Human ROI: Noting the progress of a Gen Z manufacturing intern

Watching Iowa-based Gen Z student Seth Feldman progress from doing basic jobs to intern to young professional in the skilled trades shows that real ROI lies in the people you nurture.

In October 2020, we hired Seth Feldman, a college sophomore who had just decided that a four-year degree wasn’t in the cards for him.

You may remember my writing about Seth in July 2021. He worked at our fab shop and our farm throughout high school and, like many students his age, had followed in the footsteps of his parents and older siblings by enrolling in a bachelor’s program after high school.

And, like many students, remote learning during COVID made him question the value of a four-year degree and whether he even wanted that career path. So, he quit.

Luckily, we knew Seth and had stayed in touch. When he left school, we immediately offered him a job at our shop while he sorted things out. In January 2021, we put him into our internship program, and he started school at a community college. In March 2021, he was part of a labor panel at the FMA Leadership Summit discussing millennials and Gen Z in the manufacturing sector.

Then I wrote a column in the July/August 2021 issue of this publication about our first six months of experience with Seth, our internship program, and onboarding other young people into our business.

Seeing how far Seth has come since then reminds me that watching your people succeed is the best ROI that a business owner could ask for.

College Graduate

After leaving the University of Iowa, Seth did not want to continue college. His time there during COVID had not been positive and had left him questioning the value of education versus work experience.

My husband convinced him to at least complete a two-year degree. We feel young adults need something after high school—an associate degree, a journeyman’s program, an apprenticeship. Something. There is value in education beyond high school.

For example, Seth took a speech class, which helped him when he entered his sales rotation. He successfully completed his associate degree on time with good grades. Now, he has the option to continue if he finds a field of study that interests him.

Successful Full-Time Employee

Upon graduating, Seth joined us full time. To say that he has been a valuable addition to the team would be a tremendous understatement.

After completing rotations in all departments—office administration, sales and marketing, shop floor, logistics—he was well-qualified to lead various facets of our business. He started as a sales rep and added half a dozen corporate accounts in his first six months. Using experience he gained from the shop floor, he quickly earned the customers’ trust, and the business grew.

With Seth’s account management skills and shop floor expertise, it made sense for him to take on more responsibilities, and we put him in charge of a major portion of the business six months ago. He has increased efficiencies and profitability, shortened lead times, and grown his accounts.

In my first column, I wrote about Seth’s experience leading our high school football team to the state quarterfinals as quarterback. We knew he had leadership potential, and it has been fun to watch his skills transition to the professional environment.

Expanding Our Reach

Bottom line, Seth has been a huge success, and we couldn’t be prouder of him. Our experience with him has motivated us to add more young adults to our team, and we are now engaged with a high school work-study program.

We have a high school student welding full time during the summer, and he will complete his program as a part-time employee during his senior year. He is interested in engineering but also is considering options that allow him to get into a hands-on position sooner.

In addition, we have made a more conscious effort to recruit and interview Gen Z candidates. They have offered positive attitudes, a willingness to try new things, coachability, a good work ethic, and a focus on teamwork. They enhance our culture and make our shop better.

Retention

Will Seth stay? Maybe, maybe not. He is young, skilled, and will have a lot of opportunities to do whatever he wants. We want our shop to be a career, not a job, so we are constantly working on our attractiveness to individuals from all demographics.

Specifically related to Gen Z and younger adults, we focus on giving them authority, autonomy, flexibility in their work schedule, training, and opportunities to travel and have experiences in the manufacturing industry. We have sent Seth to several FMA events and plan to increase his exposure this year.

Some of these things are easy, and some take more effort (for example, implementing a flexible schedule), but it’s worth it. Whether Seth stays for many years or moves on to another opportunity, the investment has already been worth it.

We are working on a staffing pipeline to recruit more employees like Seth, and they will either work to fill the giant hole he leaves—or he will lead them.