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Sarah Sladek Q&A: Bridging the Generational Gap


By Carol Eaton CEO, best-selling author,


industry influencer, sought- after speaker, ground-breaking researcher – those are just a few of the descriptions frequently associated with Sarah Sladek, keynote speaker for AGC of California’s new annual conference, Construct. Sladek was a particularly


apropos headliner for AGC’s revamped “Construct” conference held in Newport Beach October 9-11, 2019. As a leading researcher of membership and employee engagement trends and bestselling author of multiple books on the topic, Sladek shared research insights uniquely tailored to the construction industry. Her dynamic, interactive address also helped formally introduce AGC’s newly launched Build California program to Construct attendees. Sladek began her career as a


journalist and then worked as media director for a membership association. She took on leadership roles early on and quickly became interested in the age gaps within organizations and their lack of planning for future generations. In 2002, she founded XYZ University, the nation’s first future-focused generational research and management consulting firm. California Constructor caught up


with Sarah Sladek recently to ask for her “big picture” thoughts on the future of the construction industry workforce, the dynamics driving it, and the solutions she sees in initiatives like Build California, with whom her company will be partnering to provide several training components. Following are excerpts.


12 November/December 2019


when we look at the construction industry, as an example, we can’t just stereotype and say, “oh those young people, they don’t want to get their hands dirty.” We have to really fully understand what has happened along the way and in their young lives to cause these challenges in workforce development and the lack of a talent pipeline.


California Constructor.


Q A


California Constructor.


Q A


A steady workforce pipeline is clearly a primary concern for AGC members. What are some of the major obser- vations that you have made based on your research about the state of today’s workforce and the drivers behind some of the changes that have taken place?


Sarah Sladek. In recent years we have seen


tremendous disruption, coming from a combination of things. It’s changing demographics. Changing economics. And changing technology. What we find is these three things combined have really influenced the genera- tions that have been coming of age during this disruption – their values, their behaviors, and their expectations of what they want from a career. So,


What else occurred to change this dynamic and reduce the pursuit of technical career trades?


Sarah Sladek.


Tere are a few things. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan requested a largescale national study of educational system. At that time, it was deemed that our education system curriculum was outdated and that we would have to make substantial changes to the curriculum in order to prepare our students to compete in an increasing


global economy. All of sudden the pendulum shifted and things like trades classes were cut from schools. Tere was a complete shift to focus on college credits. If you have an entire generation,


now going on two generations, who simply had not had exposure to the technical career paths in the school system we have to change that so that we’re able to build a workforce earlier. You have to start in the schools; that’s one piece of it. But you also have to look at what


else has happened in society outside of education. We’ve had big social change, technology being a piece of it. A horrific recession. We’ve had terrorism, including 9/11. For the generations that have come of age during this era, a lot has happened outside their control.


California Constructor


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