What’s wrong with my firm?

This weekend marked an historical first at Chez Carlino.

I engaged in my inaugural Face Time chat with my daughter who is studying in London for her spring semester.

While many of you may be quietly giggling – or even laughing out loud for that matter - that 20-minute exercise for me represented the next level in what has been a slow build in getting me up to speed with millennial technologies.

In a similar vein, I was presenting a session on executing a successful succession before a group of about 35 practitioners last week when one of them asked me outright what was wrong with his firm as he could not seem to attract young talent.

At first I assured him his problem was not unique; there were currently thousands of firms facing that exact problem. As many of you know my last column focused on how too many firms rely on the fantasy of a young CPA walking through their door like the cavalry and miraculously solving their succession issues.

Second, since I had not personally visited his firm I explained it would be difficult to ascertain exactly what was driving away potential candidates.

So I began with a few questions.

For starters, when was the last time he remodeled his reception area? Nothing sours a potential hire quicker than his or her first point of contact resembling the living room from a Brady Bunch rerun.

For those keeping score at home – it was 1990.

Strike one.

I then asked if he was paperless. I can’t say I was surprised when he said no.

Strike two.

Did he have a Facebook presence or did any of his partners or employees have a profile on LinkedIn?

He said the firm was not on Facebook but he was on LinkedIn. However he was unsure about anyone else in the firm.

I tried to convey to him the mammoth scope that social media has over millennials, and if his firm is being run like it was 1980 instead of 2016, that just may be part of the problem in recruiting and retention.

He politely thanked me and sat down.

I remain skeptical that much will change at the firm. if he hasn’t remodeled in nearly a quarter century and has no plans to put a paperless strategy in place, millennials will likely perceive his firm to be as outdated as a DOS program.

Wow. I guess I do know something about technology.