Sino Hero Foods Ltd

One of the things that irritated me most  growing up was the sarcastic remarks of elders basically stating' the youth of today are not what we used to be- hard working, responsible, dynamic  Blah Blah Blah !'

Funny how time flies and one hears the same comments being echoed all over again by business associates and collegues about fresh graduates. How are the generation Y (never liked the terms Gen Y X whatever in first place) going to manage in the economic crisis.

While the facts are indeed grim in the sense that a lot of life is just about timing and unfortunately some of the students graduating this year will face the worst job market in generations, reality is in lots of ways, no one is better equipped to deal with these adverse circumstances that the youth of today with their grasp of technology, creativity and despite what the naysayers say-their can do attitude !

I have been amazed with the sharp refreshing insights I have received over the years from some of the younger people I have had the opportunity to deal with whether my 23 year old property agent who gives me the most honest guidance and exceptional after sales service or another 20 something interns we hired to help look at some new initiatives in fresh fruits imports which involved getting up at 3 AM to head for the fresh fruit markets and dealing with the 'tough fruit guys' and even  in simple tasks like using the web to expand our customer base being a small company. Nothing fancy at all but just enough to make us look like a dynamic company that is on the move.

We have been lucky to have some highest grade interns from Hong Kong University (HKU) which is Asia's premier university and I have always wondered what I missed out on by not working with the ones that we did not select in the interview. I always ask why they choose to work in a small company for a nominal stipend and their reaction always is ' opportunity and a fun, flexible and relaxed workplace where they get to take on real responsibilities vs. being consigned to photocopying for the rest of their young working life and then being lectured on 'youngsters lacking ambition and drive'.So all the talk of the new graduates being all 'softies' and not ready to take on the world is all based on a general condescending tone that a lot of ' manager types' apply all the time.

Fact is a lot of the young people today are free of any baggage and sense of entitlements which is a very solid base to build success in the world of business. Corporations are undergoing such severe turmoil and their 'business models'(or rather lack of them) seem thoroughly discredited. Corporate CEO's  too stand heavily discredited and never have their reputations been more soiled by the excess greed and blatant mismanagement that has been the norm rather than the exception over the last decade. It may be an opportunity and time when younger people may decide that the odds of going through multiple levels of interviews and getting hundreds of rejections to basically work for companies that anyway no longer reflect their ideals and maybe starting a small business may be almost even despite all the difficulties of going out on ones own.

If this ripple turns into a wave, we could have the next big surge in entrepreneural activity lead by the younger people similiar to the computer revolution that was pioneered by young visionaries like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Khosla/Andy and Scott at Sun Microsystems.

So whenever I hear someone whine about' no good talent' or difficulties in finding' good people' I always remember one of my favourite sayings' Beware of the young turks and the old turkeys as young turks eventually become old turkeys !' Here's a toast to the Young turks !!