ST. LOUIS—As the conversation between young apprentices and their supervisors flowed onstage during an NRECA Safety Leadership Summit panel on generational differences, KAMO Power’s Jason Wood marveled at what he saw.

“I could not imagine being an apprentice and speaking to a group that large, especially about generational differences with your senior journeymen. It just shows how much the culture has changed for the better over the years,” said the director of field operations, who’s been in the business for three decades.

The April 16 panel was one of more than 50 breakout sessions and safety improvement talks at the three-day summit at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch. This year’s conference drew a record crowd of more than 1,300 safety professionals to learn how electric cooperative crews at all levels, along with their CEOS, are creating processes and initiatives to foster trust and open communication.

During the “Wired Differently: Generational Perspectives on the Co-op Workforce” breakout session, moderator Mikey Goddard from Kansas Electric Cooperatives asked four KAMO Power employees—two apprentices and two foremen—a range of questions on work styles, communication preferences and perspectives on safety.

Different work styles can cause friction. Apprentices Kade Fast and Riley Starlin said they preferred hands-on learning and appreciated patience from superiors while trying to figure out a problem.

“I fight stuff a lot, but it helps me learn,” said Fast, a third-year apprentice. “The guys let me fight it before they tell me how to do it right. And once they told me, I was, like, 'Yeah, that makes more sense.’”

And scary situations are a learning experience, too, not something to be shielded against, said Starlin, a substation apprentice. Recently, he witnessed an arc flash at a construction site. “You see pictures and hear about them, but they’re a lot bigger in real life.”

Supervisors value that eagerness to learn, even if they sometimes express impatience, said Dustin Downs, substation technician journeyman, and Derek Eason, journeyman lineman.

“I feel like if they're doing it, they will feel more of a part of things,” said Eason. “Let them fight it a little bit. If they have a question, we’ll tell them and maybe give them a hard time. It’s just their way of taking ownership of what they’re doing.”

“It will go a long way in your career if you’re willing to learn and willing to take criticism when it’s needed,” Downs added.

Mutual understanding is a powerful tool “when we're trying to give guidance and bring folks along,” especially as more workers are retiring, said Goddard, director of loss control, safety and compliance at KEC in Topeka.

“We want our young folks to be better than we are,” Goddard said. “Let’s give them all the knowledge and put them in those tough situations, as long as it’s safe. There are 10,000 ways to skin a cat. My way or your way may not be the right way, but just always keep an open mind.”