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Friday, October 10, 2008

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Business leaders dial in on generation gap issues

ROSENMEIER FORUM

By RENEE RICHARDSON

Senior Reporter

How will business owners respond to a next generation of employees who communicate primarily in texting code?

Generational gaps in language and attitudes were part of the discussion at Thursday's Rosenmeier forum on Workforce Development. In an age when entire relationships are based on cell phone texts - without people meeting or even hearing each other's voice - there are bound to be changes in the work place with adjustments for employees and business owners.

Thursday's forum was not a draw for college students, but panelists shed light on what those students may face upon graduation. All three panelists - Brian Herder, Mary Gottsch and Kevin Thesing - were 1974 Brainerd High School graduates.

Herder co-owns the Russell Herder Advertising firm in Brainerd, Gottsch is director of Bridges Workplace Connection with the Brainerd Lakes Chamber and Thesing owns Lakes Printing in Brainerd. Their shared '70s generation experience was the subject of good-natured humor during the hour-long event.

Brian Herder (left), co-owner of Russell Herder Advertising; Mary Gottsch, director of Bridges Workplace Collection at the Brainerd Lakes Chamber; and Kevin Thesing, Lakes Printing owner, discussed Workforce Development at a Rosenmeier forum Thursday at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Renee Richardson
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Herder said he sees a lack of personal preparedness in young people who interview for jobs. Even those who are very qualified may know nothing about the art of the interview.

Panelists said young people looking for a job may not realize they present a liability and may cost their employer money - at least at the outset through training and learning curves.

For Thesing, the other side of the coin comes when business persons are successful and find themselves ill prepared for what comes next - hiring and human resources issues. But Thesing said co-workers can be the most rewarding part of the job.

For those starting out, Thesing said the key is to find a career that fits. Gottsch's work with the Bridges Workplace Connection is an effort to be an intermediary between high school and college students to explore career options. For Gottsch, that has meant delving into a new vocabulary via Facebook and MySpace.

Panelists said the younger generation has a different perspective than past generations - when people went to work expecting a set routine. Young people may not realize they shouldn't have their personal cell phone on at work or shouldn't text. Herder said younger workers have a diminished distinction between work and their personal lives.

Herder said the young college graduates he talks to are flexible on wages, with more value placed on vacation and personal time off. At the same time, Thesing said more is demanded of today's worker to accomplish more.

To prepare students for the work place, Gottsch said more emphasis is placed on internships, job shadowing, interviewing skills and career paths so young people know what they need to study to get the jobs they want and what they'll earn. She said soft skills from arriving on time to behavior on the job and getting along with others remain the biggest factors in firing.

Thesing said that with the average of eight career changes in a lifetime, career exploration is important. Problem-solving skills and critical and strategic thinking are transferable assets. Herder said it's also important to know the industry and how it's changing.

"Age is perhaps one of the greatest liabilities you can have," Herder said of his own industry. "You can be dumb as a box of hair, but if you're young, you've got that going for you. But if you are over 40 and you're not in management - good luck with that. You are going to be working in smaller markets or a small agency, and that's fine if that's what you want. But you need to know that at the beginning of your career."

There is nothing better than finding the career or the job that matches your personality, Thesing said.

"That's why career exploration is so important."

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.

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