8/30/2016
Maybe It’s Not Them
Ellen C. Wells
I had a real-life Millennial on the other end of the line. Will Heeman, this year’s
Green Profit/Dümmen Orange Young Retailer Award winner, was on his phone but not texting with me, not FaceTiming or Skyping with me—he was actually talking into his phone and using it as a telephone! As someone nearly 20 years his senior, I suspect he was doing the technological equivalent of standing up and letting an old lady take his seat on the bus.
During every interview, there are always those small gems of thoughts that just somehow are difficult to weave into the overall story. That was definitely the case with Will. And while I had him on the phone I took off my reporter hat, grabbed my binoculars and green chambray shirt, and channeled my favorite anthropologist for a few moments: I asked Will about Millennials.
Specifically, I asked him what it is the horticulture industry just doesn’t get about folks in his demographic.
“That’s a really good question,” Will responded. I could hear in his voice that he was gearing up for something, like a fly fisherman coaxing the rod back and back and back to finally loose, but also analysing his surroundings to ensure he sticks an accurate and productive entry into the river. He had recently been asked a similar question at an agricultural summit, but one more geared toward working with Millennials. Will indicated the conversation turned into complaint session: “Millennials just can’t do it,” “They are useless at work,” and so forth.
With a flick of his wrist Will slowly let his line go, dropping his lure precisely where he wanted: “I think, to me, if you keep having statements like, ‘This generation is lazy; they don’t get it, they are unmotivated, they don’t work, they don’t process things,’ then I usually ask, ‘Well, is it maybe not them but your approach of dealing with them?’ If it’s across the board like that then that is not a problem with this generation but with every generation, in terms of being viewed by previous generations as ‘that generation’s going to hell in a handbasket.’”
“Wait, hold on,” you’re saying. “We have to change our approach to them?”
I’d like to remind you that it’s not “we” adjusting to the Millenials. It’s “you;” just your individual self. Because others already have, or are on the way to doing so.
“I feel that you have to adjust yourself rather than expect an entire generation to adjust to you,” Will says. “You’re no longer the person who gets to say, ‘They don’t get it.’ If everyone ‘doesn’t get it,’ then you are the one who doesn’t get it. But that can be hard to hear.”
Perfect example: Will has made Heeman’s Garden Centre & Strawberry Farm in Thorndale, Ontario, a Pokémon Go Pokéstop, the only garden center to be a Pokéstop for miles around. Will posted about it on Instagram and Facebook. The Instagram followers, who tend to be younger, replied that a Pokéstop was a great idea! The Facebook folks, on the older side, responded with harsher criticism. “It’s a really popular game,” Will explained. “You can see generational gaps with that game. My staff really enjoy playing it but their grandparents think it’s ridiculous. We get it, though, and hopefully we do a good job at bridging that gap.”
I can still hear what you’re thinking. No, I don’t know what a Pokémon is either, and I have no interest in chasing one around. “It’s easier for me because I’m working with my generation,” Will says. “But I’m sure I’ll become that ‘Get off my lawn!’ guy in 30 years.”
Will, believe me, it won’t take 30 years.
GP