You would have had to be on the moon or Mars for the past 4 months to not notice the underlying social cultural tones to this year’s election process in the United States.  Regardless of which side you are on you would have noticed the underlying politics of the respective parties in relation to subjective issues of “Equal Opportunity” vs. “Equal Outcome” or the idea of who values “Choice”.

 

One party values “Choice” in Women’s Health Care while another party values “Choice” in education. . . .but neither party seems to be for “Choice” in general.. . . . In my viewpoint, it’s just an odd situation where I believe more moderate heads, if elected, would find some solutions.

 

You can relax because today’s article is not about politics but it is about finding the “right” employees going forward in the funeral home world.  Like politics there may be somewhat of a social and cultural shift to who funeral home customers will eventually be and what their comfort zones and processes for choosing funeral homes may be.  And, what might be the consequences to your business if you do not find the “right” employees to help these consumers choose your funeral home.

 

Two news items over the end of last week brought forth this article.  The first was NFDA’s Memorial Business Journal article about the new “Zero Consumer” and their selection and purchasing habits (I can’t link that article because of copyright issues).  The second article I noticed was in my news feed on Friday and concerned the judge handling the Boeing aircraft settlement plea deal and his rejection of the plea that had been offered.

 

In that article, that you can read here, the judge cites “provisions in the agreement that included race as a condition in selecting a corporate monitor “inappropriate” and “against the public interest.”

 

The judge’s citation marks a shift in recent cultural expectations to me that he expects Boeing to find “the most appropriate” monitor for the situation regardless of age, gender, race, or any other diversity feature.

 

I think that is a great lesson to learn for funeral homes especially as we move into what NFDA says may be some pretty discriminating consumers such as they describe in the “Zero Consumer” article.  I think it also, and this is a tough-love thought, may point out if the next generation of family is “not up to the task”, what is at risk by letting them take the reins without thorough training and experience?

 

In the NFDA article there is a lot stated about the coming “Zero Consumer”. . . . Here’s just a small portion of quoted text,  “[The zero consumer demands] zero friction and a highly personalized and technologically integrated shopping experience.  Think about that on your website – if it’s not completely up to date, if it’s not interactive, there’s a good chance they will go someplace else.  Becoming aware of these consumers is important because of their sheer number – there are more of them than there are of the older generations.” 

 

When I look at some of the demographics of Funeral Director Daily I see that the older readers skew highly to males and the younger readers, under age 35, skew slightly female.  I think that is important to know, and in some places I’ve read that about 70-75% of mortuary science students are female.  In essence, the crux of the workload in funeral homes is, or has, changed from male to female. . . .that’s also important to know.

 

However, it appears to me that when hiring funeral directors and management that can service the “Zero Consumer”, regardless of age, sex, or race, it is imperitive that competence is the main attribute.  The new world of the business and the consumers who purchase the services we offer will require employees to think on their feet, to be creative in their approach, to be able to be multi-task oriented, and more.

 

In other words, in my opinion, merit and competence of management and staff moreso than any other attribute will be the deciding factor in creating a profitable funeral home operation.  If you are a student of mortuary science you need to know this when looking for employment and if you are an owner/manager you also need to know this because a warm body just to fill a position will probably cost more business than they will bring in or retain.

 

Merit-hired (and compensated) employees and ever-more discriminating customers is the new world of funeral service.  We might as well prepare for it.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Funeral procession for Rhinelander’s Assistant Fire Chief travels through the city.  WXPR (WI)
• Archaeologists have found the first evidence of familial embalming in Europe.  Heritage Daily
• “Is your loved one really where you believe they are?”:  A cemetery investigation.  Video news story and print article.  NBC CT (CT)
• Hillenbrand reports strong 4th Quarter revenue, income.  Inside Indiana Business (IN)

 

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