Shownotes
The PAIN: We're currently experiencing one of the most competitive Industrial Job markets ever. That means it's harder and harder to retain & attract top talent. The PAIN Relief: A Gallup survey found that in the millennial and post-millennial generations, workers wanted “growth and development” even more than salary. This week's IndustrialTalk Podcast interview, Jakob Heuser with Lead SV drives to solutions and identify programs and systems that company's needs in order to extend their team's knowledge, and help them to create or rebuild their learning and development programs Find out more about Jakob at:
Podcast Transcript:
[00:00] We're living in one of the world's most competitive job markets right now and honestly, we need to be doing everything we can to retain our top talent. Alright, industrial talk nation. That is Jacob user and he wants people to love what they do, but we know it's hard if they are ill prepared and we as companies, we just sit there and continue to just roll out the same old stuff thinking that we're going to change things. But this episode, this episode of industrial talk podcast, we dive deep with Jacob.
[00:30] Welcome to the industrial talk podcast with Scott Mackenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional, dedicated to transferring, cutting edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hardhat, grab your work boots and let's go.
[00:48] Alright, industrial talk nation back from Barcelona. I got to tell you, it's good to be back in the studio and in front of the mic. I was broadcasting with reliability radio and interviewing a bunch of people at the Iot World Congress in Barcelona. Talk about passionate about the future. Talk about technology. Talk about, uh, how they're planning to change the future through technology a lot going on there. So let's get this show on the road because we have no time to waste
[01:19] word two words for you listeners out there in Barcelona. Two words area, which I can't spell and topics which I can't spell either. I guess I could come close to it, but both are delicious. Industrial approved foods. So nonetheless, if you ever have a chance to go to Spain and Barcelona and uh, all around you gotta have that topis and a Paella because man, I'll tell ya, I ate, I ate it big time. And if you're out there on YouTube, you can see I got a new shirt. It's a Carhartt. It's got my little logo on it and everything. And as well as a hat. So need to be safe. Let's get this show on the road. Let's start talking tailgate talk number one. If you've been a listener of definitely the industrial talk podcast because well, I want you to be a. we've got the industrial success academy and it's getting ready to be launched.
[02:09] I'm going to be shooting for the mid November and this is going to highlight some real big thinkers within the industrial space. It's all focused on the training. It's a training platform and it is specific to just, you know, you cannot get enough information out there. You cannot learn enough out there. Um, it's all, it's there. So these are the leaders in their field is once again in leadership and sales and marketing and operations and finance and technology and uh, go out there, check it out. And uh, we're pretty excited about that. Launch number two. Okay. YouTube Channel focusers are, there's a low watchers French truck coffee. Just got that. I think I put it in the camera anyway. I think I am, but nonetheless delicious. It's out of New Orleans, I believe. And uh, I just picked them up today at another place and I gotta tell Ya. That's delicious stuff.
[03:10] So French truck coffee, we got Paya, we've got topis all delicious. Number three. Okay. One of the interviews that I've got slated for probably about a month ago or not a goal, but, uh, in the future, Alex viral brief. And if you're out there on YouTube, again, transform your company. I've got a book which is fantastic. Escape, frustration, align your business and get your life back. You know, what was interesting about the interview was the fact that, uh, you know, as well as I do, we just, gosh, we wrap ourselves around that interview and we just, or that company and, and, uh, we just, you know, forget about life in general. So he talks a lot about that. A great read. Once again, transform your company, escape, frustration, align your business and get your life back. Wonderful read. Should be able to hang out. Good stuff. All right, let's get with the interview.
[04:07] Once again, Jacob, this is j a k o be Heuser. He is the interview for this particular podcast. And uh, I know as an industrial professional and, uh, having that experience within the industrial space, there we, we, we, we just do the same thing over and over again. Sometimes it, hoping to, um, change the way we look at business or transform our company, the culture, whatever it might be. Jacob recognize this and we dive deep into it. So enjoy the interview. This is Jacob Heuser and definitely check him out. All right. We've got Jacob user and I said that right, because we, before this whole thing happened, Jacob, I uh, I made sure that I got that right. Heuser. Is that right? Awesome. Yeah, that's right. Thanks for having me on the show today. My pleasure. And thank you very much for joining the industrial talk podcast.
[05:01] Now at everybody out there are listeners out there, it's h e u s e r, so when you find them out on there on LinkedIn or all the other social platforms, that's Jacob, which is spelled j a k, a ob and that's h e u s e r and he is with LeadSV, right? That's correct, yeah. I have batting a thousand so we might as well just wrap it up. You're just fantastic. And we'll just keep on going. For our listeners out there, why don't you give us something that makes you human at that, that unique little factoid about you, Jacob. Yeah. So I think probably one of the more fascinating things I tell people is even though I started out in computer science, I got my master's in instructional design because the idea of how we learn was really, really fascinating. And as far as I know, there's not a lot
[05:58] of software engineers in the world that can turn around and sit there and say, oh yeah, and I have a background in building training.
[06:05] I see that's pretty cool, but. But I'm telling you, this is where we're going on this particular conversation is because what fascinates me about you, Jacob, is the fact that you realize the necessity. If a company truly wants to be successful, if the company truly wants to expand that network and grow that company, you better have a training mindset as well. So let's get a get a little background and for 11 on you talk to us about a little bit about where you come from and why you're so spectacular. Jacob.
[06:35] Yeah. So I started out like most software engineers doing a software engineering job that most people look back on and go, you worked for who? And for me, that was actually working for something called the Homeland Security Digital Library. Sounds delightful. Mr. hst out, we were actually trying to catalog everything that was happening in media and policy shortly after nine slash 11. So that was, it was me and like 15 librarians. Uh, it was a really interesting workplace.
[07:05] I, I can't let you go on because that's, that's fascinating. So you're sitting there after nine slash 11, after nine slash 11. You were tasked with uh, other members of your team to collect
[07:17] inflammation. Like, like what type of information? So a lot of it was news and policy and things like that that evolved over time. It's pretty cool because they were trying to teach people about the concept of homeland security. But there was no reference point, there was no textbook on it. And the reason there were 15 librarians was because between individual first responder units, things mean different things have different meanings. So like code blue for an officer is different than code blue in a hospital. But if you're trying to figure out like what's happened to the number of code blue responses post nine slash 11 or after a policy was created, suddenly you had to contextualize that phrase [inaudible] are you talking about Code Blues and hospitals? You talking about code blues and police, like which one? And so there was 15 different librarians to help contextualize what that article was referring to so that it was searchable.
[08:12] And that was Kinda the start when I began to realize I had gotten my master's in instructional design by that point and I started to realize, well holy crud, a lot of the stuff that we do, because I mean even homeland security, we had this training program and it was literally an instructor at the front of the room for 16 hours talking about color energies or something like that. And there was no contextualization. Here I am a software engineer trying to relate to the person that I was in my group that was in sales and I would explain the problems that we were having, whether it was leadership problems or technical challenges. There are communication challenges. And I'd be met with a blank stare because the context was missing and I kind of took that lesson with me as I went in to LinkedIn, eventually went into Pinterest to pretty large silicon valley companies realizing that anything we do to educate and the workplace has to be contextualized, it has to be made relevant or you're just going to get met with blank stares like the sales guy, as I was explaining it, a bunch of software problems.
[09:22] I remember it vividly. I was doing some work for Price Waterhouse Coopers and I remember that day vividly. And then I'll remember the evolution of what took place to try to coordinate communications and standardizations and all of the stuff. I mean this was so unique. And then. And then being able to classify certain threat levels and that it was, it was just all over it. And somebody would say, you know, it's a threat level of plaid and I'm going, what does that mean to me? You know, that's a joke. That's all it is. It's just a joke. But it's, it's the, the, the, what that is all about it. That's, that's heavy lifting, my friend. That's heavy lifting. So let's go into the why we're here and what fascinates me about this is because I know that I'm going down the road of creating a training platform because I think that there is a tremendous need and reading around and all that good stuff. And yet you, you're in the thick of it, right? Talk to me about that pain. Why, why, why me as a business owner, industrial business owner wised why is training important? And one of the big things for me is, is bring the wow when I'm doing my training because there is a lot of dry stuff out there. Document.
[10:36] Well there's a ton of dry stuff and I think one of the problems is like we're in this competitive job market. It's the most competitive market we've seen in the last 20, 25 years and I want you to take a moment and think about who your top employee is and what it would be like if you lost them. How are you going to retain them? And I know a lot of people, their first reaction is going to be, oh well I would pay them more, but what happens when money isn't enough? Suddenly Gallup put out a poll recently that found the millennial generation and later or the 87 percent of them aren't valuing salary is the most important thing in their job. Like you can suddenly get to a point as a business owner and be like, I'll pay you more. And they'll be like, oh, but it's not about the money anymore. No Way. That's training development comes into play because it's like, well, I can't pay you more, but I can give you opportunities to grow. I can give you leadership chances. I can give you the skills you need to grow your career here at the company in a way that other competitors for your job, your job time can't do.
[11:45] But here's the deal. When, when did that transition occur? Because everybody was always focused on, I got to make more money. I got to make more money. I got to make more money outside the changes that have been taking place within the Labor. And I can't say labor in the market, the employment market space, right? Uh, it's not uncommon for people to zip around and do this and go over here and leave that company and go there. And because they're all searching for that additional information at that, that ability to be able to make themselves better. When did that happen?
[12:16] So it's, it's been a groundswell. So when you think about it, Scott, we're pretty much on track. I'd say about two years from now, the millennial workforce is going to be more than 50 percent of our workforce generation. So it's not like these people haven't existed, it's just they haven't been the majority. And as they're becoming more and more of the majority, we're starting to see the shifts are to matter where as you mentioned, people are jumping from job to job. How much of a razor they get in between jobs, maybe five, k, maybe 10. A lot of people move in his lateral or they'll even take a pay cut and it's because they're searching for something. They're sort of searching for this meaning or this growth purpose. Yeah, they have purpose. They want their work to mean something and there's no reason you as a business owner can't actually dig in, understand what somebody wants, and then work to create those opportunities. In fact, I almost insist for your top talent, for the people you can't afford to lose. You should already be doing that.
[13:19] How do you, you being the professional and in this particular space, how do you. How do you broach that subject within a company? First off the management team, the c level, whoever needs to think about the fact that maybe we should, we're losing people or we've got some churn and that important person left over to the competition and the through the exit interview or whatever it might be. They said, you know, they, they're feeding the homeless for whatever it might be. D, How do you approach that, that subject? How do you begin that effort?
[13:57] So when I've worked with companies in the past and I've worked with a couple of clients where they've had this dance of while we feel like we're paying, we feel like we're doing everything we can to help employees. And the first thing that I always ask, usually it's the head of hr, is have you sat down and had a conversation with your top performers like before they leave, before they're sitting across from you and an exit interview. Have you sat down with your star employees and said, hey, let's get some coffee. I want to talk with you about your career. I want to talk with you about what's important and what you're trying to achieve while you're here at Xyz Corporation.
[14:37] Tell you right now, I got the answer for you. If they did, they don't. Zero. I'm just shaking my head. So then I pause it.
[14:47] If you don't ask people what it is they're trying to achieve, how in the heck are you ever going to build up a training program, a growth program, a recognition program, anything that actually addresses their needs? If you've never asked them what it
