Their Own Beat – Millennials

One day, a teacher took notice and tested his ability. He said to me, “‘Clint, I think you are ambidextrous.’ He pulled out a pair of drumsticks from his desk and asked me to play with them, which I did, and then he said, ‘I think you are a drummer.’ This changed the direction of my life forever.”

It was the first time anyone had taken his problem and given it a positive purpose. Fast forward to adulthood, Pulver made a career being a professional drummer for over 20 years, playing with top headlining fellow musicians, and has appeared on America’s Got Talent and in several feature films. He founded the UVU Drumline known as the Green Man Group, which he directed for six years and went on to direct the Drumline for the NBA’s Utah Jazz until 2015.

Now, as the president and founder of The Center for Employee Retention, Pulver transforms how corporations create lasting loyalty through his workforce research

as “The Undercover Millennial,” and his latest book, I Love It Here: How Great Leaders Create Organizations Their People Never Want to Leave, establishing himself as a leading authority on the subject.

Pulver strongly believes that a single moment in time can change a person’s life. We caught up with him to discuss this and how it can change a leader’s view of the generational workforce.

How has your former teacher’s discovery of your penchant toward drumming influenced your work in workforce development?

One person decided to advocate for me. One person got to the heart of me. It took this teacher some time to figure me out, but his discovery made a lasting influence on my life. I began to experience my ‘best self’ and I performed better as a student.

In my current work, I have proven that successful workforce retention is where you create an environment where people want to be with you. You advocate for them and help them be their best self. As a leader, you need to ask, “What do people experience when they are around me?” Your answer can create loyalty or mistrust.

 

Explain your work as “The Undercover Millennial?”

For four years, I went undercover in hundreds of organizations, interviewing thousands of people. I would go into an organization looking for a job. In that process, I would ask workers, “What’s it like to work here.” They would tell me everything; people like to communicate their truth. That is the magic of all the research.

I would go from employee to employee, and I heard, ‘I love my job, I love my manager,

I love the culture, the customers,’ as common positive responses. I dug further to see what the truth was behind those responses. Why did people thrive in these environments?

Then, I also heard the opposite, like, ‘run from here – management is horrible,’ ‘drug deals happen here daily,’ ‘bosses abuse employees,’ or ‘bosses are mean.’ Some people indicated they stayed only because they felt they didn’t have anywhere else to go due to criminal records and such.

There were very interesting responses with many common denominators from which I wrote my book.

Ultimately, the goal is to help organizations retain, engage, and inspire their team members from the front desk to the board rooms and everyone in between. Navigating generational complexities, communication challenges, leadership missteps, and culture cues are the crux of my work.

What are the most interesting things for employers to know that you learned undercover?

People have a love-hate relationship with their jobs. When they hate it, they speak about the manager. When they love it, they talk about their mentor. No employee ever said they loved their job because the manager is amazing at time efficiency.

Mentorship is unique; it is something that cannot be given by leaders to employees. Mentorship must be earned from employees to leaders. People will decide if you are a mentor to them and invite you in as a voluntary act.

To earn this trust, mentors must act as advocates and be seen as leaders who can connect people to their dreams. Like any good story, the hero (the employee) works to overcome an obstacle, then a mentor (the manager) appears in the storyline to offer wisdom, compassion or guidance to resolution.

When I asked people, “why do you work here,” they would say things like, “I stay here because of Susie. For 15 years, I worked for her and she was instrumental in my life.”  Can people say that about you?

 

What are the characteristics of a great leader that inspired people to love their work?

There are five areas that I found incredibly important that help employees connect with supervisors and companies. They are The Five C’s:

Confidence – Confident people instill confidence in others. There is something that makes people feel empowered when they work for confident managers.

Credibility – Managers that have some influence in their industry is something that employees admire.

Competence – It is important that an employee sees a manager/mentor as a practitioner of the work, not just a theorist. They want to see that they are capable of doing the work that is being required, or at least have working knowledge on it.

Candor – Honesty and openness creates trust which establishes strong working relationships. The ability to make deposits and withdrawals into a worker is made possible through frank expression. Be clear, set standards, and manage expectations.

Care – Genuine concern is very easy to recognize, as is the flipside. The moment we stop caring, we break employee-employer relationship trust.

 

What is your best advice for companies to navigate generational complexities as generations collide at the workplace?

In flight school, pilots learn that every airplane has an operational manual. All the data for that plane is in that manual. Yet, a good pilot knows that there is no substitute for getting in and flying the airplane.

When managing generations at work, there are expert resources that suggest, ‘five things to attract millennials,’ and lists ski passes for everyone, game rooms, free lunch, and things like this. Yet, there is no magic formula to millennials. There are motivated ones and lazy ones, just like any other generation in the workforce.

In my research of over 10,000 people interviewed, the moment we look at people as a generation, instead of as individuals, we lose the ability to apply The Five C’s.

While each generation has their tendencies, which might define certain benefits they might enjoy over others, there is no one size fits all approach. Mentorship transcends all generations. The world is changing, and it may change our perspective. But basic human values remain – the need to be heard, understood, respected, and grow with purpose and pride.

Unfortunately for companies, the “manage the individual” style seems like too much effort; this approach takes time. But so does interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees. Why not spend a little extra time on your current employees and retain them?

Companies want personality assessments and color code tests to group people and manage and reward them as groups. Instead, at their individual assessments why not ask, “Why did you join the company and why do you stay? What can we do better?” Listen to the people; they will tell you more than an assessment.

 

What are common communication challenges in the workforce management?

I think it all starts at top in the “C” suite. There is a real value for people to be seen and heard. Status interviews start with senior level managers, then mid-level managers, etc. Explain “this is how the company operates” and make sure they understand the kind of culture you want to build. It is a living breathing entity with living breathing individuals doing the work. Create the company from the top down so that people will think twice about leaving.

In the annual employee review process, change the communications angle. Why not say, “We can’t do this without you. The contributions you have made are valuable. What can I do to keep you here?” So many employees never hear this … yet they should.

As management, your job is to remove obstacles so they can be successful in their work. Ask, “What is getting in the way of your work?” Maybe they need new tools. Maybe they need a bus pass to get to work on time, a flexible schedule, or upgraded software.

Ask them, “What can I do to help connect you to your dreams?” Maybe it is more training, college night classes. Maybe they want a new career. While they are working for you, help them get to the next level. They will be leaving anyway, and this will make them more productive and appreciative while they work for you!

In the rare instance they ask for a pay raise that cannot be given, be honest. Tell them, “I cannot do a 20% raise in pay, but I know you love to fish. What if we give you off on Wednesdays during fishing season?” Or, “I know you just had a baby, what if we allow you to work two days a week at home.”

 

Where is the workforce going in the future?

I believe we are headed for the biggest job churn in economic history. In 2020, everyone was grateful just to have a job. We are now coming out of it successfully.

People will forever remember how you treated them in 2020 during COVID-19. Everyone had to work differently during the pandemic. Workers now see more opportunity to get jobs in other places, without moving! They can live in California, and work in New York.

Employers need to ditch generational stereotypes of their employees and build a company that all individuals are proud to play a part.

 

In working to do this, what are the top leadership missteps from your perspective?

There are four types of managers and they operate on, or lack, two things: Standards and connections.

1. The Removed Manager. This person is low on both; creates disengagement in the workforce; and leaves people with no incentive to work harder.

• The Buddy Manager. High on connection, low on standards. They are more about friendship. Employees get frustrated with the need for more leadership.

• The Controller Manager. High on standards, low on connections. The typical employee reaction is rebellion and push back. The manager attitude is, ‘You get a paycheck, do your job.’ This is a toe-to-toe relationship, not shoulder-to-shoulder.

• The Mentor Manager. Has both standards and connections. They need a good job to be done; yet recognize that a person with a heart (and a life outside of work) is doing the work. They show empathy, but also enforce quality, processes and production.

Becoming a mentor manager is the most beautiful thing to see. It was earned. It is a voluntary choice of an employee.

Create an environment where people choose to work harder for you because of who you are. It is a hard concept to implement, and when it is achieved, it is amazing.

Be patient, and always be recruiting. Have employees refer friends or people in their circles. Everyone enjoys working with people they like, know and trust.

 

What about attracting employees to an industrial setting like automotive recycling?

In this setting, I would shift over to words POTENTIAL and WORTH.

On potential, communicate personal growth opportunities if there is no way to go up the ladder. Every employee can enroll in financial growth classes or get free marriage counseling, parenting classes, or negotiation training. Grow people to be better people.

Find out what matters to a potential employee and create a plan for them. Maybe they need to learn better English, how to buy a car, how to invest, or wellness initiatives. Maybe they need later shifts in order to manage childcare with a working spouse.

The component where managers fail most often in retention: Follow up. Purposefully circle back in one, three, or six months and informally check on the employee’s welfare from time to time.

On worth, there should be ongoing communication to ensure your employees feel seen, heard and understood. This includes more personalized recognition. Vocal praise is important. Annual awards with trophies or monthly shout outs also go a long way. Saying ‘we appreciate you’ is the #1 thing asked for by employees and #1 thing that was not being given according to my research.

On pay, you have to evaluate to whom you can give a raise. Money matters. Intangible perks can only go so far.

If your employees are not seen, heard and rewarded, they will go somewhere that they are seen, heard and rewarded the first chance they get.

Most of us have that one person, a teacher or a boss, that made a life-altering impact on us. Be that person to others. Be the company that creates pride in an employee’s life’s work.

Caryn Smith is the editor of Automotive Recycling magazine, and has been covering the industry for over 20 years. She is a freelance writer for industry publications, such as Recycling Today.