How can today's business leaders effectively manage a multi-generational workforce to boost engagement, break stereotypes, and foster success?

In this episode we dive into the challenges and opportunities of leading a multi-generational workforce. We discuss the common stereotypes that hamper workplace harmony and provide actionable strategies to create an inclusive, high-performing business environment. 

By leveraging individual strengths and breaking down age-related biases, leaders can transform “lazy” workers into rockstars and turn disengaged employees into valued team members.

By focusing on these key areas, this episode aims to equip business leaders with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of a diverse workforce and drive collective success.

Thanks for listening to today’s episode! If you enjoyed it, please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. If you know someone who would benefit from this episode please share it! 

For more updates and insights, follow us on LinkedIn. 

Highlights:

Breaking Multi-Generational Stereotypes: We talk through the common myths associated with different generations—boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z—and how these stereotypes can be detrimental. We stress the importance of seeing each employee as an individual with unique strengths and potential.

Engaging Disengaged Employees:Through insights from a Gallup poll, Brad and Steve discuss the root causes of employee disengagement and share strategies to re-engage and motivate staff. We emphasize the role of open communication and setting clear expectations in fostering a supportive work environment.

Promoting Trades and Apprenticeships: Recognizing the often-overlooked achievements of students entering trades and apprenticeships, the we advocate for celebrating these career paths just as enthusiastically as traditional academic routes.

Leadership and Cultural Change: Effective leadership is crucial for creating a positive workplace culture. The episode explores how leaders can adapt their communication styles, be more supportive, and set a collaborative tone to ensure a cohesive team dynamic.

Inclusive Growth Opportunities: Encouraging businesses to publicize and celebrate new hires and interns, we illustrate how recognizing young talent can inspire and motivate the entire workforce and contribute to a culture of growth and inclusivity.

By focusing on these key areas, this episode aims to equip business leaders with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of a diverse workforce and drive collective success.

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Steve Doyle:

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Brad Herda:

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Welcome to Blue Collar B's, a podcast that busts the popular myth that we can't find good people, highlighting how the different generations of today, the boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z, are redefining work so that the industrial revolution that started in the US stays in the US.

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to this episode of the Blue Collar B's with your co host, Brad and I, Steve. You almost forgot your name. Steve.

I did.

Almost forgot your name. This isn't that hard. You should. You should be able to remember those things.

I should.

So, as of this recording, on a Friday, August 9, earlier today, we reached a milestone in the show.

We did. We did.

We actually reached a major milestone. We now have all 50 states. We've been listened to that Wilmington, Delaware person today. God bless you. Thank you. We hope you're listening to this show again as well. Thank you.

Thank you.

Because, Delaware, you were the first date, but you are our last date, unfortunately.

Well, you know, somebody's got to be first and somebody's got to be last, right?

If you ain't first, you're last, says Ricky Bobby.

Right.

So, yes, so we are. We are officially across all 50 states finally. Yay. Yay.

I know. And how many countries was that also?

65 or 60? 65, I believe it is. Or 67, something like that.

Yeah. That's amazing. It's just amazing.

The other piece is based on our feed spot survey, or however they're tracking things. We moved up a notch from number seven to number six of blue collar podcasts to pay attention to and listen. So congratulations to you, sir, for helping support this dynamic, yet often authentic show.

Always authentic with this guy. So thank you, Brad, for everything that you've done to help us get there.

And we can't forget our producer, Carrie. Without her, we wouldn't be anywhere near this because neither of us, one of us, a, want to and b, have the time to. So correct Carrie, thank you for all that you do as well.

Yes.

So we're going to revisit another topic here that we've kind of visited before, but we're going to take some more spin on it. So what's today's topic, Doyle?

So today's topic comes to us in the form of smart brief, and it is about leading the multi generational workforce. And when we look at the article, it's all about how adapting our style, our leadership style across this new multi generational workforce. It starts with all these myths that we keep telling ourselves or we keep telling each other, which is really kind of the premise for the show, why we can't find good people.

Right. Well, because those young kids, they just don't want to work. And those boomers, they just don't want to learn technology, get on those, those millennials, they just want to go job hopping from job to job to job, and it's all about them. And, yeah, it's, and then the gen.

Xers, we just got to pick up the slack for everybody, you know, just.

Slacking off, bear down and just go.

Just, just grin and bear it. And, you know, we get through it.

Correct. So what have you, as you read through the article, what is one of the biases? Let's just set an example. Let's just put together a business here. We're going to put together a business that the business owner is 42 years old in a home services world, has senior technicians, has some younger customer service folks account. Right. Just that eight to twelve person business. What are some of the things that that business owner needs to do as a leader across, to be a good leader across the multi generational workforce?

So the first one, obviously, because we talk about all the multi generations, is to stop treating the generations with the stereotypes.

Well, then how we don't have a show then anymore.

We wouldn't have a show. And that's kind of fun. But when we look at people through the individualize. Right. It's, while we all have some stereotypes for the generations that we, that we fit in with, we're all individuals and we all have traits of all the stereotypes that we assume for all the different generations. So, you know, maybe if we started looking at things more instead of a generational type, then, and really focus on the individual, you know, we might start having different conversations with people. We might be able to break down what some of those stereotypes are.

Oh, I agree completely. We've made that statement before where stereotypes exist for a reason, because in general, they're relatively modestly true in many cases. But it comes down to the individual, the individual's behavior. There, there are so many Gen Z kids out there that are just so good with their hands and craftsmanship and mechanical skills and abilities, but they don't get recognized for it.

Yeah, they don't get recognized at all. They get kind of browbeat down because of it. And, you know, that left them feeling, you know, less worthy, less, you know, like an employee. It's just a, just a, we're just a number and we look at who is actually bringing them down, and it's typically the older workforce.

Well, I'm going to even I'm even going to go back on the Gen Z side to the education side of things. Our local school systems here at the end of the year, they put everybody's, oh, yeah. Name up or on the board and where they're going to go. And here's all the people going to this school and this school and this school, and here's the people going into the military. And then there's that whole group of people that they don't talk about going to get the job because they were dual enrolled someplace and now they got a full time job at a great company, or they're going to start an apprenticeship in a union organization or whatever. It's going to look like those kids got zero recognition. And in one of our chamber meetings, I'm like, dude, you got to recognize those folks. You can't just talk about all those other.

What about those kids that did dual enroll, that signed for their apprenticeship? Why are you not recognizing them? Well, we've never thought about that. Well, I know why. Because you don't get paid on that. That's not where. That's not the school system's intended to get paid for. Sorry, the soapbox, not a political show. Got to go on, move on. Thank you, Steve.

No, but we actually do need to talk about that because it isn't necessarily, we're not talking politics. We're talking about recognition for the students that decide to go into the trades. Right. And if we want that conversation to, you know, start to change the narrative, to start to change, we have to have that conversation. And there's no politics in it. It truly is. Who are those companies that are going to embrace that and actually tout that, that they have kids coming into their apprentice programs or coming into the workforce to showcase? Because those are going to be the first ones that kids run to because they're, they're advertising and promoting kids like them, youth like them. And until they can start to actually recognize and see that, hey, this is a great marketing method for getting, getting those kids that really want to work with their hands, they don't want to go to college, they're still trying to figure out what it is they want to do.

Hey, come join us. So I think we do need to promote that. We do need to talk about that.

So how does a business owner for the business that we talked about, how does, how do they go about doing that? What are your suggestions to them to promote those opportunities?

I mean, the first thing is, are there youth there that are willing to be talked about and promoted and actually have, like a press release. Have a press, quote, unquote, press conference, if you will. Run Facebook live. Run that to, through the school systems, run that through the parent groups. You know, run that through, you know, the local business, your local business network, whether it's a chamber, it's a. It's a trade organization. Have them promote it.

Also for you, one of the gcs here, they did a signing day at one of the, at their company with all these high school students coming on, graduates coming on and signing up and like that. That is really. But they did it at their place and their thing. But, yeah, they made a big deal out of it. And here's their new hard hats and here's all the things. And it was a, it was a celebration of opportunity and future growth. And that could be something that business could do as well. Right? Hey, we got new, new kid coming in, starting his internship.

Celebrate the fact that they're coming in, starting an internship, and let people know inside your organization that they're not here to be your bitch. They're here to be part of the team. They're here to be. I'm serious. I know, right? I. They. They're here to be part of the team. They should not be seen as a threat.

If you feel that they are a threat, then you need to do better and not put them down because they want to learn or share, not share information because you feel threatened by them. Leverage the opportunity be meant. Have that boomer be mentored by the Gen Z kid. On technology, on how we'd make it better, on why are we wasting all this time doing these things and vice versa? Why? Why one on one contact is so important. If you're a home service type business where the technician's going in, it can't just be, I'm going to fill out the paperwork, drop it off, I'll send you a text later. And out the door you go. Because you know Grandma Molly is not going to like that very well.

See, the other thing that promoting that does and embracing that is it also addresses the perpetuating age bias that happens in the workplace. And when you can embrace this as a culture and embrace this with all your employees, whether, you know, they're boomers, whether they're Gen X, they're millennials, even the Gen Zs, it shows that you are putting your people first. And when your employees feel heard and respected like that, you now start to change the culture within your company. And by changing that culture in your company, you now have employees that are buying into your mission. They're buying into your vision. They are truly part of the family for the business that you're trying to provide, you know, work for, for them. And it continues to cycle. They're bringing people in versus, you know, they're just another cog in the wheel.

I've got a client that they have, they've got a gentleman on their workforce that has brought in two individuals into the company because he sees where the company is going. One of the gentlemen coming in, he's 28 years old. He's going to do a year in the field before he becomes a project manager, coordinator, whatever the, whatever the path is moving forward. But they're going to get him in the field and they're going to go work and they're going, they're going to have to teach him. And he's got really good people to be able to go and teach him because, and make the message of the more he learns now in the field in this next nine to twelve months, the better estimator, PM salesperson he's going to be to make your job in the field that much easier, to be able to get the right amount of time to get the right materials, the right things together as you prepare estimates and go forward. So don't hold back, share everything.

Yeah, absolutely. So what was some other takeaway that you got out of this article? Bradley?

I appreciated the turn lazy workers into rockstars portion of this. That's towards the tail end of the article.

Yep.

And there's the Gallup survey that's in there that goes into engagement and disengagement and those types of things. And I'm a firm believer that if you are the leader and you are communicating effectively, not talking at people, but having two way conversations and communication about growth and expectation setting, and have those small incremental opportunities available to know how to go from 18 to 19 to 21 50 to whatever that looks like in your head and have those very clear and understood you can change the motivation factor of the individuals versus just, I got to sit here, put my time in and apparently you don't care. So therefore I'm just going to do the minimum. I'm not getting fired today, so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. How far back can I slide before you say something? Versus how high can we bring the floor up? So you have a successful and meaningful business and a high performing team.

Right. So you mentioned that Gallup poll. What did you find interesting in that Gallup poll?

I found interesting, the active disengagement that part was very, and we've talked about this active disengagement before being measured, actively disengaged. Unfortunately, Gen X has taken that brunt of being actively disengaged over the other generations. And unfortunately, this survey that they did goes from 2020 through 2023, where 2022 is kind of the peak of the disengagement.

Yep.

So as I go back, it's like, okay, we just came out of, came out of COVID all the shutdowns, all the things. Supply chain was a freaking mess. You had a young work, potentially younger workforce that didn't know what to do. So there was high stress, high anxiety, because the folks that were working there or had been in those businesses knew what to do. So the burden was shifted. So I can understand why in 2022 that they were most actively disengaged.

Right.

Because it's like, I'm not getting any more money for this, but I just hired the, I just hired somebody off the street at 70, 80% of my salary after being here for 25 years.

Yep.

What the fuck?

Or even, you know, I've been here five years and they're making as much as I'm making now or more. Yeah. And then that was usually the case about 2022. Correct. So, you know, there's, why should I be putting in more effort when I'm not being respected from a wage perspective.

And we're not being provided an opportunity to understand how they can make that, you know? And, and for the Gen X, it might not necessarily be the wage, it might be the right. Some of that extra freedom that's there. And I've said this before, I think the millennials got it right from the work life balance piece to it, and the freedom of being able to not have to be tied to a desk all the time with the technology that's available, but you also have to lead that effectively to set expectations of what are response times, what are, when are you expected to be around. Is it okay to be taking a phone call while you're walking your dog and we hear the wind whistling in your airpods and things like that? If that's okay, cool. If it's not, well, then set the expectation that it's nothing and go from there and being able to support that. So that way maybe you do get a trade off of 4 hours on a, during the summer, on Friday afternoons, or 10:00 on Monday mornings during the summer, so you can get kids off to our grandkids or whatever that looks like along the way. There's lots of ways to make total compensation packages very valuable to the individual.

Right.

And it doesn't always have to cost money.

Yeah, exactly. Now, one of the things that they brought up around disengagement, kind of specifically with the gen Z's is, you know, what they're feeling in the workplace when they're disconnected. Why are they disconnected? Because they want to be that leader. They want to grow, they want to learn more, but they feel handicapped because, you know, they're quote unquote younger. So of course they're going to get disengaged with things like that. And most people are not willing to have the conversations with those younger workers. So what, what advice would you have for the example that you gave for somebody that has a Gen Z that came in and they are kind of disengaged from, from the workforce workplace?

Have the meaningful conversation of the expectation. Have the, do your work, do your work as the leader ahead of time to take on the responsibility that you didn't do something correctly to create the opportunity, look inward to solve the problem instead of trying to place blame on the employee because it is likely that you did not set the proper expectations clearly or don't have that set up to be, this is what our expectations are. This is what we're expecting. Get done. You could have gone through a cycle of really weird shit where you got all the really weird things and they had no idea and they didn't feel like they could come talk to you for support, so they kind of backed away or they brought ideas on some of these weird things and they were shut down and weren't given the time of day. Nope. This is what happened last time. This is how we're going to do it.

So it's really coming upon you as the leader to be humble.

Right.

And come forward and say, hey, thank you for your efforts. We really do appreciate it. I need to apologize to you for not maybe setting proper expectations. So going forward, this is what I'm looking for. And here's how we can get from point a to point b. And it takes effort and it takes work. It is often simple, but yet complicated to do so. And that's why you need support along the way and leverage your team to be helpful in that and leverage your team to make it happen.

You don't have to do everything on your own, but you have, you need to set the direction, pace and tone as the leader.

Yeah, absolutely.

And you showing up in your brand new $120,000 denali while everybody else is struggling and shows up, that's not a good idea either.

No, it's not. That would be the Denali HD. For those that are wondering, how do you get a Denali at 120,000? That is a, that is a 2500 Denali HD ultimate.

But that's. Yes. Sometimes you have to separate some of those things ego away from the rest of it so your employees can understand what's going on and show forward. So once in a while you need to take a backseat to some of that. Or not flaunt it, so to speak. Regardless of what your accountant tells you at the end of the year to take advantage of the correct right off of. Well, we could fully depreciate it this year. We could save you taxes.

Yeah. Okay. Do you? Sure. Bad idea sometimes, right?

Yeah. It's what it does with the morale of others. Pretty much amazing what happens when that dynamic comes in. So this is a good article to bring up, Brad. Yeah.

Oh, well, but I needed the 2500 so I can pull my $200,000 wakeboard boat. Good. Thank you. Yeah, just pull that in the parking lot. Thanks. Thanks, buddy.

Yep.

And folks on this, listening to the show, I'm confident you've seen it through those owners and wonder and scratch your head what's going on.

Yep.

That's another way to help create some active disengagement.

Thousand percent. Thousand percent right there. But so better note that time.

So, yes. So that that leader needs to take initiative, be humble, set clear expectations, communicate across the generations effectively based on how they want to be communicated. Get used to text with some of the younger folks, get used to phone calls, get used to in person. You have as the business owner and leader, you need to be the one adapting to everybody else and not let everybody come to you. So that would be the kind of.

The summary statement I tend to agree. And if I would, the question, the follow up on that with the summary on that is how do business owners know how to adapt? What are they adapting to and how do they know where to turn?

Well, if they don't know, who are you gonna call? Two guys on this podcast can support them.

And you're gonna call the Blue Collar B's podcast guys.

That is an opportunity to, to get that support. There's gonna be people in your neighborhood, there's gonna be people in your channel. There's people that can support you.

Yep.

Be humble enough to know that you need the support if you don't know what to do. Because if you do it incorrectly, you could fuck up your business big time too.

Yeah, you would if you're already doing the things that we just mentioned and you're not adapting. It's only going to get worse.

So hi Mister Doyle, thank you for your input today. I appreciate it as always. And you go have yourself an amazing weekend.

Thanks Brad.

Thank you for listening to Blue collar B's, brought to you by vision for business solutions and professional business Coaching, Inc. If you'd like to learn more on today's topic, just reach out to Steve Doyle or myself, Brad Hurda. Please like share, rate and review this show as feedback is the only way we can get better. Let's keep blue collar businesses strong for generations to come.