The National Conferences topic of ‘Ingredients for a Brighter Future’ yielded a variety of discussions and references to the younger generation of the industry. The terms Generation X and Generation Y were coined loosely as those in the age group from apprentice level up to roughly 35 years of age. This group encompasses a large proportion of our industry. Therefore when it was noted the limited numbers of young people in attendance at conference, there was an evident issue at hand regarding the potential ‘brighter future’ which the conference aimed to assess.
There were a number of key questions addressed by a panel of distinguished guests including Brian MerrickCNP (Gardens R Us), Andrew White (Oasis), Anthony Kachenko CNP (NGIA) , Ross Wilson CNP (2008 Young Leader), Kate Malfoy CNP (Jambaroo Native Nursery). Participation from business owners in attendance also formed a significant part of the debate. In addition to these discussions, I recently spoke with Glenn Fenton (Nationwide Trees Pty. Ltd.) to further grasp his thoughts on this issue.
Generally, apprentices were considered to be a difficult group of young people to retain and train, with a number of business owners raising the issue of neediness. It was nearly stated that a level of ‘mothering’ is expected particularly from this level. This was disputed by a number of people including Mr Fenton who strongly believes that you must take your employees on a journey. You are investing in them as long term candidates of your business. A level of support, not mothering, is a critical part of the development of your employees, and inevitably the business.
In addition, Ross Wilson CNP (Young Leader 2008) characterised this by offering his personal time to those younger members by assisting with such aspects like personal budgets. This is something a young person with limited life experience has little to no exposure to, and with an increasing number of pathways to the work place, it is inevitable that you will encounter a diverse range of people with significantly varying backgrounds, skills and knowledge. With this in mind, offering support builds trust, and in turn, a level of commitment from the employee.
So ultimately, how do we retain those young people with potential in industry? The suggestion was made to figure out ways to increase your margins and essentially pay above award rate with the aim of resulting in a higher retention rate. This was just one method of retention as it was obvious that remuneration is not the sole motivator for the next generation.
The key issues raised formed a consensus that it is difficult to motivate the younger generation. In contrast to this, Mr Fenton clearly stated that it was not as difficult as was being suggested with opportunities for development and a career pathway as key drivers for the younger generation. It was noted that remuneration of a fair wage was also essential in attracting and retaining employees. By offering such opportunities, you should as a result be left with a committed staff with skills which are retained in house. In going forward with this, those particular skills will be shared into the future as they are honed and developed with the guidance of the business owner.
With such a diverse group of people, motivations will inevitably vary. With some young people, a desire for vocational education through schemes such as the Australian Apprenticeships programme offers young people an opportunity to not only earn a wage, but learn on the job in a manner which suits their style of learning.
It was suggested by Mr Fenton that there really is little difference between the generations and the most important issue with many current business owners is that ‘they manage, they don’t lead.’ The call for change appears to need to come from the business owners and managers themselves. This concept is one which has been exhausted by many business gurus, and a trip to your local bookshop will demonstrate this with piles of literature on the topic. In addition to reading literature, networking with others who are seen to be leaders is an excellent means of building and developing the skills of leadership which have a positive effect on business and industry growth.
So what practical measures can we begin to adopt as we start learning to lead?
Common tasks like weeding are essentially highly rated tasks by necessity but which holds with it a low ranking credibility for skill base required to undertake. With this in mind, it is a perfect exercise to team build. Once a week instead of delegating tasks, get out there alongside your staff as a group and knock over those sorts of tasks no-one enjoys doing together. By leading in this manner, you will not only finish the common tasks quickly but it gives you regular opportunity to interact with your staff. Again this builds trust by interacting on a more sociable level, which will be seen by employees as supportive to their needs.
Listening too, can be a simple yet very effective tool. By listening and engaging you learn about your staffs interests – this is something which you will do while weeding alongside staff. In turn this gives you the knowledge you need to harness their capabilities and get the best out of them. In doing so you will provide them with the opportunities they need to excel both in the workplace, as valuable members of the industry, and finally throughout their professional careers.
Finally, in training the younger generation to be valuable members of staff, it is important to trust them and offer them ownership of their position in the business. In doing so, let them make mistakes which they will potentially learn from. This can be sometimes at a minimal cost to the business, but all in all your investment and trust in them will build a solid foundation for the future. In addition to this, by allowing your staff to be accountable and have a sense of ownership, you as a business owner will be able to step back a little and take the breaks that you deserve and have worked so hard for.
So what can we take from all this? Essentially young people ‘want to work for good people who lead them well’ (Fenton).
A table characterising the various generations is available at:
http://www.leadership.org.au/briefs/GenYEmployees.pdf
Very interesting. Your writing is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteKath