The Perfect Storm

By Don Harkey

“There’s something happening here.  What it is, isn’t exactly clear.”

• From “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield

Life hasn’t been the same since the Pandemic.  We have heard a lot about the “new normal”, but a lot of executives and practice owners I meet long for a time when they can get back to the way things used to be.

Remember the days when you used to post a job and lots of people would apply for it?  Remember when people interviewed for jobs as if they wanted it instead of interviewing you back?  Remember when people used to show up for their first day at work?  Remember when people didn’t ask to work from home, have flexible time, or demand higher compensation for their work?

I’m here to tell you that those days are officially gone.  If that makes you sad, go ahead and take a moment of silence to reflect on those days and mourn what will never return.  I’ll wait.

Feel better?  Not really? That’s OK, I understand.

Moving your practice forward is not about being comfortable with what is going on, it’s about proactively maneuvering through a job market and a world that is undergoing massive change.  If you are near the end of your career, you may not feel like you have the energy to change with the times and that is OK because you have a secret weapon.

You have Millennials.

Yes, I’m talking about the same Millennials who have been called entitled and lazy.  This is the same generation of people who have filled conference agendas since they entered the workforce with Boomers complaining about their poor work ethic, their demands to be at the table, and their irrational love of boutique coffees.

To understand how the Millennials will save the world, we need to understand the forces that are creating the changes we are seeing.  The changes we are observing are not caused by the Pandemic. Instead, these changes are a strange confluence of two demographic forces that have collided to create what we call the Perfect Storm; the retirement of Baby Boomers and a low national birth rate resulting in a workforce shortage.

(source: https://www.marquetteassociates.com/labor-shortage-inflation/)

The result is that we are facing many more years of changes.  There will not be enough workers for every practice. The truth is that some practices will not survive the Storm.

The good news is that there are opportunities with the Perfect Storm.  If you can do a better job than other practices in attracting and retaining talent along with nurturing the next generation of leaders, the Millennials will take on key leadership roles in your practice to carry on your legacy.  If this prospect seems terrifying, you probably aren’t prepared for the Storm, which is already upon us.

We can’t avoid the Storm, but we can learn to ride it out and come out of the other side better, with a new generation of leaders and healthier practices.

Want to learn more?  I will be talking about the Perfect Storm and how to survive it at the National AAOE Conference in Atlanta in May 2025.  Come see my keynote and learn how to first survive the Storm and then thrive afterwards.

Don Harkey is the CEO and Co-Founder of People Centric Consulting Group based in Springfield, Missouri.  Don and his team work with clients across the US to build healthy organizations where people are empowered and aligned.  Don is also an author (his first book, Becoming People Centric, comes out in March 2025) and a popular keynote speaker.