This week on the show we're talking about something most business owners never think about until they can't find people to hire the pipeline. Tom Hermann is an educator who spent 24 years as a principal and now works on connecting schools with businesses through experiential learning. And he's got something important to tell you.

There's a massive gap between what schools teach and what the real world actually looks like. No amount of videos or lectures can bridge that. A student can learn construction theory in a classroom, but until they're 25 feet up in the air on an actual job site with nothing to grab, they don't really know what it's like. That's where you come in.

The shift happening right now in education is that schools finally understand they can't do it alone. They need businesses to open their doors. Not for a year-long commitment. Not for a massive time investment. For a half day. An hour. Even just a conversation. Let a teacher walk your facility for 30 minutes so they can go back and tell students about the real work happening in their own community.

But here's the bigger piece when you bring people into your organization, whether they're students or new hires, they need to understand they belong to something bigger than their job. They need to see the whole picture, not just their task. And they need to know there's a path forward. That sense of belonging and purpose matters more than the paycheck now.

Highlights:

There's a gap between school and work that experience is the only way to bridge.
Most schools need businesses to help. The commitment level is very low start small.
New employees need to understand how their role fits into the bigger picture.
Belonging and purpose matter more to younger workers than the paycheck.
Clear growth paths and "what's next" conversations change retention dramatically.
Your best recruitment tool is your local school.

Make sure to subscribe to Blue Collar BS where we talk about the things most don't want to talk about so we can help move the trades forward. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear real conversations from people actually working in the trades today.

Helpful Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQZokbCmCkg&authuser=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMu4ySZKVZE&authuser=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wd0J-Uk9Eo&authuser=0

Get in touch with Tom:

Phone - 262-497-6351

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