Latest / The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast / Episode 335. 5 Tips for Moving Up In The Refrigeration Industry

Transcript

Episode 335. 5 Tips for Moving Up In The Refrigeration Industry · The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker: What's up everyone? Welcome to the Refrigeration Mentor Podcast once again, love having you here. Hopefully there's lots of learnings, value developed, networking through the podcast. Thank you all for reach notes, sending in your messages following. This is amazing. I love the community, the refrigeration community globally.
• 0:01
  How do we invest in ourself to grow, to help others, to bring others value? And that's really what our industry is, is bringing value to others. And the more value we bring to others, the more things that happen to us in our lives, in our careers, to get better, to grow. And I am so ex. Say to dive into this, because a lot of technicians that I, I deal with that come into the refrigeration mentor programs, if it's like a, a compressor program or a CO2 program or supermarket, they have goals like, and I ask them, there's one of the questionnaires that I put in a lot of the programs is, what are your goals for this program, but what is your long-term goals?
• 0:02
  I'm gonna talk about five different tips. There's lots more, but I think there's five things that really could help you. Start developing the, the habits and learning them now while you're a technician in the field to really get to that position you want. If it's a project manager role, if it's a sales role, if it's a designer engineer role, because honestly, the best people in those roles that I've seen globally.
• 0:03
  So if you're newer in the field, or even if you're. I've been in the field a a while. I think this will really help you if you wanna make that next step. 'cause this is about a career growth. It's about a, a journey. And this is what I try to talk about in a lot of the private programs and the, the professional development programs I do with contractors.
• 0:04
  As you transition even in, in, as a technician, you need to build leadership roles. You need to have. Strong communication skills. This is why we built a customer service training program in refrigeration Center because we know how valuable it it is. And when I was a technician, it was just figured it out.
• 0:05
  This is how we communicate. Different customers are gonna act, act this way, and you're gonna have different personalities. So that building, that leadership, those communications give is going to be a game changer. And how and how do you get better at this? You know, I think the first step is like volunteer to do like some small team meetings or toolbox talks is a really good one.
• 0:06
  So when they're talking to customers about. The products that they're purchasing or the, the services that we're doing. So they have an understanding of the refrigeration side. So you could even do it with office staff to really build that confidence and that clear communication could be just on the basics of refrigeration that you already know.
• 0:07
  That's how I get better. I keep trying and it's not perfect every time, but when you get into these different communities like say Toastmasters or getting into Dale Carnegie courses or other networking networking courses, or sorry, personal development courses, it's gonna really help. Develop that confidence and this is gonna help with your communication skills as well as that build that leadership because this is where you gotta start.
• 0:08
  And so these are the seven steps. And then you present that to them, and it could be as little as 10 minutes, you know, 5, 10, 15 minutes, and then all of a sudden get some feedback. Say, this is the way I was doing it. And I, I tried to take some advice from different people, you know, and this is kind of the plan I came up with, not them.
• 0:09
  It's all about practice. The best speakers in the world, why they're the best is 'cause they've done it thousands and thousands of the time and the first time they do it. You can hear all of them. You can. 'cause I listen to so many. When they first started doing it, they were terrible at it. That's it. They were, but some of them started a lot younger and they got the more reps.
• 0:10
  Maybe the, the late nights, the on calls, the in attics or in mechanical rooms just is not, not for, you've done it for five years. You're ready to make a transition or like me, when I start to have kids, I'm like, I knew I didn't wanna work the 80, 90 hours a week away. Like, I don't mind, I work 80 hours a week now lots of times, but I, I, I can schedule my time where I can see my kids and then a lot of it's after they're in bed or before they get, get up or, or while they're at school, so I can really schedule my time accordingly.
• 0:11
  'cause this is what so many businesses are looking for. I think the next one, number two, would be like understanding the basics of project management. Maybe tools and concepts, because this is it if you're, even if you're in sales, if you're in operation management, if you're in project management. You need to understand how the basics work in that, those principles of project management.
• 0:12
  And I used to do this when I worked at Emerson, now Copeland, I used to, when I was the national trainer, there. We would b break down some projects if we were like gonna do some trainers, build some trainers or train something in a tra build something inside, inside the, what they call the ILC, their learning center in Canada.
• 0:13
  And then if you are scattered and you don't understand how a project works in that time base, and you, a lot of you have seen, especially on the construction side, because you guys are, you guys got a timeline, okay, this week we gotta get this many cases out. This many cases in, we gotta run this many pipe.
• 0:14
  But that's where you have like little buffers and this is what that project manager is doing for those jobs and really should understand. Stay in that, and the ones that have that technical background can really understand because building hangers for, for example, that takes amount of time. So you're building all these hangers to put up into the, into the rafters.
• 0:15
  A lot. ? Like I gotta do, we gotta do a pm The PMs aren't, and end users too. The PMs aren't getting done properly. Well, a lot of times you're sending a new person who has never been trained or you're like, oh, it's an easy to just go flip the filters and go look at the coiler drain.
• 0:16
  But we see now with regulations where end users are. Fine and stuff like that for massive leaks in their stores or multiple leaks that they're focusing on that where now the store is getting, the store is starting the, the maintenance is starting to go down on the store and their performance scores start to go down because it's spent a lot of time on that versus actually doing the right preventative maintenance.
• 0:17
  It's more on the communications side side, but we, we can walk you through those processes and I'm working with some other businesses that this is what they're looking for as well as you can go into. Then we got the refrigeration mentor hub and you can ask questions@refrigerationmentor.com slash hub.
• 0:18
  You're getting out there and you're getting that technical knowledge, but you also need those. Those, that different avenue of management leading people. So getting and starting attending industry events is the biggest one, right? So I got, coming up, I got FMI coming up, I got the N-S-A-R-C is one that's more on the technical side, but that's still one to come in and talk with project managers and talk with eng engineers.
• 0:19
  Because meeting different people in the industry is really gonna help you and understanding what skills different people have, what they value, what these end users value, what the contractors value, what the different manufacturers value. And this gives you a really good opportunity to find mentors who can help guide you, you know, getting a.
• 0:20
  And every time I hear about it, it's great. But actually after I went, I was hooked. Like, I'm like, I need to, I need to go to this because this is where it's happening. This is where all the technology is. This is where all the experts are. This is where all the business owners are, end users, manufacturers.
• 0:21
  To meet people, meet technicians just like yourself, meet other other managers, meet engineers, designers, manufacturers, and this is what it is. Getting that industry knowledge, growing, that, getting the networking, because this is, it, it's, it's all about building those relationships. And as a technician, you can start even at the, just starting out.
• 0:22
  That's how you network, that's how you build relationships and that's how you get industry knowledge just by being there at certain events. And like I said, you gotta plan for these events. I gave you a ton of different names. Another one is take on small projects. I think this really builds your responsibilities beyond your technical role, beyond being a technician, taking on small projects.
• 0:23
  And I had a, a guy, Dan Daniel Farrah, shout out to him. Great guy from New Zealand. This guy is an up and comer in the industry. He's a rockstar already, but he came into our my first, it was my supermarket program or supermarket service program. First year in, he smashed it out, you know, he, he went in, he learned, he listened, he took the advice and went out there and actually applied it.
• 0:24
  What is those steps? How many hours do you guys get? What is gonna happen in, in those hours of that that preventative maintenance really? Or it could be doing an upgrade. So just say you're adding a VFD to a rack or a digital compressor to a rack, or something like that. How do I do that upgrade?
• 0:25
  Take on a project like that, be accountable for it, and then really try to crush it out of the park. That's what it is. And this is going beyond your usual duty. You know, this builds that confidence. And builds that experience that'll translate into these larger roles, these roles that, that these transitioning roles for yourself.
• 0:26
  Take a look at different courses. Certification that really align with your goals. You know, so if it is better at customer service, get into customer service courses, talk to your, your company and say, Hey, listen, refrigeration meant I got a customer service course to really help me have those communication skills with the customers.
• 0:27
  He, he went he was a technician, then he went in and worked at the manufacturer, knew it wasn't for him, then got into more of a management role, and I've been watching him. Taking all these certificates, taking all these extra, he didn't have to, he wasn't forced to do it, but he knew continue and his investment in his education would get him.
• 0:28
  And I think the first step, I was listening to Brian Tracy and he talks about this and many of the people that I follow in the professional development motivation is goals, right? You gotta write down those goals. What do you want? Yeah. You might be your, your goal right now is to be, have more confidence in troubleshooting systems, you know, electrically.
• 0:29
  But it, if you start now, this really helps. This is not, I really believe this is a good roadmap if you write down this stuff, this is a good roadmap on how to make that transition more simplify that, transition into more of that. That management role, and I really think those will really, really help.
• 0:30
  You gotta start even running your household on what you do as a business. 'cause you, like some of the technicians I I'm working with now, they're, they're making lots of money, but they're living paycheck to paycheck. 'cause I did it, I made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year over a hundred thousand dollars a year for many years and was still living paycheck to paycheck.
• 0:31
  Now. So if you understand this business acumen, this financial stuff, like how to budget those projects, how sales are made, really understanding how the sales are made because you as a technician are making the sales. So every, every product that you recommend that is actually helping the customer, the PM that you recommend, parts that you recommend to save the customer time and money and energy and product.
• 0:32
  So developing that financial business acumen and financial skills is going to be. Life changing for sure, not only in in your work life, but also in your personal life. Something that I'm finally getting a handle off after over 40 years of being on this planet. And something that I look back now, if I really understand this man, my, my financial state would've been way different when I got to my forties then, then if I would've been then the way it is, right?
• 0:33
  On the technical side, you know, PR purely troubleshooting, you're great at those problem solving skills and decision making, but you're really gonna do it in a new context. And what does that really mean? You know, in the customer relationship, improving workflows. How can I, when, when a, a case ices up and you need a, a workflow for that, what does that workflow, what does it look like and how do you prepare that customer when something like that happens?
• 0:34
  We will make it feel more comfortable because this is one of the biggest things that we, that companies are looking for are those leadership skills and leadership skills come with decision making, delegating work properly, problem solving, and I'm still working on this stuff. I'll be honest with you, I'm still working on how to delegate.
• 0:35
  It's making the decision. It could be right or wrong if you make a wrong decision, hopefully you'll learn from it and then you grow from it. And then the next time you make a decision is a little bit easier 'cause you have this experience now. And I think that's it. Getting the experience to make it feel more natural.
• 0:36
  I would love to hear some of your responses. Message me on LinkedIn. So if you're on, on LinkedIn, mo most managers, operation manager business aren't on LinkedIn. So if you're a technician, get on that platform. You might be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, but get on LinkedIn because this is where a lot of the professional leadership role people are hanging out, asking questions, and that's where I am.