Episode 102
Will You Allow GenZ to Impact Your Workplace
Are you still struggling to understand Gen’Zs? We came across an article, "Generational Shift: Gen Z's Impact on the Future of Work," from Stanford that might help close the gap for you.
We show how this upcoming generation integrates technology at work to their expectations for work-life balance and the importance they place on authenticity and trust from employers.
With firsthand insights, funny anecdotes, and some candid reflections on how these changes are affecting traditional industries. Steve and Brad will share their experiences and explore what these generational differences mean for business owners and workers alike.
Whether you're managing a team, trying to fit into the evolving job market, or simply curious about how workplaces are transforming, this episode will provide plenty of food for thought.
To help us keep growing the show, please like, share, and give us a 5-start Apple review!
Highlights:
Tech Integration: Gen Z sees technology not just as a tool but as an essential part of any modern business. Their push for digital transformation could be the key to efficiency and sustainability in trades and manufacturing.
Expectation of Change: Unlike previous generations, Gen Z enters the workforce with an expectation for periodic change and adaptation, aligning with their dynamic upbringing in a fast-paced technological environment.
Workplace Culture: Trust, authenticity, and mental health are not just buzzwords but essentials for attracting and retaining Gen Z talent. These young workers look for employers who value transparency and support a healthy work-life balance.
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Transcript
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.
Brad Herda [:Hey, everyone. Welcome back to this blue collar of. We're gonna try that again. We're not gonna edit this out. Welcome back to this episode of Blue Collar B's. I am Brad with my co host, Steve.
Steven Doyle [:Wow.
Brad Herda [:Wow. I don't know where that came from, but holy shit.
Steven Doyle [:Number one.
Brad Herda [:Number one. What a great intro coming out of, you know, a very long week after a conference, etcetera. How are things in Detroit, sir?
Steven Doyle [:Things are going really well. Nice weather out. Just had first night of draft night, so that was pretty cool. Record turnouts in Detroit.
Brad Herda [:So nice to see anything on fire.
Steven Doyle [:Well, if it is, I'm not smelling it.
Brad Herda [:Okay, just checking, right. Just want to make sure the city's not ablaze, you know?
Steven Doyle [:Well, we're not in East Lansing, so, you know, that's a little different.
Brad Herda [:All right, just checking. Yeah, so today's topic, you know, before the show started, and I couldn't articulate any words at all. Yeah. We stumbled across this report out of Stanford, which is. Happens to be dated Friday, April 26, 2024. So I don't know if they're just using. Oh, today's date. No shit, Sherlock.
Brad Herda [:February 14, 2024, was the man.
Steven Doyle [:You got a thousand right now, Brad. This is awesome.
Brad Herda [:February 14, 2024, was the actual published date of eight ways Gen Z's will change the workforce. You know, we did our. We looked at it before we decided we're going to talk about it. And, you know, they've talked to, what, 2000 people, ages 18 to 25, something like that. Research is out of Stanford, so it is what it is. And we will put the link to the. To the article.
Steven Doyle [:Yep.
Brad Herda [:In our show notes. So that way you guys can go look at it for yourself and understand whether or not you agree or disagree. But I think there's some interesting things that are in there that we can talk about today.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah.
Brad Herda [:So go ahead.
Steven Doyle [:No, you take it away. You speak it from.
Brad Herda [:Use your word, Steve. Go ahead.
Steven Doyle [:My words. So what was interesting is one of the topics that they had brought up that I find very interesting and intriguing is that Gen Z actually expects change whenever they come into a new environment from, like, let's call it, can they come into the workforce and they expect change to happen. So we kind of want to peel that back of why or what are they expecting to have changed. So, in your opinion, Brad, what. What do you think is going?
Brad Herda [:I find that one to be very bizarre, personally, from my own. From my own experiences with my kids. They appreciated the consistency. They appreciate standardization. They appreciated the. This is how this happens on a regular basis.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:So an opportunity working with the robotics team as well. Yes. Many of them could adapt with change as the seasons go along. There's lots of things that are happening. But the vast majority of our team, and our team was 70 some people every year. The vast majority, when things got chaotic, they shriveled and went away.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:You know, they didn't embrace the opportunity. So I find this we expect change piece response interesting, because that's not been my experience. I think they expect. I think they expect to have things be different, not traditional. We do it because it's the way we've always done it. Piece to it. When we're talking in the manufacturing segments and different businesses, that they expect the way we've always done it. Not to be there, but I don't know if change is the right answer.
Brad Herda [:From my own experience with the Gen Zs, I have worked with directly.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, it's interesting. And if we look at what Gen Z has, is there the first generation that they've always had the Internet. They've only known smartphones. Unless they're like my kids and they have flip phones, just because that's how I roll.
Brad Herda [:They have beepers, too.
Steven Doyle [:No, they don't.
Brad Herda [:Not yet. Okay.
Steven Doyle [:But when we really look at, from a tech standpoint, when they come into. Let's specifically into the trades, how many businesses have we been into where tech isn't fully embraced? We're still using things. You know, we're still using yellow notepads and paper, yellow pencils. I still haven't.
Brad Herda [:I've got a client that's moving. They're moving buildings.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah.
Brad Herda [:And we were talking last week, and I said, you know what? This has an opportunity to create an opportunity for change, to move your business forward so you don't have to have the clipboard with paper. You can tell them, hey, we're moving to this new place. You need to figure out how not to have clipboards hanging on the wall with pieces of paper on it.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, yeah. I want to see tvs everywhere with auto updates. That's what I really want to see. But, I mean, when you really look at it with Gen Z, when they're coming into businesses like this, they're like, this is old. It's dated. Why aren't we changing? Why aren't we updating? So from that standpoint, they have that, hey, I'm taking a step back into the rotary phone days. What is that? And agreed. Why can't we change?
Brad Herda [:Correct. I think from a technology perspective, that is a true statement. Going back to Google sheets and using Google sheets and Google Drives and shared resources in the cloud and all the things that many boomers and Xers get afraid of. It's not that hard. It's not that complicated.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:Simple.
Steven Doyle [:And they look at that as an opportunity to make a difference, which is something they want to do.
Brad Herda [:Correct.
Steven Doyle [:And they look at it as like, hey, I see these opportunities to help. You know, where I can come in and help. Why aren't we moving? Why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we doing faster? So I find that very, all of that very interesting from things that they're actually looking for.
Brad Herda [:So what would you tell a, you know, the, you know, Pete the plumber who might have six guys today looking for that 7th guy looking at a Gen Z. But ultimately, it's, it's the, you've seen all the vans with four weeks of lunches sitting in the front seat and all the paperwork and receipts and everything in the dashboards. That's not uncommon for many trades. What would, what would you ask that owner to do to be able to embrace Gen Z coming into a business like that?
Steven Doyle [:I'd ask him how much longer he wants to continue to live that way. Like, how easy is this for you? If there was an easier way, why wouldn't you do it?
Brad Herda [:Okay, but you could allow the formula, you know, the formula for change.
Steven Doyle [:I do. I do. They have to overcome that resistance to it. So the pain point, we have to understand that pain point.
Brad Herda [:So what's the pain point they have to overcome to make the change, though, Steve? Let's, let's dive into that real quick.
Steven Doyle [:Or the comfort that they have, because it's what they know. The pain point is, is changing to something they don't know. It's the stress, the frustration to figure it out. I don't have the time. I don't have the patience to figure out something new, because what I'm currently doing is working, and it's working for me. Maybe I got to spend 30 minutes at the end of every night or 3 hours at the end of the week to do those things, but it's something I've accepted I have to do in my business.
Brad Herda [:And that business owner likely might have the. Right there. The other five guys are working overtime. They're all over the place. He's not making. He's not as profitable as he could be.
Steven Doyle [:Correct.
Brad Herda [:Even though he's as busy as he can. Busy. All's get out. So, so what's the, what can we use as the trigger to push him over the hump to. Right. Because I have to see it needs to be more painful for what I'm doing now.
Steven Doyle [:Yep.
Brad Herda [:The pain has to be greater for current state than in future state for whatever that result is going to look like. So how do we get them over the line to recognize this technology piece along the way? Because it's, because it's not just the. Yeah, it's oems. I've got another client in the digital transformation space that these large oems aren't willing to bring on ordering systems and online catalogs and other things to help their aftermarket parts service world. It's like you need to figure this out. And they're not willing to go that extra step because it's too painful to make the change. But they don't recognize the benefits. So how do we.
Brad Herda [:Yeah, how do we frame the benefit for them? Because no one else is talking about the benefit. So how do we frame the benefit for the gen z? Mister Doyle?
Steven Doyle [:Yeah. So when we look at this, you know, I'm, I'm looking at lost opportunity. It's, I'm. And I'm just gonna, we're just gonna stick with a three hour scenario, right? I've got 3 hours of work that could be displaced if I had the tech. I don't understand the tech. I don't have time to understand the tech, and I really don't want to use the tech. Those are, those are really the three things, the three fears that we're talking about. Because now these are all new things I have to learn and do.
Steven Doyle [:So now we look at, okay, in those 3 hours, what is the opportunity that you're losing? You're either losing out on money from, you could be doing more, you could be doing things that actually bring money into your business. You could be spending time with your family or working on in your business on other things that generate revenue and growth. Or you could be on vacation and take an early, early time off on, let's say you're doing this on a Friday afternoon. Let's say. Now those 3 hours, go to family time or go out to the golf course or to the gun range, wherever you go want to do it gives you back that freedom to actually go and do things with. But as business owners, we don't often look at that as a, hey, if I can offload this or change the way I'm doing something, I have now afforded myself more time to do things that matter to me. And we don't look at that, and we don't look at, and we don't put a value on that. And as soon as we put a value on it, we can start to see, oh, oh, man.
Steven Doyle [:If I'm sitting here doing 3 hours of, you know, putting in receipts or doing something that could be done digitally in 30 minutes or less, I am.
Brad Herda [:Freeing up or automated completely because it's already there. And if you invest in the. In the tool.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah. So you think about all those opportunities lost or opportunity to do something different, to make a difference. That's where the hope and the dreams come in. And maybe you spend that time on Fridays to do some strategic planning on how to grow my business, how to grow my team. Maybe that goes into training your team so that you can actually generate. Huh, well, that's a whole nother, whole nother show. Right. But when we get down.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah, those are the things that, that I look at with the, with the business owners when I'm wearing one, those are the. It's missed opportunities.
Brad Herda [:So for all those owners or, you know, our audience is mostly older, younger x ers to mid millennials. Our typical audience. So all you guys that are out there and ladies that are out there, take that 3 hours a week that you believe that I'm too busy, I can't afford it. I can't do it. Think about how much you would be willing to pay somebody to do the task that you're doing. Would you pay yourself? And if you're doing the things, would you pay somebody $50 an hour to do the things that you're doing right now instead of other activities? My ass is probably the answer is no. And then you lose out on the opportunity to bring in a young person that's willing to stick around. Maybe you did bring in some young people, but you've created turnover and you said, ah, fuck it, I'm not going to deal with these young kids anymore.
Brad Herda [:Because they just don't want to work. No, they just don't want to work the way you want to work.
Steven Doyle [:Yes.
Brad Herda [:And allow them to go out and do the research and find the things. Give them the opportunity to create change in your business, to put things forward and educate and teach the rest of your team to do things.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah.
Brad Herda [:Take the opportunity to move forward out of 1993 into 2024-2526 and beyond.
Steven Doyle [:Mm hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
Brad Herda [:Well, that went down a different path than expected.
Steven Doyle [:Oh, well, that happens when you ask me a question.
Brad Herda [:Wow. So glad I saw you last week in person.
Steven Doyle [:I know, right? It was good to be in person.
Brad Herda [:Wow.
Steven Doyle [:So what were some. Some topics out of this article that you took away?
Brad Herda [:The one that I. That fascinates me and I truly believe in. Not only is it just a Gen Z issue, it truly is a societal issue, as Gen Z cares about mental health and work life balance. We've talked about it before on the show that I personally believe. I think the millennials had it right into what they were trying to achieve, and that COVID just accelerated that opportunity to get people to understand what's important and not important in life.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:And that value in the manufacturing, construction trades, makers, creators, the auto. The, you know, the guy, the auto dealer down the road, the mechanic, the appliance repair, sunrise, sunset, make Haywell, the sun, sun out, sunrises type scenario.
Steven Doyle [:Yep. Yeah.
Brad Herda [:That's not necessarily the behavior society anymore. That's not the definition of success anymore.
Steven Doyle [:Yep.
Brad Herda [:And when. When that. That definition is being driven by the leadership, but that's not what your employees believe. That's going to create all that anxiety and pressure. And then you wonder why people decide to potentially leave or go somewhere else or, you know, they've got great talent, but they're working at, you know, chick fil a or at the shoe store or wherever, doing something completely less strenuous and stressful.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah.
Brad Herda [:And not using their God given talents to bring to the rest of the world. Because leadership isn't allowing those things to take place. Because we're living in this old, old school mindset of what work life balance really means. And we've talked about it before, too, on that perfection side of things. To make that complete mental health strain ridiculous of, you got to be perfect every time. And I mean, that starts with. I mean, you've got younger kids, and what do you see within, you know, the gen alpha generation, right. Go out and get.
Brad Herda [:Be perfect here. Well, no, we need to get a's and we need to get this and we need to get that. And it's like, we don't need to be perfect. We just need to be good.
Steven Doyle [:Right. It's hard to be good when you're gray.
Brad Herda [:What did your wife say about humility?
Steven Doyle [:What was she telling me about?
Brad Herda [:What'd she say?
Steven Doyle [:I don't remember. Oh, that's funny.
Brad Herda [:But that's an important, I know my, my oldest son, his, his vacation, he actually uses a vacation. He, he feels that stress on a regular basis running his projects and going through. And when there's a new product launch and different things. My youngest as well, same thing. He'd much rather. Right. If he's getting into that 45, 50 hours week range, his, his mind goes completely, oh my God, what's going on here? Yeah, like, it's no big deal at the end of the day, but for him, it's no big deal. It's a big deal.
Brad Herda [:Yeah. And a lot of it just comes from setting expectations. You can set the expectations and have a communication plan with those expectations. It's going to create that solid relationship where the young people are actually going to follow you.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah. And that kind of goes into, one of the other things that I took away is that Gen Z, they look for trust and authenticity. You know, the words and actions need to match, especially nowadays. And I find that, I find it.
Brad Herda [:Interesting because this is a political show, but.
Steven Doyle [:Correct.
Brad Herda [:That's, I mean, just look how we vote around here. We vote on what people say, not necessarily what they do. It's like, come on, folks, let's, let's, let's just be honest about it. But anyhow, I digress.
Steven Doyle [:Sorry, you digressed, but it's all good. And, um, you know, the things that Gen Z is looking for with that, that trust and authenticity is just do what you say you're gonna do. And that's not just a Gen Z thing, that's an everybody thing. But they hold true more to that than the other generations because they've seen what lack of loyalty from, they're willing to give. But is the employer willing to give? Well, if the employer is not willing to give, they've seen how employers just kind of let their parents go and things like that throughout the years. And they really understand, hey, we understand. We may not be here for ten to 15 years, 20 years or 30 years, but they will. But they will.
Brad Herda [:If you lead them well enough and let them go and get them into that spot, they will stay forever.
Steven Doyle [:And it really comes back down to the trust and authenticity. Be honest with them. They're looking for employers that are willing to be honest with them, but also employers that are willing to listen and maybe do things slightly different than what they're normally used to doing. Because again, Gen Z, they grew up in a whole different era than the rest of us that grew up without the Internet, grew up without smartphones, had to get off our ass and go outside and play because there was nothing else to do. So just saying.
Brad Herda [:Yep.
Steven Doyle [:You know what I'm talking about.
Brad Herda [:I know exactly what you're talking about. There is a, there is a page that I follow out on social, Gen X something or other or whatever. And they keep on posting all this stuff about, you know, good thing there was no social media around kids with all the stupid shit that happened, that today I'd be like, really? You're doing what? Yeah, yeah, why not?
Steven Doyle [:Well, all the things.
Brad Herda [:Who's gonna see it?
Steven Doyle [:Not many people, right?
Brad Herda [:Today's like, oh, wow. And, and that shit sticks around forever, right? And that's.
Steven Doyle [:It does. I just find the article very, it's very interesting when you, when you sit back, you read it, but then you start to reflect on what can we do differently today that we've traditionally kind of put off to the wayside and said, eh, I don't need to worry about that. We're just going to continue moving on the way we've always done it. But if we open up our eyes, open up our minds to new possibilities, we open up ourselves to a whole new skill set and workforce that could ultimately transform our business into something greater than what it is today.
Brad Herda [:Right? And the thing I found interesting about this report is not one thing was talked about dollars and cents.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah. Yep.
Brad Herda [:Right. So, so for all you folks that are out there trying to hire, if you're talking about the great wages and different things, they don't care. And we've had, like Matt Vetter was on, he's seen it before when he was, you know.
Steven Doyle [:Yeah.
Brad Herda [:It's not about the wages, it's about all the other things that are there. And if you are a business owner and a leader that is just focusing on billable hours, you're going to struggle to find people to fit. Because the impact Gen Z is having on our workforce and the millennial group is having on our workforce, you will not find people to be in your business very long. And those 3 hours a day that you're spending, or 3 hours a week you're spending doing all the shit that you should be doing, it's going to turn into 30 or 40 hours, and you'll never be outside. Never. You won't even have time to go do the work in the technician of your business because you'll be too busy doing all the other things because no one else will be there.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:It's a, it's a very painful, slow talking heads, well, how did I get here? Type moments.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:And it's a slow burn and you just need to make sure you are open to opportunity and get your team on board to be open to that opportunity. Not to treat the young person coming in like, like you were maybe treated when you first started as just go sweep up. Yeah, they're not going to hang around for that. Teach, educate, mentor. Allow them to do things. Allow them to make mistakes.
Steven Doyle [:Right.
Brad Herda [:Put the things in place and your business will completely change. So.
Steven Doyle [:Mm hmm. Yeah.
Brad Herda [:Smart as hell. If they're smart as hell. If you let them be smart in their ways and they're gonna ask you some stupid questions, you go, how the hell did you not know that? Because they grew up differently. They didn't have the opportunity.
Steven Doyle [:Yep.
Brad Herda [:So. So teach them. Embrace them.
Steven Doyle [:This is a great article that you found, Brad. So thanks for bringing this up.
Brad Herda [:Really not a problem, sir. You, I'm gonna go back and get, try to get my language in order here.
Steven Doyle [:That was great.
Brad Herda [:It was awesome. And we will talk to you soon, Mister Doyle.
Steven Doyle [:All right, sounds good. Thanks, Brad.
Brad Herda [:Thanks. 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 Hurta. 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.
