What To Do When The Company Doesn’t Run As Smoothly As It Used To

I was called not long ago by the president of an old client. We worked with that client over eleven years ago. 

They had become very successful during the time we were working with them. Back then, they were a small company. Now, they have between 600 to 7000 employees. Today? Today, the people who were low and mid – level executives a decade ago are running the company. And they are mystified. The company is not running as smoothly as it had in the past.

What was wrong?

Well, one thing that was wrong was the company lost its long-term outlook. We find many clients look toward the next quarter or next year. We tell our clients they have to look, at the very least, to the next three to five years. For some clients, we tell them to plan out 10 years. 

We instilled that into the leadership of this company eleven years ago. But, somehow, the people who replaced the leadership over the last decade had let that practice fall by the wayside. 

As regards their business projections, they had become near-sighted. 

A Generation Gap

 What we also saw was something we have seen in many other clients. Look, I consider myself a “baby boomer.” I know there are a lot of us still around.

But today, businesses across the country are hiring a younger generation. When we baby boomers started, we were happy to take orders from our bosses, say “Thank you, sir,” and perform the tasks assigned to us without question.

That’s not how it works today. 

Rather, the Gen Z and Gen X types that work in companies don’t hesitate to ask, ”Why are you doing it that way?” Or they insist that maybe there is a better way and, by the way, “Why don’t you ask me about this next time before deciding to do it this way?”

This age gap is significant. It is not going to go away, and companies must be prepared to address it. 

---

Jesus (Jes) Vargas is the Principal at DPMG Corp in Sacramento, CA. Jes and his team consult, coach, and mentor business leaders in strategic planning, leadership development, and project management. They’re ready to plan a new product or fine-tune an existing marketing strategy for you. 

If you are concerned about the culture in your company, Jes can help you create a new one or improve the one you have. Call Jes at 916 712 6145. Or you can email him here.