July 01, 2006
Impact of EMD Worforce Part 5
There have been media reports about the impending workforce crisis. How is this crisis affecting the electrical motor diagnostics industry? How serious is the impact? What can be done about it?
President, SUCCESS by DESIGN
There are a number of issues within the R&M industry, not just with the electrical motor diagnostics community, but throughout industry. One of the interesting ones is personality, including the assumption that the newer generation does not have the same ethic as past generations.
This seems to be a common complaint. In fact, it is so common that such comments can be cited back over millenia – really! Now, in recent times, while there are different tendencies between generations based upon society, technology and education, the complaints are still the same. In reality, as we grow older and changes in our attitudes occur, as well as our priorities, new younger people are always considered to have less work ethic because their priorities are different. I can even remember, while I was in the Navy, as a 20 year old petty officer, when the new 18 year olds came on board, we all looked at them and said that they had less work ethic. And they were only two years younger! What changed? They were a distraction to our routine and we had already settled into a set of priorities, they had not been exposed to the environment long enough for their own set of priorities.
The following is from the “Maintenance and Management Communication Study,” by Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP published in June, 2006 and available for free from http://www.motordoc.org:
There are differences in how the different generations view the world, workplace and how they approach business. In addition to understanding the workforce availability in baby-boomers, etc, the thought processes and experiences of each, due to technology, also generates a communication issue.
The three existing generations include: The boomers; Generation X; and, Generation Y.
The boomer generation grew up with job security, in that it was unusual not to consider moving up and retiring within the company you work for. Their concepts of family came from such communication and TV as “Leave it to Beaver,” “Father Knows Best,” etc. For the most part, news was obtained from newspapers and the 6 o’clock news. Boomers viewed success as marrying, having kids, succeeding in their company, patience, long-term strategies and teamwork.
The generation X’ers are the generation that started working with computer systems, saw the beginning of 24 hour live news and started moving between companies to advance. They were the first to start experiencing mass lay-offs and the insecurity of understanding that there was the possibility of being a single parent or other unexpected and unplanned changes. This generation was considered more rebellious than the boomers and less concerned with authority.
Generation Y’ers are the generation that expects instant gratification. They have grown up with computer games (and cheats), instant messaging, cellular phones and other instant gratifications. They have been brought up without patience in such a way that they are looking for completing school faster, advancing faster, and not believing in having to work up the ladder. This generation has been taught how to work as individuals versus as a team, but in a growing number of cases in the 2000’s have learned to work with teams across great distances via internet games.
The communication barriers between the generations can be significant. For instance, a boomer working with a generation Y’er will consider them extremely lazy and disloyal because they are not as patient as the older worker and tend to watch for themselves versus the ‘good of the company.’ Generation Y’ers have a tendency not to understand why the boomer generation is afraid of computers and technology. Generation X’ers tend to be in between and boomers may feel similar towards them as they do towards Gen Y’ers and Gen Y’ers may feel about some of them the way that they feel about boomers.
The result is the tendency for boomers, who make up the majority of senior management and corporate owners, to think of gen X’ers and Y’ers to be lazy and to have poor work ethic. In reality, the work environment that is being imposed in the evolution of business and the constant news of layoffs and the failure of mega-businesses has generated a reluctance of newer generations to have feelings of loyalty to employers.
Now, how does all of this impact the Electrical Motor Diagnostics industry?
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…….. To be continued……
