1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,720 Soften your senses, ways to become a better speaker, listener and follower. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:21,720 Learn more about United Service Technologies at USTService.com. 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,060 All right, welcome everyone. 4 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:24,700 We're hanging out with Roger Smelcer. 5 00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:26,240 Roger, how are you today? 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:27,240 I'm doing well. 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:28,240 How are you? 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:29,240 I am fantastic. 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:34,760 Roger, we had a conversation just a few weeks ago about the many different career paths 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,760 within the HVACR industry. 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:43,240 And you serve a very unique portion of the industry. 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,380 And it happens to be one that I'm very comfortable, very familiar with, one that I spend a lot 13 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:48,380 of time in. 14 00:00:48,380 --> 00:00:53,280 Now, when we start talking to our educators and we start talking to our students about 15 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,640 career paths, once they get out of the program, a lot of them anticipate that they're going 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,960 to end up in a residential or like commercial HVAC situation, right? 17 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,400 They don't always get introduced to all of the different options. 18 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:13,320 So if you are unfamiliar with HVACCareerMap.org, it's a collaboration of different community 19 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,080 colleges within California. 20 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,840 It is a really cool resource to help show some of the different paths that we have within 21 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:20,840 our industry. 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,920 So let's say we come out of school and maybe we think, oh, we were just going to end up 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:28,600 as a residential technician and we weren't introduced to all of the options. 24 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,180 Well, when we use tools like this to kind of take a look at those different resources, 25 00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:37,120 we can see that there are a variety of different things that we can do. 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:44,240 We can progress out of those entry level jobs into like installers, we can move into warehousing 27 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,040 jobs, but we can also get into the commercial sector. 28 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:53,420 So let's just say we have an interest in moving over into the commercial environment. 29 00:01:53,420 --> 00:01:58,800 We want to take our HVAC and move it into say refrigeration and some, let's just say 30 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,040 some kitchen style equipment opportunities. 31 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,960 Well, a lot of people don't realize that we have apprenticeship programs that can lead 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,160 us into these directions. 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,760 And where you specialize is in the cooking equipment service technician realm. 34 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:13,760 Yeah. 35 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,280 And that was me. 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:23,400 A lot of mom and pop grocery stores and restaurants and large grocery chain grocery stores. 37 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,560 I did a lot of different food service equipment and it wasn't just refrigeration because as 38 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,320 a refrigeration guy, yeah, you're there working on something, but I've talked about this many 39 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:33,320 times before. 40 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,560 My first encounter with looking at other kitchen equipment was I had a pizza oven at one of 41 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:38,840 our shops that went down. 42 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,240 I was there looking at an ice machine and he says, hey, Cliff, you think you could take 43 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:43,240 a look at this pizza oven? 44 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:44,240 I'm like, pizza oven? 45 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,040 He said, yeah, that's a heating appliance, isn't it? 46 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,760 And I went, well, yeah, it is a heating appliance. 47 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,720 So we have a lot of options in our industry. 48 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,960 So I wanted to spend some time with you talking about the program that you guys have built 49 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:06,760 and the way that we groom our youth, because the way that we recruit today may not look 50 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,040 similar to the way we recruited five years ago, 10 years ago. 51 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,160 And I think you're the master of recruitment and retention. 52 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:24,080 I don't know if I'm the master, but we started about seven years ago really trying to attract 53 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,280 young people into our business. 54 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:34,960 And we looked at where were millennials and Gen Z looking for work and would they be interested 55 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:36,440 in this type of work? 56 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:37,440 Yeah. 57 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:43,240 And I think we kind of struck gold a little bit with some prior auto mechanics and things 58 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:48,920 that had the willingness to get a little dirty and good mechanical aptitude. 59 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:53,440 And we thought we could train these people. 60 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:58,920 Sometimes they got into it and it was working outside in a hot environment. 61 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,560 I lived in California and now live in Arizona. 62 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,920 And I can't imagine working in the Bay on a 110 degree day. 63 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:07,920 Absolutely. 64 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:14,200 And sometimes in grocery stores and even sometimes in the cold rooms. 65 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,000 And so I thought, this might be appealing to this group of people. 66 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:25,400 Of course, we've been able to attract them from all over, but I think the big key to 67 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:31,240 attracting them for us has just been having the kind of culture where they refer each 68 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:32,240 other. 69 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,560 So they're trying to help their friends. 70 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:44,160 We just had just in these last couple of weeks, one young guy in his mid-twenties just recommend 71 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,320 another guy in his mid-twenties to come in and help us. 72 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,880 And that's what we're trying to foster. 73 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,000 That's what we'd like to see. 74 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:59,640 I've mentioned many times in our industry to different groups that the average age of 75 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:01,920 our technician is around 27. 76 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:02,920 Yes. 77 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,920 And that's very young in our industry. 78 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:12,960 And it's just a testament to really having kind of a defined career path, as you mentioned 79 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:14,360 before. 80 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,760 Sometimes people come in from residential appliance and they have into our business 81 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:19,760 as well. 82 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,240 And that's a great transition. 83 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,840 They can apprentice with our guys. 84 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:29,560 They typically will pick up commercial food equipment very easy if they're coming from 85 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:30,560 that environment. 86 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,160 And it's been really strong way to bring them in. 87 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,280 Well, let's talk about that apprenticeship because this is very much about what does 88 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:43,320 successful recruitment look like, whether I'm a school and I'm recruiting technicians 89 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:48,560 to come into the trade and I'm trying to inform them about all of the different amazing options 90 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:54,240 once they leave the classroom or I'm a contractor that is trying to build up my clientele. 91 00:05:54,240 --> 00:06:00,060 That's the biggest issue we see right now in the contractor side is retention and recruitment. 92 00:06:00,060 --> 00:06:02,040 But you've been very successful at that. 93 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:07,160 And if we look at the generation, so I just did a class not too long ago on the basically 94 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,720 six different generations of learners that we work with in society. 95 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:18,680 When we look at particularly our Gen Z and our millennials, they have some slightly different, 96 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:25,720 I wouldn't say concerns, but desires for success in their career, especially with Gen Z. 97 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,600 So let's talk about the culture that you're embedding and promoting that culture because 98 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:35,320 I think that is the driving force that is making this such a successful recruitment strategy. 99 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:36,320 Yeah. 100 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:41,080 Well, we like to call it our resume building culture of achievement. 101 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:42,080 Okay. 102 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:43,080 Yeah. 103 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,480 But really it's just a resume building culture. 104 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:52,400 We're looking to build value in each person, not only to our company, but to the world 105 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:53,400 at large. 106 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:54,400 Okay. 107 00:06:54,400 --> 00:07:00,040 And the way we do that is usually it starts with the conversation when we're first meeting 108 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,900 the person and bringing them into the organization and defining what their career path would 109 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:10,400 look like in our organization and what we would be adding to their resume at each stage 110 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,060 through. 111 00:07:12,060 --> 00:07:18,520 So for example, they might come in and we might start them on simple planned maintenance. 112 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,000 And as they're picking that up, they're adding this planned maintenance capability to their 113 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,000 resume. 114 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:30,080 So they move to installations and more advanced installations and then onto commissioning 115 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:35,200 and other things like that as they progress through their career. 116 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:42,200 And that kind of career arc can take anywhere from weeks to months, depending on their ability 117 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,040 and their aptitude. 118 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,280 We're really looking for the same things most companies are looking for. 119 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:50,280 Sure. 120 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,600 We want to ensure the capability to do the job and if you don't know how to do something, 121 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:01,480 that you're a quick learner and then just being a team player, working well with others, 122 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,080 having that good chemistry. 123 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:04,080 Sure. 124 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:05,080 Absolutely. 125 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:10,840 So I know personally when I see resumes of my generation, so I'm a Gen Xer, I see resumes 126 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,760 of fellow coworkers and I have read resumes and looked at the person and went, I know 127 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,320 you're more capable than this. 128 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:23,440 I think as a generation, we weren't groomed very well for building ourselves, especially 129 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,400 like within our resume and how we reflect to others. 130 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:35,000 But one of the characteristics, particularly of Gen Z is the reflection of their development. 131 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,120 And that's what I see in your program. 132 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,760 And I think many of us, if we're building our recruitment and our retention based on 133 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,180 old strategies, they may not apply to our current generations. 134 00:08:44,180 --> 00:08:48,880 So do you feel that as a driving force from these young folk coming in that they want 135 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,600 to be recognized for their accomplishments? 136 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:52,600 It is. 137 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:53,600 It's a driving force. 138 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:54,920 I think there's some confusion. 139 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:01,920 You know, a lot of people would say Gen Z or millennials need so much more feedback 140 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,840 than maybe Gen X or baby boomers. 141 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:05,840 Right. 142 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,720 It's not necessarily that they need more. 143 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,360 They are looking for progress, right? 144 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,080 They're wanting to know how is this helping me long-term? 145 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:17,080 Yeah, exactly. 146 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:22,400 And, you know, my generation, we just put our heads down and ground it out. 147 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,440 Not really thinking about what is this. 148 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,000 You know, I like this generation. 149 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:34,000 You know, the thing I love about them the most is they're very experience oriented, 150 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,000 right? 151 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,640 They value experience more than things. 152 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,160 That's why they're all living the van life and moving around. 153 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:47,040 And we've kind of embraced that if you want to have a great experience, that's what we're 154 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,400 trying to create with this resume building culture. 155 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:51,400 Okay. 156 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:58,420 So that you can see when a resume building opportunity comes up, like we just, a good 157 00:09:58,420 --> 00:10:02,960 example is we just moved to a new field service management software. 158 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:03,960 Okay. 159 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,660 Well, this software is used in 65% of the industry. 160 00:10:07,660 --> 00:10:13,400 It's going to be a really nice line item on every resume in our business. 161 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,960 To show that they have adapted through software. 162 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:16,960 Right. 163 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,640 And that's not typically anything I would have had on my resume unless it was super 164 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:21,640 significant. 165 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,040 Like I went back to school to learn something. 166 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:24,600 Maybe that's what I put on my resume. 167 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,240 Well, we've used mixed reality technology. 168 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,360 We use an AI product. 169 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,240 All that can be added to their resume. 170 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:37,280 And then we have quarterly goals that our service managers are working with the team, 171 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:43,720 their teams on, and each goal in order for it to qualify has to read like a line item 172 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:44,720 on a resume. 173 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:45,720 Really? 174 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:51,200 So a good example of that would be, you know, I'm going to increase my mean time to fix 175 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:56,720 or the time it takes me to fix a fry or not eating by 7%. 176 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,480 That might be the goal this quarter. 177 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,840 Well, that would be great on a resume. 178 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:02,840 Yeah. 179 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:04,480 Because I would be impressed. 180 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:10,720 That you know what your mean time to fix is and that you're working to improve it. 181 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:11,720 Exactly. 182 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,800 So explaining to them why it would be important on the resume is important as well. 183 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:22,880 You know, showing them what it means to me as a person that's hiring young people. 184 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:23,880 Yeah. 185 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:28,400 And giving them the confidence that they actually are building their resume. 186 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,200 Yeah, absolutely. 187 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:31,200 Okay. 188 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,720 So when you're talking about that, has it been an adaptation of your company and of 189 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,120 your software to track these things and actually give some data to be analyzed? 190 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:41,120 How does that function? 191 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:42,440 Yeah, a little bit. 192 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,920 So we do it kind of a one-on-one more personal way than that. 193 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:51,320 So of course we rely on data for a lot of things in our business. 194 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,840 But with people, we rely a lot more on the one-on-one conversation. 195 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:02,640 So when we do those quarterly goals, we're meeting with them in person on those. 196 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,040 And we're talking them through. 197 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,920 And a lot of times we're saying, well, that doesn't really read like a line item on your 198 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:08,920 resume. 199 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:09,920 Okay. 200 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:14,480 What if we use the same goal, but we set it like this? 201 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:20,240 And giving them those prompts to understand, you know, what it's really going to look like 202 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:21,240 on a resume. 203 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,240 Yeah. 204 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,120 I think that's good. 205 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:31,560 And our data is showing that we're able to keep these people and get them to refer others. 206 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:36,880 That's the most important piece to us is how many referrals are we getting? 207 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,480 And is that trend moving upward or is it flat? 208 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:41,480 Exactly. 209 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:48,080 I mean, you take my generation, you build a resume preparing for the next stage in your 210 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:49,080 life. 211 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,240 So you have an amazing retention rate. 212 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,420 So what do you think is that motivator? 213 00:12:54,420 --> 00:12:58,260 So you're building them up personally, you're building their resume, but they're not taking 214 00:12:58,260 --> 00:13:01,040 the resume and moving on to the next contractor. 215 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,720 Well, it seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? 216 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:04,940 It kind of does. 217 00:13:04,940 --> 00:13:07,280 That's why I wanted us to have this conversation. 218 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,720 And when I have this conversation with other business owners, they're like, why would I 219 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:11,720 want to build their resume? 220 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:13,720 They'll go work somewhere else. 221 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:14,720 Exactly. 222 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,440 It's a big fear for a contractor. 223 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:25,240 Well, the communication I'm having with our employees is if your employer is not building 224 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,120 your resume, you shouldn't be there. 225 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:29,200 Right? 226 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:36,200 So we are continuously building it and we're showing you that we are. 227 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:41,240 Are you confident that's going to happen wherever you go? 228 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:45,040 And in every case, the answer is no, I'm not confident. 229 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:49,840 And so I think we get a lot more retention that way. 230 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,560 And then we've had people when they leave, we don't really have a lot of the issues I 231 00:13:54,560 --> 00:14:02,040 think many companies have with people going to work for other companies or competitors. 232 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,640 We're pretty friendly competitors in the market. 233 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,880 We see it more as a race than a war. 234 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:14,080 And sometimes we haven't had a position and technicians wanted to move up in that area 235 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,640 and we just didn't have it available and they wanted to go do something else. 236 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,920 Well, you know, we're supportive. 237 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:26,640 You know, if you can't do it here, we're going to help you get to the next level there. 238 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:32,280 Many of those people have come back over time. 239 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:37,440 Not because it wasn't okay at the other company, but because they knew now that they got a 240 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,720 little experience in that we'd take their resume a little bit further. 241 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:45,640 We're building their personal and professional resume and portfolio at the same time. 242 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,480 So there's buy in. 243 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:54,880 So a lot of people, if you're not aware, I'm very much about branding and keeping a consistent 244 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,720 feel within a brand. 245 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:02,480 And part of that is Gen Z in particular are very much brand oriented. 246 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:09,660 So if you're building a brand and you're building an individual as part of that brand, you build, 247 00:15:09,660 --> 00:15:16,040 you weave a connection between the individual and the brand. 248 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,760 And that's why this philosophy is so much different than ones that we have seen in the 249 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:20,760 past. 250 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:26,380 Even for myself, I know that there were opportunities in my career development that were hindered 251 00:15:26,380 --> 00:15:29,120 because people didn't want me to leave. 252 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:36,440 And so I was at times plateaued and would have to find ways for continued personal development. 253 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:42,480 So you're promoting the individual to self-reflect on themselves actually. 254 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:43,480 Yeah. 255 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,280 I mean, a little bit. 256 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,160 People don't think about the resume right until they need it. 257 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,420 Yeah, exactly. 258 00:15:50,420 --> 00:15:56,720 So if you're talking about it a lot and you're making them aware that this is the goal, this 259 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:58,320 is what we're trying to do. 260 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,560 Because we know if we build their resumes, they'll be more powerful for us, right? 261 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,720 And that's really occurred. 262 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:09,400 So we have a lot of talented technicians and you're right. 263 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:10,720 They want to build their brand. 264 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,240 Many of our technicians post what they do on social media. 265 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:20,160 Of course, they're very conscious about where they are and in what customer and not pushing 266 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:25,400 brands out there and things that our customers might object to. 267 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:31,240 But the things that they can show are usually helps for other technicians because they've 268 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:32,560 caught the bug. 269 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,480 They're helping other technicians build their resumes as well. 270 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,880 We're talking about a generation that thrives on success and building up others. 271 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,480 That is a beauty of this generation. 272 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:49,840 Very different than my own generation where you built yourself up and you got past others. 273 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:51,920 That was a very common feel in my generation. 274 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,680 Well, now we have a generation that's very different. 275 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:55,680 Yeah. 276 00:16:55,680 --> 00:17:02,120 Well, if you look at how the generations compare, you know, I look at millennials and Gen Z 277 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,960 as already networked. 278 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:05,960 Right. 279 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,120 They're already networked. 280 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:09,680 They're already connected together. 281 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:16,440 Many times technician in my age group, I'm 57 and I'm a Gen Xer, but many people in my 282 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,520 age group, when they tend to find a new or more efficient way to fix something, you know, 283 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,600 they'll kind of stick that in their pocket and hold it here as part of their value. 284 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:26,600 Right. 285 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:27,600 Yeah. 286 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,200 And that's not true with millennials and Gen Z. 287 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:36,600 As soon as they learn something, they're posting on Snapchat and Facebook and well, probably 288 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,200 not Facebook, but Instagram or whatever they're using. 289 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:41,680 They're not standard us old fogies. 290 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,760 And they're networked together, which means they're learning faster. 291 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,480 From each other. 292 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:53,920 We use this little free app called Marco Polo, you know, and our more senior technicians 293 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:58,680 post tips and tricks and things for other technicians on there. 294 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,920 And they look at that and it's kind of internal. 295 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,760 It's not really shared out with the world. 296 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:04,760 Okay. 297 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,480 But we've kind of in the past two years, we've really been transitioning from that internal 298 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,920 to kind of getting it out there externally. 299 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:17,440 The service industry as a whole is just a really great industry to be in, you know, 300 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,520 and at all levels. 301 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:25,560 I don't care whether you're working on cars or industrial food processing equipment. 302 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,120 I've had some time in that as well. 303 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:33,920 It's just amazing to see all the opportunity out there. 304 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,600 You know, it's surprising to me because I've been doing it since I was 19, right? 305 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,960 That people can't see all the opportunity to me. 306 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:43,880 It's just all low hanging fruit. 307 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,040 It's hard to fathom, isn't it? 308 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:47,040 Yeah. 309 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:53,980 And I hope today I'm encouraging somebody to look a little bit deeper into the service 310 00:18:53,980 --> 00:19:00,480 industry and find a spot for yourself and come grow, you know, in one of these service 311 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,440 industries and even ours is a great one. 312 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:05,440 Yeah. 313 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,320 It's been a wonderful voyage for me. 314 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:13,320 I do believe that I was able to hone my communication skills being in service. 315 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:14,960 I truly do. 316 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,000 You know, that's where you learn how to speak to people professionally and you take the 317 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,400 good and you take the bad because not every job is perfect. 318 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,760 So we learn a lot in the service industry. 319 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:32,640 I really am digging the entire, let's relook at our business plan and build a culture first, 320 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,400 build the culture they will come. 321 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:35,400 Yep. 322 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:45,200 I think, you know, we're working on a new program to really try to improve our profitability. 323 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:50,400 You know, all companies are trying to do that, but we're trying to get as many people involved 324 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,080 helping us because this is another resume building opportunity. 325 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:55,080 Sure. 326 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:00,880 Participating in this initiative to just build a more profitable company. 327 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,800 I would love to see a resume of someone that's been at your company for a year or two. 328 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,560 It would probably change a person's perspective on writing their own resume. 329 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,640 Yeah, I hope so. 330 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:21,840 I hope they're taking the learning that they're taking in here and really thinking about what 331 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,840 that means to their future. 332 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:25,840 Exactly. 333 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:26,840 All right. 334 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:33,760 Well, Roger, wow, that's a lot of wonderful information on building a culture, recruiting 335 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:39,640 and retaining really based on personal and professional development within the culture 336 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:40,640 of a company. 337 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,960 And I see this as being a growing trend. 338 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:44,600 We've already seen the success of it. 339 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:51,640 I doubt that there's any contractors out here that say they have a surplus of quality technicians 340 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,560 and you've achieved that. 341 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:59,680 So grateful to have you here, grateful for the education and man, look forward to some 342 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,400 further conversations down the road. 343 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:02,400 All right. 344 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:03,400 Fantastic. 345 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:13,440 I'm happy to be in with you.