By Jenny Harris
Successful businesses know the importance of planning for the future. Many companies love to tout that they have been around for 20, 30, even 50 years or more. If they aren’t planning for the decades ahead of them, however, they run the risk of losing everything they’ve worked so hard to build. Without a strong workforce, that successful enterprise ceases to exist.
The need is greater now than it has ever been to attract young employees to businesses working in the trades, and many companies are stepping up to bring in the vibrant young talent they need to succeed for the future.
Shapiro & Duncan Incorporated (S&D) is just one of the companies working to attract new young talent to the trades. Through their program, “Building a Lifestyle You Deserve”, they are working towards educating young people that there are other options after high school than attending a four-year college or university. S & D is currently working to create a culture shift away from the idea that the trades are less desirable than attending a university immediately after high school.
Not all high school students thrive while sitting in a classroom, and a four-year university may not be the best plan for them. Many companies within the trades can benefit greatly by finding such students and showing them that there are other paths to a successful career available to them.
Brian Matthews, who has worked as a truck mechanic for UPS for 30 years, was given such an opportunity when he was a high school student. He was taking automotive classes at the local technical high school where he spent part of his day in the midst of his regular schedule at his primary high school. An instructor learned from a friend at UPS that they were looking to launch an internship program, and that teacher immediately knew that some of his students would be a perfect fit.
That opportunity has led to a decades-long successful career. When asked what was attractive to him when he first started out, his pension immediately came to mind. Even in the years immediately following high school, he was looking to the future. Similarly, he said that having strong benefits is just one of the incentives that has kept him at UPS all these years. Soon he was a young father with a little girl and having health insurance was immensely important. By beginning his career directly out of high school, he not only has the option to retire at a younger age but also has avoided student loan debt and has built a comfortable life for his family. He agrees that there is a strong need to change the culture surrounding working in the trades. As formerly one of those high school students who simply hated being behind a desk, he is proud of the life he has helped provide for his wife and two children, and encourages young people to look for options to build a successful career for themselves.
Building the lifestyle they desire is incredibly important to today’s younger employees. Being financially secure is a key factor for many looking to enter the trades. Offering them a solid career but also lowering their student loan debt will help companies attract the young talent they need to continue to grow.
Today’s young adults want to know what their company can provide them outside of the job description, which makes internship, mentorship, and training programs incredibly attractive to today’s younger generations. That goes beyond the “company perks”, but really speaks to the desire many young people have to balance their work and their life moving forward.
Shapiro & Duncan believes that there are two incredibly important things that companies in the trades can do to attract young talent. The first is to reach out to your seasoned employees, like Brian Matthews, and get them to tell their stories. Hearing what those employees have to say about their own career and what has kept them working in the trades will resonate with students who are trying to decide what their next step is after high school. Encourage employees to get involved with career days, which will give you more time to engage with those students than a competitive career fair. Partner with the high schools in your area to speak to students, especially the technical high schools offering classes in your field. Face-to-face interaction is one of the most powerful tools in your kit, and storytelling has the potential to be a game-changer when it comes to attracting young talent.
The second recommendation is to utilize social media to not only attract young employees but to interact with them. Today’s high schoolers are tech savvy, and you need to connect with them where they already are. In today’s world of constant communication, young employees are looking for information at their fingertips. If you have an internship program that would bring them in, put that information directly in front of them. They need to know that you have something to offer.
Many of today’s companies spend almost all of their marketing dollars on attracting new work, when they also need to work on attracting new employees. Don’t be afraid to attract your company’s next workforce and spend your marketing budget there as well. Without those new employees to help you tackle the new clients and customers, your company will never grow. Having more work than your employees can handle sounds like a great problem to have, but it is still a problem you need to get out in front of. Bringing in young, talented, driven employees will ensure your company’s ability to succeed in the future.
Today’s young people are looking for options, and they don’t want to be pigeonholed. By showing them that a career in the trades offers flexibility, growth potential, financial security, and even the opportunity to start their own business down the road, you will bring those young, bright new employees into what we know to be an rewarding industry.
Jenny Harris is a writer from Ellicott City, MD, where she lives with her husband and two sons.
