Women, Purpose, and Pay: The Honest Conversation Manufacturing Needs to Have, Ep #48

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Part two of a good conversation is where things usually get real. In this episode, I pick back up with Nush Ahmed and Brooke Laing from Sisterhood of Trades, and we get into the questions most shop owners quietly wonder about but rarely say out loud: why more women aren’t walking through the door, what it actually looks like to attract them, and whether our instinct to “just hire good people” is actually enough.

One of the things that struck me in this conversation is how simple some of the answers are. Women aren’t applying to manufacturing jobs in large numbers not because they don’t want to work in a shop, but because many of them have no idea what manufacturing even is as a career option. Visibility is the entry point. And social media, whether you’re comfortable with TikTok or not, is where that visibility happens today. If your shop isn’t showing up where the next generation is spending time, you’re not even in the conversation.

We also got real about what the next generation is actually looking for, and it’s more nuanced than just higher wages. Purpose matters. Acknowledgment matters. The small things, a “good job” at the end of a shift, a manager who notices when someone puts in extra effort, carry more weight than I expected. That said, we had an honest conversation about total compensation, and I think every business owner who has ever been frustrated by someone turning down a job offer because the hourly rate was a dollar short will find something useful in where that conversation went.

We also touched on transparency, specifically what happens when shop owners start being honest with their teams about the economics of running a business. The response is usually not what you’d expect. Most people, when they actually understand the numbers, become more invested, not less. That’s a management insight worth sitting with.

This is one of those episodes where I walked away having learned something. And when that happens, I like to share it.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…

(0:00) Welcome back and kicking off Part 2 with Nush and Brooke from Sisterhood of Trades
(1:35) Why the next generation values purpose as much as a paycheck (and what that means for hiring)
(4:55) How showing up at industry events creates real connections across generations
(6:24) Your buyers have technical questions. Navu delivers reliable, accurate answers. Learn more at Navu.co/MakingChips
(7:35) The visibility problem: women don’t enter manufacturing because most don’t know it’s an option
(10:10) Why your shop’s social media presence is a recruiting tool whether you use it that way or not
(13:07) Show women doing the real work: why representation on social media drives applications
(17:42) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
(18:57) The positive reinforcement gap and why a simple “good job” can keep someone in the trades
(20:54) Can you give hard feedback if you’re not giving positive feedback first?
(23:33) Why clean bathrooms are a better judge of company culture than most shop owners realize
(24:58) Why we love the quality of SMW Autoblok workholding
(25:45) Healthcare benefits and why total compensation matters more than the number on an offer letter
(33:59) Why being transparent about shop economics helps workers understand what owners are dealing with
(37:46) Closing the generational gap: what both sides actually need to do to connect
(42:37) How to find Sisterhood of Trades and connect with Nush and Brooke

Resources Mentioned

Your buyers have technical questions. Navu delivers reliable, accurate answers. Learn more at Navu.co/MakingChips
Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
Why we love the quality of SMW Autoblok workholding

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