Last year, I wrote about the need for companies in our industry to adapt to an ever-changing business environment in order to survive. I was referring to the calamity of the financial crisis and the impact of the pending regulatory oversight and how companies needed to adapt to those changes. People are industry participants too. And like companies, people need to adapt to their changing environment, which is critical to survival.

A friend of mine lost his job last month. He was put out to pasture. He was told it was not performance related, simply expense reduction. He’s 62 years old, out of work and feeling rather disheartened. He plans to take some time off, visit his family and then look for something new. New — meaning something outside the equipment finance and leasing industry.

I suspect that my friend will not be looking for a greeter position at Wal-Mart, or a starter position at his local golf club. No, he won’t lower his sights quite that far, albeit, his sights will be lowered. Unfortunately, our industry — or perhaps society in general — doesn’t place the same value on someone with 40 years of experience the same way we value less experienced, younger, more ambitious job seekers.

Be completely honest with yourself when answering the following question. Would you rather hire a 62-year-old candidate for a mid-level management role or would you prefer a 37-year-old with similar background, experience levels and general strengths? Most people would probably prefer the candidate who is 25 years younger. I see it almost every day. Organizations backfill for vacated positions or fill newly created positions with younger candidates. You may see it as bias or age discrimination but, in reality, hiring authorities often see the younger candidate as being more ambitious, carrying fresher ideas, probably more tech savvy, maybe even more attractive. It seems wrong, but it seems like human nature errs on the side of youth and vitality.

So where does that put the inherently large percentage of leasing industry veterans who are now over the young age of 50? Our industry is packed with folks who fit this description. The graying of the leasing industry has been the topic of many discussions and articles over the years. Ron Caruso and Shawn Halladay have each written pieces on the topic.

In 2006, ELFA Chairman Paul Larkins championed the push to develop future leasing leaders, which led to the creation of the Future Leasing Leaders Institute — a course hosted by the ELFA that focused on training the leasing industry’s next generation of leaders. By 2008, the program had evolved into the Executive Development Institute — which helped attract a broader audience of attendees – and it now appears to be gone, altogether. The Business & Professional Development 2011 brochure on the ELFA website contains no such course aimed at younger professionals.

Think about how this is going to impact our industry. We are quick to discard our elderly brethren and openly admit to a bias favoring younger replacements. At the same time, the industry is not attracting new talent and we are no longer providing industry- sponsored development tools for those folks who show promise as tomorrow’s leaders. I’ll tell you where that puts us — in a tailspin — with little hope for our long-term success unless we begin to make some changes.

The required changes are many. First, we must become insatiable life-long learners and we need to be quicker at adapting to change. We are surrounded by tools that are constantly evolving and improving the way we manage information. This information is knowledge. We cannot rest on our laurels and think that our college education and 25 years of work experience will continue to qualify us to fulfill our current roles.

Imagine life without search engines, social media, EDGAR, cell phones and streaming voice and video. You may be reading this article on the Monitor digital edition using your iPad while in flight from New York to Miami. The concept was almost unimaginable just a decade ago. Today it is commonplace. New tools and technologies will be developed in the coming years that will markedly change the way we do business. We know they are coming. Are you prepared and willing to adapt to the imminent changes?

Back to my friend who lost his job. He was uncomfortable with technology. He would call me to ask how to write a formula in Excel. Occasionally he would solicit help in creating PowerPoint slides. He doesn’t use Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or other social media tools. Like many of his cronies, he views that stuff with disdain — as short-lived fads. Wake up buddy. These fads, in one form or another, are here to stay. And if you are going to survive, you’re going to need to learn to use them. It’s all part of that lifelong learning thing.

My father never had a cell phone. He saw no use for one. My wife and I both have cell phones as well as landlines in our home. My kids and their spouses rely exclusively on cell phones, mostly for texting messages or pictures and less for voice calls. This is just one piece of technology. My kids are fully adapted. My wife and I are adapting. My father failed to adapt, whatsoever.

Our industry is full of Baby Boomers. Many of our colleagues are a bit younger and referred to as Generation X. There are fewer members who fall into the Generation Y category, mostly because we have failed to attract young new entrants into the equipment finance and leasing industry. There is a whole new breed that is getting ready to enter the workforce, known as Generation Z, expected to be the smartest generation in history, according to William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book: Generations: The History of America’s Future 1584 to 2069. These Zs were born into the Internet world. They have been exposed to massive amounts of information and data points for their entire lives. They have the keen ability to process exceptionally large amounts of information in rapid order. Generation Z will possess higher IQs than any earlier generation.

Imagine how well your company could run if staffed with a talented group of these high potential Zs. Unfortunately, it’s highly improbable that your company has what it takes to attract Gen-Z talent. No, we as an industry are too buttoned up, too policy driven, too conventional in our thinking and totally unappealing to the typical Gen-Z. Worse yet, we may view the typical Z as unqualified for employment since many will not have college degrees.

In their book, Strauss and Howe explain how Generation Z will be the first to experiment with do-it-yourself education, foregoing the absurd expense of a traditional college education. They will find other ways to educate themselves. Their self-motivated yearn-to-learn attitudes make them sponges for knowledge. Feed them information, nurture them with problem solving activities, develop them professionally and they could be your future leaders.

Generation X and Generation Y forced businesses worldwide to change some of their stodgy ways, to loosen up a bit, to adopt a somewhat more laid back attitude. Business casual dress, job sharing and telecommuting were just a few of the simple byproducts of these changes. Free meals, onsite laundry and bring your pets to work — are perhaps a few of the more radical changes made to attract and retain Gen-X and Gen-Y talent. To do the same for Gen-Zs will require even more open-mindedness. As lifelong learners they are challenged by projects and are very astute at research. Strauss and Howe suggest that employers throw bold projects and problems to Gen-Zs and let them learn how to complete and solve on their own. As long as they are growing, learning and developing — they may stick around to help lead your company.

One last time, I’d like to refer back to my jobless friend. His age may have been a handicap that contributed to his job loss. His failure to adapt to his changing environment was certainly a contributor to his downfall. But that fault should quite possibly be shared by his employer and his direct manager, because every employer should have personal development plans for all their employees. Managers are accountable for monitoring an employee’s progress toward goals established under these plans. Training and mentoring could have helped overcome the lack of tech savvy my friend had. Solid communications with his manager could have helped to prioritize how important it was that he adapt to his environment. I am unaware as to whether any such plans or communications were made with my friend. Now it’s too late.

It is not too late for the rest of us to start thinking about ways we can help our aging workforce adapt to their ever-changing environment. Training programs are available to help your employees adapt. Microsoft offers online training that can be simple tutorials or in-depth overviews of features and benefits for all of their products (visit http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training-FX101782702.aspx). Educated Change at www.educatedc.com offers courses that help companies come to terms with social media, networking, communications and collaboration.

Some of my favorite learning sources are formal and informal mentoring programs. Surprisingly, the traditional model of an older person sharing his or her knowledge with a younger person may need to be flipped so your older employees can learn the value of many technology tools mastered by their younger counterparts. The point is that there are many resources available, but only a few are being used.

To sum it up, we need to become more open-minded to attract new talent into our industry. We need to shake off past paradigms and assumptions and be prepared to take risks with the new group of generation Zs who are entering the workforce. Concurrently, we need to develop a culture that fosters innovation and lifetime learning. This will help to attract and retain the Gen-Zs and promote self improvement for existing employees. Finally, we need to encourage ourselves and the people around us — especially the over-50 crowd — to gain greater comfort and better utilize the technology tools around us. We, as individuals, need to adapt to our changing environment.