Next Generation of Talent - Lou Person |
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I am proud to be an Ambassador for New York City Business Solutions as part of the Next Generation of Talent program. As an Ambassador, my job is to build awareness for the program and discuss the impact hiring and developing young adults inside my organization helped me achieve great levels of success.
"The Next Gen of Talent Business Ambassadors Program is a partnership between NYC Department of Business Services and New York City businesses committed to hiring young adults (ages 18-26) and encouraging other local businesses to do the same." You can read more here: http://www.nexgenoftalent.nyc and specifically about our company here: http://www.nexgenoftalent.nyc/brightstack.html
Keeping up and being competitive means planning in advance to stay ahead. Especially in the city that never sleeps, businesses are always reinventing and innovating themselves — serving up the newest trends, using the latest technology. My company, brightstack, has already succeeded in gaining an edge by hiring young adults.
There is no way to truly articulate the value of hiring and developing the best talent, but the results are certainly tangible. I was able to successfully sell my business when valuations in our industry (technology services) were peaking. The organization who acquired us pointed to two main aspects of the organization as drivers for doing the transaction: Our platform and our young leaders.
Young leaders are incredibly valuable because of all the upside they represent. I made a conscientious decision to invest in young leaders; to hire the best based on attitude, train them on skill and develop them as leaders. Clearly, this investment has paid dividends as the organization continues to grow and provide outstanding levels of customer service. It is a gratifying feeling seeing our young leaders grow and step up into larger leadership roles and taking on additional responsibility. I also take pride that, in the long term, my acquirer will see return on their investment as our young leaders flourish in the organization.
I have always taken a personal interest in the careers of the talented staff with whom I've had the privilege of working. My approach was never to treat them as "employees" that are mere social security numbers from whom I profit. I don't have self importance by sitting at the top of the organizational structure. To the contrary. My ego is fed by watching my young leaders prosper in the organization knowing I was able to provide them with an opportunity and career path. They did the rest, and together, we achieve levels of success over the long haul.
Young Leaders also fulfill my vision of building an organization from the bottom up. "Top" and "Bottom" are mere adjectives to describe organizational structure. I can argue that those who are closest to the customer really are "tops" in the organization. Regardless, "Bottoms Up Approach" describes a "chain of command" strategy, which is also very important to the success of the business. Those closest to the customer have the greatest insight into needs, issues and trends that are most relevant to the customer. This is where our young leaders excel. In my experience, the "Bottoms Up Approach" fueled by the passion and competence of our young leaders has built a sustainable and scalable business. Another way to look at a bottom up approach is by citing an expression used by many business leaders around organizational risk: "The bottleneck is at the top (of a bottle)".
Obviously, I would encourage you to invest in young leaders based on the positive experiences I've had. If you are so inclined, I have some advice for you. Young adults want to be a part of something special. Working with them to define and implement your company culture around a set of principles allows them to put their fingerprints on the organization and have a sense of ownership. Publish your cultural principles and acknowledge those who fulfill it. Set the example and consistently live the principles yourself on a daily basis. As an example, in our weekly company meeting, we give out "cultural awards" to anyone who exemplifies our corporate culture. Here are our cultural principles:
Hiring and developing young adults has been core to our operating model. The growth of our organization is directly proportionate to the development of our young adults. I am always happy to share my experiences and learn from others around this topic, so please reach out to discuss further!
