Last week I attended the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association annual Business of Boating conference. I thought beforehand “Another industry get together. Predictable attendees. Predictable presentation. But you got to be there”. I am very glad I went. Yes, there were some people I expected to see, and I did hear some updates which sounded like last year (although they were updates because things had changed – the regulatory environment is a nightmare!). Yet the takeways were valuable. I made copious notes (and will share some gems with you below), however the snippets of interesting and useful knowledge you gain are no match for the networking and sharing of experiences with the other attendees. My hat is off to Randall Lyons and the MMTA for organizing another great event, and for facilitating the opportunity for the industry to simply come together and talk to each other. It did wonders for me and I’ve come away inspired and fired up….hence this blog.
Firstly we thank the sponsors. I have been there, in the NZ Marine Industry, leaning on firms to contribute to events like this. It is a testament to the MMTA team, as well as the industry in Massachusetts, that there were over thirty sponsors of the event. Many of the lead sponsors (3A Marine, Massachusetts Marine Industry Trades Educational Trust, NMMA, Safe Harbor and ABYC Foundation) are familiar names to me as they also kick in and support the business I am in, namely ‘workforce development”. But more on that later.
Now a quick set of “lessons learned” from the various presenters. I made two dozen pages of notes, but will extract a few comments or words of advice that really stuck.
Jamy Buchanan raced through countless tweaks and updates to state and federal regulations that affect particularly those working near waterfront. This can be a dry topic and of questionable relevance to those not grappling with these issues daily. It does however, help those of us outside this “game” appreciate what is required to cope with conflicting rules and guidelines and even if it’s not your core focus, it is valuable to see what others do. Among the details of Chapter 91 licenses and when a MEPA review is triggered were some simple words of advice that have application in all of our lives. “Personalities matter. You must speak respectfully to the government inspector”. Jamy laid out a number of strategies for dealing with authority, including the importance of being prepared, and remembering their job is not to consult or advise. But this line sits at the top of the list and is easy to forget when you are frustrated by the message...not the messenger.
I cross paths with Steve Kitchin of New England Institute of Technology a number of times a year, and was expecting to see the same presentation he has hammered out previously regarding the underlying demographics of the workforce, and the implications it has for the industry. The message is not a surprise – you can expect to have trouble finding (skilled) workers. We all “know this”, but Steve backs up the perception with hard data, and continues to add to his case. The new graph which really hit me between the eyes pointed out that in 2009 for every job vacancy there were 7.2 workers available. This ratio has been dropping consistently and is now at 0.88 workers for every job offering.
Job offerings tripled in that time, but a “perfect storm” of demographics, changes in technology, and globalization has produced this imbalance between supply and demand in the workforce market. There were a lot more statistics (and I doubt any lies…although the two can go hand in hand), which painted a picture of doom. However Steve was adamant that we could do something locally. His must remember quote was “Do kids in high school even know about the opportunities in the marine industry ?” He went on to explain they are bombarded by other industries and professions and our industry can get lost in the noise. The message was clear: It is up to us to tell (sell) kids that we are in a high tech, modern industry that’s worth their attention.
Pam Lendizon, Executive Director of ABBRA (American Boat Builders and Repairers Association) is also known to me (she sits on The Landing School board of trustees), so I was prepared for her messages. She presented twice, first addressing the key soft skills we often overlook in our “workforce training”. It’s critical that in addition to knowing how to sharpen a chisel or catalyze resin, or change a filter, we develop and foster an “all in” culture, with leaders at all levels. We’ve all heard these leadership presentations, with emphasis on culture, and vision, and purpose, and “knowing your people”. So why don’t we implement the lessons learnt? Hearing Pam speak passionately about this subject, and from a background in our industry made it all more relatable. I loved the quote “To lead people you need to do the right thing. To manage them you do the thing right”. Which set the stage nicely for her afternoon presentation about Training the Trainers. If you are going to up-skill your workers in house, and teach them to both “do the thing right” and “do the right thing”, you need to be proactive, planned and deliberate about designing a training program and supporting it with training for the staff who will be implementing it.
Randall saved the best for last. No disrespect for the earlier presenters, but I had to award Liz Walz of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) a ten out of ten for her rapid fire talk that left me speechless. I literally just thought, “Wow” at the end of it. I’m from a sales background and have attended numerous conferences where I must have heard just about everything before. This time, the presentation was titled “Adapting to a Changing Customer.” What could possibly be new to an old dog like me? Well, the answer lies in the title. The customers are changing, and we need to adapt and change too. Today’s technology – everyone is online, all the time spent on smartphones – has raised the standards expected. The way customers behave (example: extensive pre-purchase research) is different. And their desire for a shopping “experience” is new. But they continue to want and value trustworthy information, personalization and convenience. What do we need to do to cope with these changing customers? Liz offered countless “to do’s” (I filled up pages of notes) that we can adopt in order to build a deeper relationship with the customer across our organization from sales to service (in my case, recruitment to teaching). I came away realizing the path The Landing School is on to know our students, industry partners, alumni, and donors better is exactly what we need to do to adapt to the new customer. I have a list of things to do in order to help make this happen, many of which are available on MRAA.com – a great online resource.
The pace quickened as Randall knew he’d need to keep it lively in the last hour. Becky Pineo from DockWa, Margaret Podlich of ABYC Foundation and Joe Maniscalco from Yamaha all got a short period to share their wisdom, and lay out “The Road Ahead”. I don’t get social media…yet. I am trying to learn, and Becky’s pointers really did help me understand what we need to do. The critical takeway was to “build your own in-house database...and use your own voice”. It can be so confusing that you outsource the activity, but you need to own it. Margaret took some of us back to 2000, and highlighted things that have changed (in addition to our customers). For me, coming from this area, the change in America’s Cup boat types was most stark, but similar revolutions have happened to the pontoon or center console market. Today’s models look nothing like they did twenty years ago.
In this context, following up on Liz’s talk, she reminded us to think of our customer and what it is we are actually selling. Why would you go boating? Her take, leaning on “The Blue Mind” by Jay Wallace, is that the “Marine Industry provides calm in the most stressed country”. As we worry about impeachment, rising health care costs, student debt, corona virus, etc, the boating experience we are collectively selling is the calm many are looking for in a world of worries. Finally, Joe rounded out the day with the true story of a guy who started in the industry as a technician and has made a career out of it. What’s more, he and Yamaha are providing a pathway for others to follow with an apprenticeship program that runs right through to Master Technician.
His message, which really resonated, was that you need to fill the front end of this program if you want workers to come out the back end and meet the demand Steve talked about. He urged us all to “Go to your local high school’s professional career day…and tell them what wonderful opportunities await them in the marine industry”.
That was the conference content, delivered by PowerPoint, by a group of enthusiastic instructors. As a “teaching method” it works…for some. There are those who are attentive, and can make notes and recall some lessons learnt. What I am learning in this teaching business is this sort of presentation format doesn’t work for many. Indeed our educator Steve Kitchin got us all to engage by standing up and doing an “open the other guy’s fist” exercise. We know students (and ourselves) get so much more out of doing, and talking to others who have been doing, than by sitting and listening. Which is where the real value of a Business of Boating Conference lies. These great presentations set the stage, laid out some interesting challenges and got us thinking. The learning happened between presentations when we met and chatted with others about their experiences.
MMTA attracted ten schools to the event. I shared problems (and solutions) with at least half of them. I sat on a table with a small third generation family owned boatyard and contemplated what the industry would look like as the yard ownership model changed and what that would mean for the skills we need to instill in our students for them to be successful. I met with John Adey and his ABYC team, and was roped in (I volunteered) to take on the composite demonstration during their summer conference in Annapolis. Steve Kitchin gave me insights into the pitfalls of running short courses. I tapped a supplier with a booth for samples for the school. None of this was advertised as part of the conference and I didn’t come expecting to cover these issues with others. Rather, it was facilitated by the simple exercise of getting us all in a room, introducing thought-provoking speakers, creating an environment where we could think outside the box and allowing us to do the rest ourselves.
The theme through this, as well as in many other conferences, is the issues around workforce, which is of course close to my heart. This month’s Boating Industry magazine had results of a number of surveys. To the question “How concerned are you about the following challenges to the boating industry” two answers garnered 80% of the respondent thinking the issue was very important or important – “affordability” and “workforce challenges”. It is a real problem, and to the credit of MMTA and others, it is being talked about. But, we need to do more to make the future different.
Collectively we do a lot to promote participation in boating (Go Boating, Take a Kid Fishing) which drives demand. I think the industry needs to more actively promote participation in the industry. Kitchin said “we could do things at the local level to address the worker shortage”and one thing that stands out is simply to promote employment in the industry, with an opportunity to do meaningful work and have fun. In order to deliver more skilled workers to the market, The Landing School, IYRS and similar marine colleges, along with Yamaha, NEIT and others in the marine training business really need more students. The industry can help with this. I mentioned at the outset the support The Landing School receives from a number of players who also were supportive of this conference. Support doesn’t have to be financial (although we always welcome donations!). Help us to help you, by helping young (and not so young) see a future in the industry as a trained technician, boatbuilder or designer. It could be as simple as attending your local high school’s professional career day.