Written by Andreas von der Heydt

As consumer goods aficionados and professionals we’re not only on this planet to sell goods and services and to make money. That would be too easy and by far too short-sighted. Being in permanent contact and exchange with consumers we’re also having a particular responsibility towards them and society. It’s a relationship of mutual dependency and shared responsibility.

Today e.g. many under 30-year-old, although a high percentage of them are well educated, are lacking decently paid jobs; or are even unemployed. For example in Europe unemployment across the E.U. is for 25-year-old and under with 17% much higher than in the general population with 7.6%. It’s a “disappointed generation” having its ambitions thwarted as the recession has tightened across Europe. A phenomenon so broad that in country after country people have coined shorthand terms to describe a generation frustrated by its plight: Generation 600 in Greece, Jeunes Diplomes in France, Mileurista in Spain, etc.

As seen with the riots in Greece last year (and now also every year in France, in Germany traditionally on May 1) many members of this young and “disappointed” generation are fed up with the disadvantages they’ve been suffering from and are growing tired of waiting. Some of these “social eruptions” certainly have their anarchist roots, at the same time, structural and social flaws are just as much to blame.

Disappointment being caused by unjust work contracts which in many countries have become the norm, by hopelessness (e.g. education and labour market not flexible and modern enough) and by unrealistic expectations of society (e.g. by their own families and friends) and by themselves (e.g. they have grown up with unrealistic consumerist expectations and feel frustrated when they can’t maintain them by not being able any longer to buy the clothing they want to, the vacations they can non longer take, etc.).

Especially “unrealistic consumerist expectations” and the “Born-into-Abundance-Era”, resulting from decades of strong economic growth and ever increasing expectations and further stimulated by exaggerated demands of society, have also created a “spoiled” society and most over a “spoiled generation of under 30-year-old.” A generation which believes to own a “natural right to receive,” and which is not always fully aware of having to give first, to be more modest and more patient.

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen in his new film “Brüno” is picking up exactly this topic: a society which has fallen a little bid too much in love with itself by having forgotten some true and long-lasting values like solidarity, honesty and a genuine interest in the wellbeing of people. Cohen, since Borat without any doubt the world’s most famous performance artist and the inventor of a perfect hybrid of documentary and mockumentary, plays a gay Austrian fashionista who with a naïve and narcissistic attitude sets himself loose upon a non-attentive and self-focused world.

What could be the way out? What should be done to enable this generation of young, well-educated and promising talents to prosper, to succeed and to positively influence our world and society in the years to come?

Two principal angles seem possible.
Firstly, they would need to take over responsibility by themselves - called “Principle Self Accountability” - and not wanting to put the blame on anyone else (although that even might be the case in certain circumstances):

- Adjust your expectations: career, success and prosperity are not a given and they’re not coming automatically; even not when being well educated. A very positive and “winning attitude” can easily count more than a very good education, if this were not “displayed” and “lived” in the right way. It takes a lot of persistency, ambition, self-motivation and hard work. You will need to be willing “to go the extra mile”. At the same time have your vision about the future. Think big, and start small!

- Be mobile and flexible: as already described many years ago by the great thinker and management guru Charles Handy we definitely and inevitably have entered the Age of Unreason. An era of discontinuity and permanent change. There’s only one consistent element in it: change!

- Develop a passion for permanent learning and personal growth: know-how and technical expertise become very quickly outdated and obsolete. Be and stay curious, learn different things, study them with new techniques (e.g. apply lateral thinking techniques like mind mapping, etc vs more traditional approaches), stimulate others and yourself by looking closely at different disciplines (e.g. if you’re a marketer try to understand supply chain strategies, HR themes, etc) or even completely different fields of life (e.g. arts, foreign cultures and languages, etc).

- Be unique and clear about your strengths. Make sure you possess distinct and relevant characteristics to successfully differentiate yourself. On a constant basis focus on strengthening your strengths and only in a second step to reduce and/or eliminate your weaknesses.

- Be critically self-confident and develop a positive and constructive “Can-do and challenger attitude”. It neither helps yourself nor your employer, employees, peers, etc. if you always agree and try to be “everybody’s darling.” According to George Bernard Shaw there are two kinds of people: Those who adapt themselves to the world and those who insist that the world adapts itself to themselves. It’s the latter group which makes the world to move on. Saying that, it’s a matter of the right timing and - referring back - it only should be insisted on that once you’ll have successfully proven yourself over a longer period of time and once you’ll have acquired a certain level of reputation, communication skills and authenticity.

The second angle is what I would like to call “Leadership and Managerial Responsibility.” As leaders and managers we have the responsibility to develop promising talents by giving feedback, guidance and coaching (this is also and especially true for all line managers and not only the company’s HR department) and to make sure that things don’t overheat:

- Everyone who shows above-listed attributes should get her or his chance without any exceptions. Managers would need to fully support it.

- There should be specific development and career plans in place for those people.

- They should be managed according to the “D&D” principle: being managed and coached in a “Demanding” way (to prepare them for a very tough competitive environment and to take away any potential “illusions”) and in a “Developing” way (i.e. with the objective to build a long-term and successful career with and for them).

- Furthermore it’s the responsibility of senior management to avoid classical “rat races” among team members and to encourage their teams doing new things in new ways and based on fair play and comprehensive ethics: i.e. in a responsible and sustainable fashion. That’s where their experience and broad know-how needs to be transformed into active guidance and coaching of younger employees and team members.

To successfully integrate young people and professionals into today’s FMCG and retailing industry as well as into other industry sectors is one of the key challenges of our times. In a world of abundance, self-focus and selfishness it will require a strong level of reflection, discipline and a paradigm shift from all stakeholders.

Only if this evolution and succession planning will be mastered in an adequate form, then future prosperity, social peace and individual satisfaction can be guaranteed.

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This article was written by Andreas von der Heydt (his profile on Xing here), Managing Director of L’Oreal Poland.

Originally published in the group “Consumer Goods” - People & Products in a Global Market Place