If you are building your business for the next 20 years, read this!

During an IPO investment luncheon last week, an investment manager representing the IPO company started her presentation with the IPO trends in Asia and specifically in Hong Kong. It was noted that 80% of IPOs launched in 2018 was highly successful with average growth of 153% on launch date and these stocks continued to do well to date.

Following that, the CEO of the prospective IPO company gave an overview of this business, sharing his aspirations for the company and how his company will be utilizing the capital raised for expansion and growth. As a background, this consumer staple company (light/medium industrial company) which is based in Malaysia, has been around for over 20 years and expanded its operations into Vietnam and is currently ranked 4^th in its industry, in Malaysia, securing about 7% market share.

During Q&A, many questions were asked and most of the potential investors present were interested in their return on investment, expansion in market share of the company in Asia and beyond, the stability of the management team and of course, the potential growth of this company for the next 20 years.

What came as a surprise was that there was no discussion on human capital/talent management to support the business. There was also no talk on the transition of leadership with the senior management of this company; the CEO is in his late 50s. What’s even scarier is that the company has not caught up with the growth of millennial talent pool flooding the economy as we speak.

If you are an employer representing a company with a strong history and senior leadership of over 20 years, it is probably a good time to start thinking how to attract talents from the millennial pool and start strategizing on leadership transitioning with the millennials in mind.

If you are a millennial employee seeking employment, be clear in what your career aspiration is and know how you can add value to your prospective employer. While it may not be trendy to be loyal to a company, you will never know when that company can go IPO in 20 years.