This post was created from Lindsey Schultz’s keynote to the Student and Young Professional Luncheon at AEMA
Mining is a unique industry full of smart, passionate professionals. SME has forecasted, though, that by 2029 more than half the current workforce will be retired.
Half!
That’s only seven short years from now and the exodus promises to leave a large skill and knowledge gap between our senior leadership and our entry-level professionals.
At the recent AEMA Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada, I had the chance to speak with mining students and early-stage professionals. I like speaking with young people because I feel I can help bridge the gap between the older generation and theirs, and because I’m in a unique position; I’m in the middle.
As that professional in the middle, I often hear from senior and entry-level employees why it’s difficult to communicate and work together effectively.
Our senior leaders have been doing this for a long time. They have a method, a network, and they know what works. However, they may not be as fluent on the tech side and have often been removed from the actual engineering for some time. They have high expectations and low patience for people with little experience.
Early-stage contributors tell me they feel as though they aren’t being heard that their ideas are left behind in favor of a more traditional way, and they’re intimidated to approach their senior workforce. They feel they don’t have the support to learn or are able to be in the field as often as necessary to get up to speed. They may not have had the internship opportunities or cross-training platforms afforded older generations.
There are tools to help overcome some of our generational and experiential differences.
CONNECT – BUILD TRUST – AND SAY YES!
CONNECT
Without a network to carry you forward life is a lot harder, so it’s critical to connect. But what does connection really mean?
It means speak up and be present, at work or at conferences.
Go to events, talk to everyone, and ask questions, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Join industry groups.
Find a mentor, formal or informal, to take you under their wing.
You can’t half-ass this one. Connecting once with no follow-up simply won’t work. Put in the time.
BUILD TRUST
Building trust is next. That starts with being your authentic self.
I talk to a lot of people each week, some of whom I can barely remember. Why? Because they read me their resume and quite frankly, I was bored.
But you know who I do remember? I remember the person who tells me they’d really like to find a job where they can ski, play with their horses or where there are more than two bars in the vicinity. That’s an example of being authentically you. Be you.
Share stories. Invite your boss or your mentor to lunch, or have coffee with someone new in the office. Ask questions. I promise they’ll share a story you will love or learn something from or both. We have a lot to learn from each other – our industry is a colorful group. Do that – then pay it forward.
Offer help. Perhaps extend yourself (without ego) to your supervisor for a problem you can help solve with the technology they’re unfamiliar with. Be of service and always make yourself useful!
SAY YES
The third step? Say yes. Again, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Pushing your capacity helps build your reputation and can open doors.
Your boss isn’t going to ask you over and over again for assistance, or to be on a team, or to help them solve a problem. Take the meeting, answer the phone call and go to the networking event. You may only get one chance.
Sometimes saying yes means you fail.
Failure happens.
If you fail though, fail forward, meaning you learn something from it.
Failure generates motivation, creativity and resilience. Those are all qualities an employer wants to see.
Lastly, your mother was right. Honor your commitments. Under promise and overdeliver, pay it forward and say thank you. Your reputation should always be a priority. Our industry is small and your reputation precedes you.
We have the amazing challenge of helping the world move toward electrification and decarbonization, but we need to attract new people to our industry at all experience levels.
We need to build the next generation of mining professionals and bridge the gap to build diverse and inclusive teams.
CONNECT – BUILD TRUST – AND SAY YES!
Connecting, building trust and saying yes will go a long way toward that. In this industry, it may have never been more important than right now.
If you’re looking to make a career change, MRC can help connect with us or submit your resume.