in their memory. We want to nurture the idea that Haworth and West Michigan are great places to work. We also work to hire into associate level positions for those graduates that have no work experience but who fit our culture and will help advance our thinking.
“Hiring across the generations will ensure that Haworth mirrors its customers and brings new and diverse thinking into the organization. It also helps consolidation of all these constituents in its designs and solutions, she said.
As Viscusi noted, developing young talent is part of the culture of Allsteel. Lynda Whittle, vice president of marketing at Allsteel, said the company recruits young designers and encourages exposure and involvement as part of their individual development plans in a variety of business areas: design resources, workplace advisory, project management, marketing and sales.
“We know that personal and professional development are key decision criteria for Millennials in a preferred employer and also key drivers for loyalty,” she said. “By promoting our culture in the recruiting process, we have seen a big benefit in attracting and retaining creative talent.”
Hiring the best young people possible is critical, Viscusi said. He added that it is interesting that there’s not more emphasis on education in the interiors industry. Rarely do manufacturers ask young people about their GPA or SAT scores, instead focusing on W-2s. The Viscusi Group has a policy of placing any candidates under 30 and Afghanistan and Iraq veterans free to its client base.
“We are building a garment center mentality or real-estate mentality in the furniture industry by neglecting young, bright people and not investing in training them,” he said.

There is a reason there are so many middle-aged “retreads”.