Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/414972
N&V: Jonathan, as member of the Millennial generation, how would you convince your peers that E&S is a great field to launch a career? Gustafson: We've been working on recruitment in our own company so I've been thinking about this a lot. One of the challenges that we face is that when you think of E&S, you think—Sales—but there's so much more to our industry. There's a ton that goes on behind the scenes. There's admin- istration, negotiations, working with customers, social media. That's our biggest draw. There are so many different opportu- nities. It's just that I don't think we do a great job advertising or sharing those with potential newcomers. That's something that we really have to work on as an industry. We have to show people what's available and how to find those career paths and opportunities. N&V: How well do you think your company has done in this area? Gustafson: I don't think that we're doing a perfect job but we're working on it. One of the things that's worked for us is trying to work a little closer with local colleges and culinary schools. Some of our people guest lecture and talk to students about industry opportunities. In some cases, I think we get some interest there, but one of our challenges is that we have a hard time communicating some of the same things that I referred to earlier. Typically, we advertise that we have a sales position avail- able or a warehouse position available but we need to work on showing how each position can lead to other oppor- tunities. I don't know how to do that, but I know that's what helps appeal to some of the younger people. N&V: Years ago, when we first spoke, you told me about Ace Mart's referral program. Does it still exist, and if so, how does it work? Gustafson: If a staff member refers someone and they make it to 90 days, they receive a cash incentive. If they make it to their first year and score a certain numerical score on their yearly review, then that staff member gets another cash incen- tive. If they get promoted to a leadership role, then that person gets incentivized again. We could essentially incentivize some- one throughout their entire career. I've referred a few friends and have made several hundred dollars off each of them as they've progressed throughout the company. N&V: How many associates do you have under 40? Gustafson: Currently we have 303 employees and more than 50 percent of them are over the age of 40. It's actually closer to 65 percent. We've got a fair number that is over 60. And when we look at our under-30 group, I only have 50. Most of my company is over 40. N&V: Does this concern you? Gustafson: Absolutely. It's one of my greatest concerns. Having that next tier of leadership is crucial and I worry because we have so many seasoned people in key positions in our company. If something happened, or if tragedy struck, it would be difficult to just pick up where they left off. N&V: Do you have a mentorship program in place? Gustafson: We do, and we are actually in the middle of re-designing it. We've always had a mentor program in our stores, where a seasoned person trains new staff but we've also identified that we need to go beyond that by creating a leadership program largely focused on identifying those with potential and then working to develop a career path for them. We've never really had that spelled out in the past. Other than stating the obvious, "If you want to be a leader, you have to keep improving, keep working harder…" Now we're actually working on giving them goals. N&V: Something that's definitely important for morale. Gustafson: I wish it was in place 10 years ago when I start- ed. It was something that I had a hard time with. Being young, I knew that I wanted to do something important. I wanted to progress throughout Ace Mart, and my leaders, the key manag- ers that I reported to, would always ask me what I wanted to do but I could never answer it 100 percent. I always wanted to put the burden back on them: "Well, tell me what I need to do?" And no one could ever really answer that question for me. N&V: Let's talk about the Millennial generation. As a member of the group, do you think all of the hype is Gustafson, Groff & Burkett continued challenges that we face is that when you think of E&S, you think—Sales—but there's so much more to our industry. There's a ton that goes on behind the scenes. There's admin- istration, negotiations, working with customers, social media. That's our biggest draw. There are so many different opportu- nities. It's just that I don't think we do a great job advertising or sharing those with potential newcomers. That's something that we really have to work on as an industry. We have to show people what's available and how to find those career paths and opportunities. N&V: How well do you think your company has done in this area? Gustafson: I don't think that we're doing a perfect job but we're working on it. One of the things that's worked for us is trying to work a little closer with local colleges and culinary schools. Some of our people guest lecture and talk to students about industry opportunities. In some cases, I think we get some interest there, but one of our challenges is that we have a hard time communicating some of the same things that I referred to earlier. Typically, we advertise that we have a sales position avail- able or a warehouse position available but we need to work on showing how each position can lead to other oppor- on showing how each position can lead to other oppor- on showing how each position can lead to other oppor tunities. I don't know how to do that, but I know that's what helps appeal to some of the younger people. N&V: Years ago, when we first spoke, yearly review, then that staff member gets another cash incen tive. If they get promoted to a leadership role, then that person gets incentivized again. We could essentially incentivize some- one throughout their entire career. I've referred a few friends and have made several hundred dollars off each of them as they've progressed throughout the company. N&V: How many associates do you have under 40? Gustafson: Currently we have 303 employees and more than 50 percent of them are over the age of 40. It's actually closer to 65 percent. We've got a fair number that is over 60. And when we look at our under-30 group, I only have 50. Most of my company is over 40. N&V: Does this concern you? Gustafson: Absolutely. It's one of my greatest concerns. Having that next tier of leadership is crucial and I worry because we have so many seasoned people in key positions in our company. If something happened, or if tragedy struck, it would be difficult to just pick up where they left off. N&V: Do you have a mentorship program in place? Gustafson: We do, and we are actually in the middle of re-designing it. We've always had a mentor program in our stores, where a seasoned person trains new staff but we've also identified that we need to go beyond that by creating a leadership program largely focused on identifying those with potential and then working to develop a career path for them. We've never really had that spelled out in the past. Other than stating the obvious, "If you want to be a leader, you have to keep improving, keep working harder…" Now we're actually working on giving them goals. N&V: Something that's definitely important for morale. Gustafson: I wish it was in place 10 years ago when I start- ed. It was something that I had a hard time with. Being young, I knew that I wanted to do something important. I wanted to progress throughout Ace Mart, and my leaders, the key manag- ers that I reported to, would always ask me what I wanted to do but I could never answer it 100 percent. I always wanted to put the burden back on them: "Well, tell me what I need to do?" And no one could ever really answer that question for me. N&V: Let's talk about the Millennial generation. As a member of the group, do you think all of the hype is APPS: Splashtop remote desktop and CamCard HD - business card scanner LATEST TECH OBSESSION: Apple Pay. I'm curious if the NFC payment technology will finally take off now that Apple has embraced it. BOOK: Encouraging the Heart, by Kouzes and Posner TECHNOLOGY TOY: iPad/iPhone ORGANIZATIONAL MUST-HAVE: CamCard HD. Take a picture of a business card and it will import the information into your Outlook contacts. 50 FEDA News & Views