Why does it seem to be human nature for us to refuse advice, help and in some cases flat out deny it? I have witnessed many young people enter our industry and then struggle needlessly. We have all seen it and anyone who has raised teenagers knows this to be the truth. As parents, we try to guide, give sound advice and our kids seem to simply ignore us. Don’t they know we mean the best for them? We want them to benefit from our mistakes, so why do they refuse to heed our sage advice? It appears they are headstrong, and bound and determined to learn it the hard way. They have to make the same mistakes we did—they just have to learn by trial and error. The redemption day does come, usually several years later when your kids are adults: they come to you and tell you they finally get it, they understand that you were right, way back then.
In the construction business, we have similar relationships. In some ways they are equally as important as parenting. When an apprentice starts in our trade, they are a clean slate. What they learn in the first years is critical and I believe can shape their career, this why a formal apprenticeship program for every skilled craft is vital to the survival of a trade. Formal training is important and most of us recognize that, but most forget mentorship. Most apprenticeship classes are only a few weeks a year at most—that means the bulk of the apprentice’s time is on the job, working with seasoned journeymen. Mentorship is the relationship your journeymen have with the apprentices. Not all journeymen are good mentors and it is the supervisor’s responsibility to pair apprentices with good mentors, if they want the company to survive into the future.