Debunking The Generation Gap

What’s up with the new generation?

People have been complaining about “kids these days” since before the dawn of time. This whole “young people are entitled and don’t know how good they have it” thing isn’t new, and it seems to be an especially well used trope in trades and construction. When you have young 20-somethings demanding a higher hourly wage than you ever made and the quality of their work is suspect, it’s tough NOT to be a little cynical. This puts you in a tough spot because as infuriating as some of the Gen-Zers and Millennials are to you, the physically demanding nature of your business means you need to find a way to connect, attract and lead young people.

The other pitfall of cynical thinking is that you paint a huge population with too broad a brush. Writing off 70 million people as “lazy” is, ironically, a form of laziness in and of itself.

For every blue-haired tick tocker that makes your eyes roll, there is a quiet mechanically minded kid who wants to work with their hands… and it’s your job to find these youngsters and showcase what an amazing lifestyle and career IS possible through trades and construction. Our education system definitely ain’t doin it, so like it or not, this responsibility lies squarely with you… the evolving contractor.

To bridge this gap and debunk some myths, we’ve brought in Eric Termuende, a leadership author, speaker, and entrepreneur. Eric specializes in working with organizations to build incredible teams and attract the next generation.

Eric delivers north of 75 keynote speeches a year to large organizations like John Deere, Zoom, Amazon, Toyota and various Trade Associations. He is the author of the book, RETHINK WORK and has been unpacking the generational challenge for the last 7 years.

In this episode we cover:

• How the changing world ends up shaping each generation in a unique way
• Why approaching the conversation in terms of this generation vs that generation is ass backwards
• How to leverage the story you already have to catch the attention of ambitious, driven and loyal young people.
• How the physically demanding hands-on nature of your business may actually be its most attractive feature rather than a detractor.
• How you need to conduct yourself as the owner and leader of the company to bring in young talent
• The super simple method any leader can use to quickly build trust in their teams

To learn more about Eric visit his website at https://www.erictermuende.com/ or purchase his book RETHINK WORK here https://www.erictermuende.com/rethink-work/