People love to talk about generations. My coworkers at Willmar Electric are no exception.
Baby Boomers vs. Millennials seem to be the hottest divide right now.
The term Baby Boomers wasn't developed because a certain group of people shared a certain way of life, but because from 1944 until 1964, the United States experienced a boom in the number of babies being born. So people don’t debate who is and who isn’t a Baby Boomer.
On the other hand, the makeup of the Millennials generation isn’t as clear. According to the dictionary, the term Millennial means people who reached young adulthood in the early 21st century. But if you look online, you will get several different answers for the boundaries. Most say people born between 1981-1996 are Millennials.
I have a more specific answer. September 25, 1981, until February 20, 1997. Those dates happen to the birthdays of two coworkers. Neither of them like my limits and would prefer I left out of the Millennial generation.
Last week at lunch, we asked the latest guy to join the team, Nick, when he was born. He told us on April 25, 1997. Outside my limits. Then we discussed changing my limits to accommodate our new co-worker. Ultimately, we didn’t because we want to have a symbol for Generation Z.
Then the conversation got fun. The room started to talk about how generational labels aren’t very effective in describing individual people.
I spoke up and said, “it seems 40-year-old people have hated 20-year-old people long before Millennials came along.” The recently turned 40-year-old sitting next to me quickly said: “I don’t hate you, Nick.” We all laughed because, of course, we don’t hate him.
Yesterday it happened again. Another co-worker, Tayrah, refused to tell somebody what year she was born. Even went so far as to say she wasn’t a Millennial, which of course, was a tip-off we had another person who didn’t want to be associated with the label. She quickly pointed out how silly it was to link her to somebody who was 15 years younger than her. She’s right. Why should she be considered the contemporary of somebody born 15 years apart while two people born only two months apart are in different generations?
Silliness. It is all silliness.
At Willmar Electric, we laugh and joke about who’s in what generation, but at the end of the day, our goal is to get to know the individual and treat them as such.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Friday, February 7, 2020
Get Out of My Way
Have you ever had somebody get in your way?
Of course, you have. We all have.
It is very annoying.
I am an impatient person. When somebody is in my way, I tend to want to push or prod them. When I resist the urge to push or prod them out of my way, I don’t wait very long before I find a way around them.
In some very rare cases, I give up and find something else to do. For example, if I want to buy something but the lines at the store are long, I will skip the purchase.
I understand I am less patient than about 95% of the population. But everybody has a breaking point, even at Disneyworld. Depending on the person, especially at Disneyworld.
Lately, I have been noticing the same thing in the business world.
At Willmar Electric, we are in an industry with strict laws regarding licensing. I am not going to bore you with a breakdown of electrical licensing laws. Instead, I am going to relate how, and when we all work together for the advancement of a coworker, it helps everybody at Willmar Electric.
In the electrical contracting business, the first person on a project must be a licensed Journeyperson. After you have a journeyperson on-site, you are allowed to place apprentices with the Journeyperson. After four years in an apprenticeship program, you can take your Journeyperson's exam.
Passing the exam comes with not only a large raise. It allows you to advance to the next level of the trade. Passing the exam also allows one of the other apprentices to move into your role next to the journeyperson. It gives the journeyperson you were working alongside a chance to become a foreperson. The more forepersons a firm has, the more you need to move people into positions like estimating and general superintendent.
One person passing the exam can lead to the need to hire two to three new apprentices. Adding two to three new journeypersons leads to needing to promote a new foreperson. Adding two to three new forepersons leads to needing to promote a new general superintendent.
If apprentices don’t move up the ladder, everybody has something in the way of their advancement.
I love how our industry has this system. The systems give us all incentive to help each other move ahead. One promotion helps the entire team have a chance to advance in their careers. We are all motivated to help each other grow.
It helps with my impatience. There is always somebody I can help pull up rather than push aside.
Of course, you have. We all have.
It is very annoying.
I am an impatient person. When somebody is in my way, I tend to want to push or prod them. When I resist the urge to push or prod them out of my way, I don’t wait very long before I find a way around them.
In some very rare cases, I give up and find something else to do. For example, if I want to buy something but the lines at the store are long, I will skip the purchase.
I understand I am less patient than about 95% of the population. But everybody has a breaking point, even at Disneyworld. Depending on the person, especially at Disneyworld.
Lately, I have been noticing the same thing in the business world.
At Willmar Electric, we are in an industry with strict laws regarding licensing. I am not going to bore you with a breakdown of electrical licensing laws. Instead, I am going to relate how, and when we all work together for the advancement of a coworker, it helps everybody at Willmar Electric.
In the electrical contracting business, the first person on a project must be a licensed Journeyperson. After you have a journeyperson on-site, you are allowed to place apprentices with the Journeyperson. After four years in an apprenticeship program, you can take your Journeyperson's exam.
Passing the exam comes with not only a large raise. It allows you to advance to the next level of the trade. Passing the exam also allows one of the other apprentices to move into your role next to the journeyperson. It gives the journeyperson you were working alongside a chance to become a foreperson. The more forepersons a firm has, the more you need to move people into positions like estimating and general superintendent.
One person passing the exam can lead to the need to hire two to three new apprentices. Adding two to three new journeypersons leads to needing to promote a new foreperson. Adding two to three new forepersons leads to needing to promote a new general superintendent.
If apprentices don’t move up the ladder, everybody has something in the way of their advancement.
I love how our industry has this system. The systems give us all incentive to help each other move ahead. One promotion helps the entire team have a chance to advance in their careers. We are all motivated to help each other grow.
It helps with my impatience. There is always somebody I can help pull up rather than push aside.
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