Title: Cool Search
Author: Lammiman, Jean and Syrett, Michel
Publisher: Capstone Publishing Limited (A Wiley Company)
ISBN: 1841124303
Price: £16.99
Reviewer: Kay Maddox
I don’t know about you but the sheer volume of rather dull, dry management and leadership texts, remodelled but saying the same thing over the last few years has gradually worn me down! As such my expectations were not huge when I first set eyes on this book. However, with its rather amusing cover of an executive type with his trousers rolled up, paddling in the sea with his boots and briefcase discarded on the sand some way off, an involuntary smile landed on my face.
In fact I really like this book, I must have done I read it from cover to cover without a break! It is very easy to get through though with just over 234 pages and a very reasonable size typeface.
The content is based on the feedback of a survey group of 18-25 year olds and case studies from companies such as IKEA, GMT, 3M and L’Oreal. But what’s it all about? Well, we have heard for some time now about the aging population and how more companies are recruiting more mature workers. This book looks at how organisations should be managing younger employees. It focuses on attitudes and the fact that many ‘Millenials’ (as these younger workers are described) are adamant that they do not wish to follow in their parents working patterns. The authors suggest that this group do not expect loyalty from their employer, but neither do they expect to give it. The only loyalty they are prepared to give is to their peers in their social group. Job security is just not on the cards.
The authors suggest that ultimately Millenials would like to own their own home, car etc but these are things for later on. In the meantime the focus is on having control in their lives. As such there are a number of examples of young entrepreneurial types such as Noon who built a $40 million dollar business out of the demand in Europe for ready made Indian food. He has managed to market his foods to supermarket chains such as Waitrose and Sainsbury.
The book is not just about how to manage Millenials, it touches on how to market to this group and includes some discussion about branding. The importance of the availability of goods and services in the 24/7 culture to a range of age groups is addressed and some actions are summarised at the end of each chapter.
Based around the concept of ‘cool’ each chapter is described in the context of Millenials, ‘The Provenance of Cool’, ‘Cool Leadership and ‘Branding Cool’ all contribute to the youthful feel of the text.
It’s a refreshing look at the world of business and management and does provoke some thinking in this direction. There are probably a series of books that could (and probably will) follow this one, building on the variety of points discussed but for me this one is enough, the rest is about putting it into practice!
Kay works as a management and diversity development manager in the further education sector.
