Mowery & Schoenfeld is very unique among CPA firms as 28 of the 55 people in our firm were born after 1980. Many traditional CPA firms are dealing with succession planning issues as their partners near retirement age. Our firm has a purposeful approach to growing leaders from within. Since starting our firm in 1996, we've had the pleasure of bringing in younger staff, developing them, incorporating them, watching them grow and learning from them. Our partners feel privileged to work with such an interesting group of individuals.
Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe are widely credited with coining the term "Millennials" to describe people born between roughly 1980 and 2000. Strauss and Howe believe that each generation has common characteristics that repeat in a cycle over time. They predicted that Millennials will be most like the "civic minded" G.I. Generation (born 1901-1924) who came of age during the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They note that Millennials have a strong sense of community both locally and globally.
In our firm, we note the following about our Millennials:
- They are better than most with technology. Obviously, they have grown up in the Internet Age with devices constantly by their side. Technology is second nature to them. One thing I often observe is they rarely do math in their head - it's not a necessity for them with technology constantly at their fingertips.
- They have a strong sense of camaraderie and team work. Our Millennials are always willing to help others and like to share what they have learned. They are ideally suited to be accountants in this respect.
- They want more feedback, responsibility and involvement in decision making. We incorporated much of this into the creation of MSLLC University which is our training, mentoring and professional development program, developed by our Millennials.
Author Jean Twenge of the book Generation Me attributes confidence and tolerance to Millennials but also a sense of entitlement and narcissism as well. I guess this sort of goes with the times in which we live.
We will continue our college recruiting to bring in more promising Millennials over the next few years. We like what we see, now, and in our future together.
Jeff
"The best way to predict your future is to create it." - Peter F. Drucker