Connecting the Younger and Older Workforce | C-Level Strategy Series with Jon Arnold

In this multipart series, Jon Arnold, president of investment services at J. Arnold Wealth Management, talks with area business leaders about the issues businesses face every day.

On the panel are Barb Ewing, CEO of the Youngstown Business Incubator; Holly Swartz, vice president of Personal Protected; Arthur Daly, senior vice president at Eastern Gateway Community College Youngstown; and Jeff Leo Herrmann, former CEO of the Youngstown Publishing Co.

In this video the panel discusses bridging the gap between the younger and older workforce, particularly in manufacturing.

YBI’s Ewing comments that it’s more likely that the younger workforce will have a better idea of how and when to utilize additive manufacturing on the job floor compared to engineers who have been doing the job for 30 years.

“If you really want to engage young people and get them into the game, you’re going to have to trust their gut and give them a little bit of leeway to run with some projects and take their suggestions, at least listen to them seriously,” she said.

To get to that point, she says company leadership will need to guide the older workforce on how to listen to younger workers and value their input, but to also take on a mentorship role and pass on the tried and true traditions.

“You may find a situation where magic just happens between two employees,” Ewing said. “But I bet it would be more effective and you’d be more likely to get something productive out of it if there was truly a partnership created between two, four people who you brought a diverse group together to look at a specific problem and tried to solve it.”

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