CANCUN, Mexico - With workforce and skills development listed as a top concern by the wood manufacturing industry, finding employees, training them, and getting them to stay was a recurrent theme at the 2016 Wood Industry Conference. The final session was devoted to managing millennials. 

Woodworking Network publisher Tim Fixmer moderated the Manufacturing Executive Panel, featuring Perry Falls, vice president of manufacturing, at Dura Supreme Cabinetry; Todd Shapiror, Vice President, Decore-ative Specialties; and David Strickler, president, AP Lazer. 

ARTICLE Workforce skills and training dominate Wood Industry Conference 2016  Younger workers, who are often described as digital natives, have little patience for older managers who are technical Luddites, or a corporate setting that sports inadequate technical infrastructure.

The panel took as its jumping off point a presention the day prior by management expert Tim Moore. Moore talked about the inter-generational dynamics within  workforces as millenials arrive on the job.

He also addressed differing personal values and aspirations that distinguish Gen-X, Baby Boomers, and Millenials, and examined how to find the best candidates for positions, challenging managers to identify who is on their lifer list, and what ections they are taking to make sure they will stay.

The WIC 2016 Manufacturing Executive Panel picked up these themes, relating stories and sharing advice about negotiating the changing face of personnel practices in the real world of manufacturing,