Reaching Generations Z & Alpha is how you safeguard your maintenance workforce. Regardless of your current maintenance team’s structure, their experience levels, and their commitment to your company, you’re selling yourself short if you are unable to adapt to the learning needs of the youngest generations that are currently part of the workforce – and those reaching adulthood in the next few years.
The current perception: Your most experienced maintenance team members have trained previous new hires and can speak to younger workers in a way that makes sense, making them the most effective way to improve your team’s skills. You’ll have an easier time recruiting these folks when you offer an in-house expert trainer, and younger workers who are experienced digital-first learners aren’t a big enough part of the workforce yet to warrant changes to your training tactics.
The reality: More than half of the workforce already comes from generations who are digitally fluent, who were raised with technology: Millennials and Generation Z. But the way they learn was shaped by distance learning and gamified teaching platforms. Generation Alpha will be joining the working ranks in a matter of a few short years, and by supporting people raised on the internet NOW, you’ll be in a better place to support the growth of workers who are poised to join the workforce.
Meeting Generations Z and Alpha Where They Learn
When it comes to reaching Gen Z (currently: 0-10 years’ experience) and Gen Alpha (joining the workforce in 2028), you must think about how education changed dramatically – and at the drop of a hat – during the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools shuttered, students had to adjust to learning virtually and not just from their teachers. They learned to embrace online learning modules, set up like video games to hit the reward centers of their brains, helping to keep them engaged in the learning process.
It’s imperative that companies needing to reach these younger workers make a parallel adjustment. That is to say, if you aren’t including or relying on online training and game-like training, you’re going to have trouble recruiting and retaining these workers. And they’re the key to overcoming the challenges most companies in the industrial sector will face as large swaths of senior technicians prepare for retirement in the coming decade.
The COVID Effect on Learning Lingers
Reaching those who learned from a distance during formative years requires fresh learning tactics.
Regardless of how you felt about the changes that happened in 2000 and beyond due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts on how young people learn are here to stay.
{h3} Embrace the digital-native mindset with tech-enabled training
The newest workers to join your team grew up with tech at their fingertips. They’re used to instant answers and bite-sized learning.
They prefer mobile accessibility, visual engagement, and intuitive learning.
Most members of these generations were in school during the pandemic, so they were self-reliant when learning growing up, and they prefer to keep that autonomy when training for their careers. If they can start, stop, and pause at their convenience, it will be easier to get their buy-in. Given multiple learning paths, they can optimize how and when they learn with great success.
Gamification, Micro-Learning, and Mobile-Accessibility: How Tech-Savvy Recruits Learn
Gaining the learning buy-in from these up-and-coming generations is multi-fold.
- Your training needs “gamification” – elements of video games that make learning addictive, fun, and engaging – and that tap into their motivation centers.
- It must follow learning best practices – the tactics that trained teachers use in the classroom.
- It also must contain topical best practices, above and beyond the tricks and hacks that experienced workers lean on to speed up repairs. Habits aren’t always the right way to do things, and continuous learning helps to keep skills sharp.
- Add micro-learning: bite-sized content that they can absorb in a short span, to fit well into busy lives filled with a myriad of distractions. This can be shorter learning modules, or it can be accomplished with easy start-stop functionality built into training.
- Provide clear takeaways that busy professionals can glean in a matter of minutes to be more effective than traditional training.
- Help them visualize progress and growth, so training feels like an achievement instead of an obligation.
Solutions that make the most sense for these learners include:
- eLearning with flexibility and best practices at its core and learning paths that line up with their job responsibilities.
- Simulators for real-world practice without the dangers they might face when repairing your equipment.
- Progressive difficulty increases built into training platforms, allowing learners to ramp up their knowledge and skill as they practice.
Young Workers are Embracing Blue Collar Roles
The best part? These young workers and future members of the workforce are chomping at the bit to be part of the solution.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha have already signaled their interest in the trades and other careers with good earning potential and no college degree requirement. Attracting these digital-native workers is the key to safeguarding your skilled technician workforce in the coming decade, as Baby Boomers almost completely exit the workforce and much of Generation Z reaches retirement age – dramatically reducing the number of techs with the level of experience needed to adequately train new staff.
According to Thumbtack’s Future of the Skilled Trades Report:
- 55% of young workers are considering a career in the trades
- 84% highly respect the career paths and those who choose them
- The gender divide is falling. Over half of Gen Z women report interest in a career in the trades, at a rate nearly that of men.
Top trades of interest include: electrician (#2) and HVAC technician (#8).
Hook Gen Z on Learning and You’ll See Results
Tap into the ways digital natives learn and watch your technical teams grow in their capabilities and knowledge, with results like:
- Less unplanned downtime
- Lower mean time between failures
- Faster, more accurate repairs
- Fewer wasted replacement parts
TPC offers no-nonsense, flexible solutions built with these learners in mind. Our online learning modules and simulations could be the key to attracting, training, and retaining the next generation of industrial maintenance workers. Don’t wait until your most experienced techs reach retirement age. Connect with a member of our team to discuss your team's learning needs >>
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