Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Millennials in Manufacturing: Andrea Tarhanich - What’s Driving Millennials to Thrive—and Stay—in Manufacturing

For our ongoing series on Millennials in Manufacturing, we next feature Andrea Tarhanich, a millennial who has been with Saline Lectronics for more than four years. As Senior Account Manager, Andrea works with specific accounts at Lectronics' to provide timely communication, project visibility, and strong collaboration.

Prior to joining Lectronics, Andrea had been in customer service for more than 10 years. When she was looking for her first "big girl job" out of college, Lectronics’s Account Manager job description seemed like a good fit, in that while it wasn’t in her major—apparel merchandising and textile design—her college training did apply often with materials management, buying and project management. It’s just that this time, it was electronics manufacturing.

So far, Andrea finds her work at Lectronics rewarding. "I feel I am constantly challenged to be better and solve new problems. I am consistently provided with more responsibilities and room to grow and expand my role at Lectronics."

However, the work is not without its own set of challenges. According to Andrea, Lectronics has grown significantly from the time she joined, and among its challenges for her has been evolving to function smarter and more efficiently to move forward as the company becomes larger.

"I am committed to our improvements, working smarter in business and as a team. However, efforts toward improvement require a lot of time and strategy, and subcommittees are often met with many obstacles when it comes to implementation. Even when it is positive change that team members believe in, it is hard for employees of the previous generation to approve and get behind changing the way we conduct business. We should empower our teammates to make decisions, equip them with appropriate training, and avoid micromanagement."

On Loyalty and Work Ethics

Loyalty is one of the key issues that companies highlight when employing millennials. On this, Andrea has some very specific ideas.

"Loyalty is not just time spent, but an investment of your efforts. Time spent on bettering your department, hearing your teammate’s struggles and working toward resolution. Learning not just what you do, but understanding how the company works and how to continually improve."

When it comes to interacting with millennials, work ethic is another issue held in high regard by Lectronics’ employees—most especially the non-millennials, or older staff members. While Andrea agrees with some aspects of the usual opinions that young people seem to want praise just for showing up for work, she also feels that much of the work they do is expected, even when they go above and beyond their job requirements.

"Instead of being appreciated, we are constantly told that's what we should be doing, that performing well and putting in the extra time and effort in a position is not an achievement but an expectation, and that we should do more."

She feels that their "unique work ethic" is misunderstood. While most older people see them as needy, she says what millennials really strive for is constant self-improvement, and with it, constant feedback. Constructive criticism, affirmation, as well as advice from the people in upper management are critical.

"I believe this makes me a better employee, and I do not find it a fault to never be satisfied with myself or my position, and to want upward improvement for myself, and in the long run, with my team."

Andrea says people should not be wary of working with millennials because if they just listen to them and find out what motivates them to be their best, setting clear expectations for their roles and constant feedback will yield the best results.

Leading the Company

As we all know, the older generation will soon vacate many positions, including leadership roles, not just in the manufacturing/industrial field, but in every other industry vertical out there. So are the millennials up to the task of leading their companies?

Seems like they are indeed ready. In fact, Andrea has some interesting thoughts as to how she can help guide Lectronics forward in the industry.

"I think the key to moving Lectronics forward will be investing in our people, our talent, and putting the correct people in the right positions; however, I think that identifying the correct people for these roles takes a different eye with millennials. I would love to work with my team members and grow in our roles together to move Lectronics forward, and work to bring a different perspective. My personal goal is to enrich my team, and I expect others to look at themselves in the same way by asking how they can improve to help and support the team."

Motivation is a key factor for people to become successful and happy in their jobs. For Andrea, it’s the constant improvement and being challenged that drive her to be more successful. "Working well as a team, and being appreciated for what I bring to the group makes me happy. Helping my teammates grow and providing them with the tools to be their best selves satisfies me greatly. When I can share my knowledge, experience and train my fellow account managers to support them in their daily jobs—and see improvement in their work, specifically in their customer service approach—that is most rewarding."

Attracting Millennials to the Manufacturing World

A lot of initiatives—such as STEM, for instance—are attracting the younger generation into the science, technology, and engineering world. But according to Andrea, these approaches sometimes are ineffective.

"I do not think millennials see science, technology and engineering as forward-thinking careers. As a woman, I do not feel like any of these jobs are targeting or approaching women. Technology, science and engineering are very interesting, challenging and appealing, but I don't find them being presented in a way that is intriguing to make female millennials interested in these fields as majors of studies. To me, these careers offer women a chance to break through the glass ceiling. I want to help change this, and I think there needs to be more outreach on the high school level so students know about the college programs that are available. Also, reaching out to the college level students to get them interested in manufacturing technology is important. I would like to brainstorm with my fellow millennials to come up with a work program for high school and college students here at Lectronics. And, possibly, get a group of female millennials together to speak at the local high schools to educate the future generations and interest them in what we do here at Lectronics."

As for ever leaving the manufacturing industry, Andrea says she has no plans to; she likes the constant change in the electronics manufacturing industry.

"At Lectronics, my daily tasks, goals and objectives change day by day. This keeps my job interesting! The only reason I would leave would be due to lack of growth opportunities to further my career and the offer to be a member of upper management."

As a millennial, Andrea brings a new perspective to the account management group. Her keen ability to find process improvements and implement changes has made her a valued employee at Lectronics. Personally, I'm eager to see the positive contributions that she will continue to make on this organization in the coming years.

Watch Andrea's interview here: