CEO2CEO SUMMIT
Ethan Allen’s Farooq Kathwari, Lewis Tree Service’s Fred Engelfried, Indiana EDC’s Ian Steff
talent pool is equipped with the skills a company needs now trumps things like tax incentives and general investment climate, noted Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Steff. “We recently worked with Rolls Royce on an $800 million expansion of their Indianapolis jet-engine facility,” he said. “About 50 percent of the negotiation phase involved talking about what the public/private partnership would look like to ensure that they would have a steady pool of talent equipped with the skills that they will need not only today but 15 years from now.” However, crucial skills aren’t always digital, several business leaders pointed out. In fact, educating younger workers on effective business communication and practices can be just as critical as bringing experienced workers up to speed on new technology. Younger workers, for example, often need to be coached to pick up the phone rather than rely solely on electronic methods of communicating with customers. After all, this is a generation that grew up texting, emailing and Face-timing with friends and family members. For many of them, building a working relationship by spending time face-to-face with a client is far from second nature. “I have a tough time getting our staff to communicate with one another
outside of a text or email—to really communicate,” reported John Thomas, CEO of Physicians Realty Trust. “Kids today find their boyfriends or girlfriends by text. I struggle to make sure that our people communicate with our customers in such a way that our
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customers get what they want. A hotel executive I spoke with recently told me, ‘The first person who interacts with a customer after they’ve had a bad experience is the most important person in a company,’ Texting doesn’t help that. Email doesn’t help that.” Companies sometimes find that workers comfortable working with technology lack foundational skills, including communication, problem-solving and negotiation skills. “You can’t just have a millennial jump in and start dealing with high-net-worth individuals,” noted Greg Richman, president of SkyJet. “It’s challenging as a leader to achieve that blend of enabling those who want it to have the online experience they want while still providing a high-level interaction for those who want personal service.”
CEO Roundtable Participants ■ KATHERINE BISHOP CEO, Lebanon Seaboard ■ BRAD CATES CEO, ProSource ■ J.P. DONLON Editor-in-Chief, Chief Executive ■ A.C. “FRED” ENGELFRIED Chairman, Lewis Tree Service ■ BRIGGS FORELLI President, Precision Gear ■ PEERY HELDRETH CRO Farm Credit of the Virginias
■ DANIEL JOHNSON CEO, Pureflow ■ FAROOQ KATHWARI Chairman & CEO, Ethan Allen Interiors ■ KETAN MEHTA CEO, Majesco ■ GEORGE MURRAY COO/President, Northern Engraving ■ JAMES O’ROURKE General Manager, Sperry Rail Service ■ MARK PARRISH President, Igloo Products
■ GREG RICHMAN President, Skyjet ■ GOOL SANTCHURN CEO, Envipco ■ PETER SCANNELL President, Rockwood Service ■ IAN STEFF Senior Advisor, Indiana Economic Development Corporation ■ JOHN THOMAS CEO, Physicians Realty Trust ■ JAMES TU Executive Chairman, Energy Focus