HID Connects Podcast Season 2 Episode 1: Is There a Generation Gap in the Security Industry?
Welcome to HID Connects! HID Connects is a podcast designed to bring you the latest news and trends in the security space. Our goal is to not only equip you with information and best practices, but also open new conversations on topics shaping our industry. Joining us for our first episode of season two are Katie Greatti, associate director of learning and development at the Security Industry Association, Benji, the door dork, Bolick, senior digital com specialist at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Americas, and HID’s own Dani Bazan, business operations manager. They will explore the important question: Is there a generation gap in the security industry? Take a minute to listen below. And while you’re at it, be sure to subscribe to receive future episodes.
Matt Winn
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whatever time it is and wherever in the world you may be, my name is Matt Winn, your podcast host and resident secure identities nerd. Welcome to the Season 2 premiere of the HID Connects Podcast.
We are very excited to be back after deciding to renew ourselves after season one, so to kick off this season we are also excited to bring you more insights and more expertise from people both inside and outside of HID.
We're also happy to discuss a broader range of burning topics that are driving the security industry forward and in the spirit of bringing these ideas together, I'm also excited to be joined by three panelists to talk more about the people and more specifically, the younger generation within the security industry.
What better way to get to know these friendly faces than with a quick round of introductions? Let's start things off. Joining us virtually is Katie Greatti, associate director of learning and development at the Security Industry Association, also known as SIA.
Katie, you're also the community liaison for RISE at SIA. So can you tell us a bit more about yourself and tell us a bit more about the RISE initiative and of course, thank you for joining us.
Katie Greatti
It is my absolute pleasure to be here with you all. As you mentioned, I am the associate Director of Learning and Development for SIA and I'm coming up on my 6th year with the association, I couldn't speak more highly of it or its initiatives.
First and foremost, RISE right? It started way back in about 2015 with a handful of members, and now we are, oh, gosh, eleven to twelve hundred young professionals strong. Through this, rising young professionals are able to have a sense of community as well as apply for scholarships, go to a conference specifically catered to them, they can be nominated for our 25-on-the-RISE program.
Goodness, we have a little bit of everything, I'm proud to be a part of it and to watch all of the young professionals come up in the industry and grow makes my heart happy.
Matt Winn
Very nice, and RISE is actually the inspiration for this episode. So, Katie, thank you for that and excellent plug there.
And on that note, I hear that you have a new role at SIA on the horizon. So first and foremost, congratulations and tell us about your next adventure.
Katie Greatti
I am actually moving over to our standards and technology department, I will be the Associate Director of Standards and Technology starting mid-month in December. So luckily RISE is coming with me. Can't imagine leaving you all, that would be just heartbreaking.
Matt Winn
Wouldn't have it any other way. Well, kudos and congrats on the new role.
Katie Greatti
Thank you.
Matt Winn
And again, thank you very much for joining us on our humble podcast. Now here with me in the studio by way of Portland, Oregon is Benji Bolick, better known by his stage name as the door dork, but also the senior digital communications specialist at ASSA ABLOY opening Solutions Americas. Benji, welcome to the podcast. Tell us about yourself and what's life like as the door dork.
Benji Bolick
Life as the door dork, wow. Well, ever since I could remember as a young chap reaching for my doorknob, I always had a session obsession with doors.
No, I'm just kidding. I started in the industry about five years ago with ASSA ABLOY, and I've never looked back and or looked at a door or a key the same way. Like most people entering the industry, you look at things a little differently. Once you've opened up that door, pun intended. I've been with ASSA ABLOY for five years now. Started out in end user consulting and then throughout the pandemic, there was like this virus or something coming around and things kind of got shut down and things all of a sudden moved digitally forward, we started this persona called the door dork and it kind of blew up. Wasn't expecting it to blow up and you know, one day I got a call from the president of our division. And I thought for sure I was gonna get fired because the content I was posting was pushing boundaries, and ultimately no, it led to a job interview and now I'm part of the digital comms team helping create digital content. So yeah, happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Glad we were able to make it work.
Matt Winn
Yes, indeed, I'm glad to have you in person as well. And yes, now working in the industry, I actually start counting doors at people's homes. It's very weird, but I find it very gratifying at the same time. So thanks for joining us.
And last but not least, is HID's very own Dani Bazan, business operations manager, who also has a very cool story about how she initially found out about HID and joined our team. Dani, welcome. Tell us about yourself and how you quite literally stumbled upon this lovely company we call our second home.
Danielle Bazan
Yes. So, Danielle Bazan, Dani. I've been with HID now for 9 years. I'm fresh out of college right into customer service and the funny story is when I graduated college, I got married. I moved up here to Austin and I was really wanting to be an animal shelter coordinator, but that was not in the plans. I couldn't find a job, so my husband and I just happened to be driving past the building, going to dinner, and he looked over and he was like, oh, that looks like a really cool place to work, like you should look at applying there like, all right, cool. I submitted my application without really knowing what HID was or who they were. I got an interview and then I had to study and I did not realize I was surrounded by HID every single day, you know, at university, trying to go into my classroom, badging into the door.
So, it's just a wild coincidence, but yeah, started out in customer service, then the pandemic happened, right? So eventually we were looking for someone to help organize the chaos at our suppliers, trying to get materials. I moved into planning global coordination and I'm here now in business operations.
Matt Winn
Amazing. And here in our studio AKA the conference room, to join us. Thank you very much for that and thank you all for our guests.
OK, so now that you know a little bit more about our panel, let's kick off Season 2 with today's burning question. Is there a generation gap in the security industry? Before we begin, I do want to start by explaining what this discussion is not.
OK, so this episode is not about pointing fingers or pitting one generation against the other. That's not the point here. Instead, this is designed to provide a perspective into what the security industry and what its future looks like to younger professionals and those who work closely with them every day. Now our goal is to paint a picture of what matters to them, how the industry can grow and evolve, and most importantly, how the full industry can work together to make our customers' lives safer and more efficient. That's my disclaimer for today. With that preface out of the way, let's dive in.
Let's just start at the top. And Katie, we're gonna start with you and your perspective in just a few sentences. Give us the lay of land, what's your take, is there a generation gap in the security industry, and if so, what might that look like to you? Would love to get your thoughts on our kickoff question.
Katie Greatti
Sure. So when I started six years ago, I was jumping right into trade shows, I think that's when you see it. The generation gap is most evident because you walk in, at the time I was in my late 20s, and I walked in and the majority of the crowd was pretty homogeneous. A lot of people of an older generation who have been tenured in this industry and I looked around and maybe could count on a couple hands, maybe 2-3 hands how many young professionals were showing up. And I think the way it shows up now and I will say six years later, I'm loving the way it looks because we have strategic efforts going into making this less homogeneous, if you will. And there's initiatives to get more young professionals involved and to have them show up to all of these events and really showcase talent and what we're capable of.
Matt Winn
Very good. I had a similar experience when I first started at my ISC West debut.
Katie Greatti
Yeah.
Matt Winn
I was like, I came from IT and so I was like, oh, wow, this is a different industry, a different culture. But I agree, I'm seeing the shift change as well.
So Benji, same question over to you from your perspective, what's the lay of the land here?
Benji Bolick
So when I joined ASSA ABLOY five years ago, we had an office of maybe 25 people total and I was the young guy. At age 29, I was like, wait, I shouldn't be the young guy. I'm the, you know, middle guy, but the next youngest person was 11 years older than me in the office. So, if that is a snapshot of what our industry looks like in general, there's a large age difference between people in the next 5 to 10 years retiring and the next generation ready to take over. But I don't want to put people in bubbles or generational groups.
I feel like that's not really right, because I feel like I'm an old soul even though even though I might be on a young professionals podcast right now, I feel like I'm an old soul in a lot of different ways and I think there are some things that you can link to the older generation and the younger generation and there's differences there that we can definitely speak to. And I think a lot of that stems out of technology like, were you existing when the Internet happened, right or were you were raised with only knowing a world where the Internet existed or social media, or all this different technology. And that is just ramping up and I'm excited to talk a little bit more about that a little bit later. But yeah, I think that's the gist of it. Where we're at in the next 5 to 10 years could leave open a lot of opportunities for young professionals to jump in and take advantage of this industry just because it's a large opportunity there. Opportunity to open more doors.
Matt Winn
Right, Benjamin, I'm catching the theme. Dani, same question to you, I’d like your perspective on this one too.
Danielle Bazan
I'm in the same boat, you know, I came to HID fresh out of college and then got lost into customer service where the next closest person to my age was at least eight to 10 years older than me. I have been consistently one of the youngest persons in the room. Back then in customer service, you definitely could see the generation gap in some of the technologies that you use. I mean, we're talking, we were uploading paper documents into Oracle to save data instead of doing something like downloading and uploading it, but I think HID has really strived the last couple of years to create a culture that fosters these young leaders who are up and coming. For example, we started the Extended Leadership Roundtable a couple years back where different managers would recommend young talent and we would go through and have kind of a developmental group project.
We also started the ERG here at HID this year at the Emerging Professionals Network to provide support for our younger professionals.
So, in terms of generation gap, do I think there is one? Yes. Do I think there needs to be? No, I don't think so. I think companies can really work together to be agnostic and to provide that culture of collaboration that can work around some of the things that we're seeing now.
Matt Winn
Setting us up for good questions coming up. I like this. I'm taking some notes here.
OK, excellent. So, Katie, back to you. Let's dive in a little bit deeper, shall we? And this doesn't have to be about the security industry specifically, but feel free to leverage it through whatever lens you want to explain. But do you think that there is a difference in values when people come from different generations and that can be the youngest of the young entering the workforce or those who have been really seasoned professionals for quite some time? How does this affect the day to day and any thoughts around communication styles as a specific point on that? So just to sum that up, the core difference in values across generations, what's the impact and what does that mean for communication? Which of course is key.
Katie Greatti
So it is, I would say, across industries, you're going to be hard pressed to find one where you don't see a difference in values, especially throughout the hiring process and job searching because you would see a trend of young professionals coming in and they want more than just a salary. They're looking for companies who have ESG policies, who value your time outside of work. You are not just something that comes in and produces. You want to be a cog in the wheel of something much larger.
So specific benefits that allow for being a part of things like SIA and doing work outside of just your silo and your job. And then on the counter, you see generations older, older generations. I would say more tenured professionals. They initially took a job because there was a job opening right because it's so different now as young professionals. We say if this one doesn't work great, I'll find another one that does offer these things. Whereas that really wasn't the situation 20 to 30 years ago.
You were like, I have an opportunity to pay my bills and support my family. I'm going to take this job and I'm gonna do my work and then clock out. And this is what work is, and to us, I'm not sure there's even a separation so much between work and home. It's how you integrate the two of them and make it work in your life. So there has to be a way to take your work home, but also let it be a part of your life and not let it take over your life. So I think it's very interesting watching older generations who are doing a lot of the hiring versus the younger generations who are looking to be hired.
Matt Winn
Interesting standpoint. I like that. Dani, you had a reaction. What's your take on this?
Danielle Bazan
Yeah, it's I think of my own interview process and knowing that I'm going into an interview sometimes with someone who may be from an older generation. I know I have to adapt the communication style so it's not a good look when you go into a company in an interview and you say, “I want work life balance.” It's a better look when you go in there and you talk about your work ethic, which is you can have work life balance and still have work ethic, but a lot of the older generation is more about they believe in more of a hierarchical, more traditional kind of culture. So you really have to be cognizant of that going through the interview process. And since I've been with HID for so long, we're talking nine years ago when I was going through some of these interviews.
Matt Winn
Absolutely makes sense and it's kind of one of those things, I say this like a comms guy and Benji knows as a comms guy as well … know your audience type thing, right? So the communication style is always super, super important, depending on who you're talking to. But Benji, same question to you, touch on the communication style, I think that's super important and something that we can all learn from regardless of what year we were born.
Benji Bolick
Yeah, I want to imagine like back in the day, where there were people carving paintings in caves. And then there's the younger generation that was writing on papyrus. It is the concept of emerging technology and I think that really changed how these different generations communicate with each other.
I mean, I know personally being a millennial, I get a little anxious picking up the phone and just calling someone without texting them first or like making sure that they're in a good spot. But, I love face to face or meeting calls. I just want to make sure like, “Hey, it's in my schedule, it's planned and I can work myself up to doing it.”
But there is something to be said where, like this generation and there's probably a lot that we can learn from the older generation as well. It's like there's something to be said about those organic conversations that a lot of time the younger generation might be missing out on. And I think we can learn a lot from them and vice versa, because if we're talking about work-life balance and things that add value or purpose to our jobs, the older generation was more about loyalty. It was more about like, “Hey, do my 40 years get my pension clock out, get my watch” and I don't know, I feel maybe it's the information that we are all have access to where we understand there's more to life than that golden watch at the end of the tunnel, the rainbow or whatever analogy you wanna throw there.
Yeah, communication differences. I think social media has a lot to do with how people communicate nowadays and. I'm trying to think, yeah, hieroglyphics to papyrus to now like, hey, just send me, send me a message. Right.
Danielle Bazan
I think it's funny the steadily moving away from this face-to-face communication like your baby boomers. That is a big thing for them as the face to face in person communication. And then you start moving into your Gen Xers, which are a little bit more independent and they're generally tech savvy, right? So they're OK with more of these standard digital methods of communication, like emails and stuff like that, but then you get to millennials, right? And we've got the fear of being on the phone. So as long as it's on the calendar, totally fine. But we're more of a work-life balance. We do value face to face, but an email is good, right? But then you get all the way down to Gen Z and they are the generation that have never lived prior to technology, right?
So, it is this constant in the flow of communication. In my experience, I have a younger kid, right. Who is I guess technically, Gen Alpha. But if you want to get something, if you want to tell them something, you better say it in a couple of sentences because they're attention span is not there with all of the technology.
Matt Winn
Efficiency is key, and actually we've already segued into the next topic and I think this is extremely interesting because the technology thread is what's underlying all of this, right?
So, we talk about work-life balance. You probably couldn't have work-life balance 40 years ago because you weren't able to really work from home because you didn't have the connectivity to check messages or respond in real time to things. You also in some ways probably didn't have the burden of taking your laptop with you home or your cell phone in your pocket all the time where you can be reached at any time or day by your team, by your boss, or someone else that has a question. There are pros and cons with everything.
But I think that the technology piece accelerated by the pandemic and the work from home and now hybrid work environment has kind of made this even more of a focal point. So, all of that aside, Katie, I want to get back to you and the overall question is, what's technology have to do with this? What's your take on this?
Katie Greatti
It's so interesting because we have a few members of the team here at SIA. I'm sure it's across the board at companies right that prefer to do business that way. They prefer to create a relationship with somebody on a show floor, shake hands and do that type of networking. And I'm like, but have you just messaged them on LinkedIn? Like it's entirely different. So, you can do business that way as a whole, and it's shocking to see.
Both are very effective, but wildly different, and so this type of social media activity, this type of having your cell phone and work in your pocket nearly 24/7, has its burdens. As I get older, I tend to stop and say, “I really wish there was an off button,” so I think there's beauty in the fact that there was the lack of technology to do those types of things. But I also see a hesitancy from older generations. Boomers, if you will, do business any other way. As the hesitancy for the young professionals or millennials, Gen Z to pick up the phone and just chit chat with people, that hesitancy with the technology in the older generation is to find new ways to do the business. So, it really is a push pull on both ends. I'm excited to see what becomes more popular and what has lasting power.
Matt Winn
I like that. I think you said that really, really well in terms of them being equally effective, but shockingly different. That's a great thing to take away. And you're right. I think there's gonna be a balance in terms of what prevails longer term? So Dani, additional thoughts on the technology topic.
Danielle Bazan
I think one thing that we need to keep in mind here is the rate of retirement that we're facing over the next couple of years. I was reading an article in the Washington Post that around the time we were born in the early 90s, there were about 4.6 workers to every retiree, but that has been steadily dropping over the last couple of decades to now. I think we were under 4 workers per retiree. So what that means for us is that we don't have the workforce. It's not replacing at the same rate, right? So technology is really key here to make sure that the efficiencies are keeping up and we can still do business with the employees that we do have, right? So, I think that one thing here is the rate of retirement.
The collaboration tools as well. When we think of technology and the ability to share data all across the world with all employees, all customers, I think that is a major player here in technology. Talk about getting on SharePoint, getting on Teams. Everybody's got the data right there to do their job.
Matt Winn
Very cool. Benji, any final thoughts on the technology before we shift gears a bit.
Benji Bolick
Yeah, I want to piggyback off a little bit of what Katie said. Where there is like this kind of old school way of doing business which is very relationship driven which is very important, I think people want to do business with people that they trust, right. I think technology is a very powerful tool where you can enable that even more. So, when I show up at these in person events, I already know them because I've messaged them on LinkedIn, I've already connected, we’ve chatted back and forth. I feel like the conversations have already warmed up to where you can skip past all of them like, “Hey, nice to meet you, what do you do, right? You already know all that information, so you can jump in like, hey, how are the kids? How's everything going?”
It can really, if you utilize technology properly, it can really enable you to do business in a relationship in an old school way more efficiently if that makes any sense. But also technology has a double edged sword because we do bring our laptops home with as we do bring our cell phones, my phone has vibrated many times since we started this conversation. I probably should have left it in my backpack, right? Because we're constantly bombarded by notifications, and I mean, if you really wanted to, you could work 24/7. And that's scary because there is something to be said about work-life balance, right?
Matt Winn
But it's funny because we say that work-life balance is so key, but is there really a balance or is balance just kind of this veil of I’m not in the office 40 hours a week, but maybe I’m working more than I would have earlier. So, there may be something to be said for the ways that things were. But yeah, I think that, Katie, you said it well. We'll see which prevails and how this goes. So very interesting conversations on the technology side.
Let's shift away from machines and talk more about people though, because we don't have anyone from older generations on the panel. I'm somewhat in the middle, so I'm playing Switzerland and fully neutral on this one. I would love to get your take on what we can learn from older generations, right? So obviously there's a ton of experience. They are battle tested. They have survived all types of technology evolutions over the decades, or less or more. So what opportunities for mentorship, as I will call it, do younger professionals have in working with their older and more seasoned colleagues and Katie as the liaison for RISE, I may start this question with you, if you don't mind.
What do you think about what younger folks can learn from older folks and how to best work with them?
Katie Greatti
There's something to be said for life experience, and yes, there is a difference in the way we go about things and it changes over time. Of course there are a multitude of topics that you can go to and speak with somebody who's been in the industry or any industry for any amount of time and get these nuggets of brilliance. Because even if they are not related to your role, not even in your industry, not with your company, they've lived and they've experienced a lot of these same things. So, to negate that and come in with a, I'm going to call it a younger generational arrogance, that we can do it better. I know technology more than you, that's great. But who do you think started the company that allowed you to create the technology suited for it? You have to come in with a little bit of humility. And respect because these generations have set up your career, whether you like it or not.
And to do a tiny plug for SIA, we do have a mentorship program. It's called the TIME program (talent, inclusion, mentorship, education) and it started back during the pandemic and we wanted to see how we could diversify the ranks within the industry. We wanted to make sure that young professionals, as well as more tenured professionals had the opportunity to learn from each other. So, we don't necessarily label mentors as just those of a certain age and older or a certain level of experience. A certain title. I love the fact that the program as it stands now, you have young professionals mentoring people who are transitioning careers into our industry. It's a conversation. So, mentorship, there's something to be learned from everybody. And it's really about us taking the patience and starting the initiative to start those conversations and be open to them.
Matt Winn
Very well said. And going back to Benji's point about, let's not all be in different bubbles. Let's expand our bubble and learn from each other. So Benji, I want to take that over to you. Same question, what opportunities for development mentorship do you see between the generations?
Benji Bolick
No, I think there's a huge opportunity for the younger generation to learn from the older generation, especially before they leave us, right? We talk about that the next generation, the next 5 to 10 years is going to be mass retiring in our industry, right. And technology security and door hardware, it can be very complex, very complicated and very technical. And you can see that some of these people that have been in the industry have forgotten more than we'll ever learn. And so if you're able to absorb as much as that information as possible, ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid question. They might tell you it's a stupid question, but you learn something from asking that question regardless. But, I think mentorship is the key to unlocking that technology.
I mean that information that's slowly dying away from us, which is sad that that's happening. But I think it's a great opportunity for us to learn from that older generation.
Matt Winn
Absolutely, Dani?
Danielle Bazan
I mean, so much to be said about the experience there, just taking that and learning from the older generation. But not only that, also the history that some of the older generation has within the company and with our end users and our channel partners, some of these people that have been with the company for 20-30 years have relationships that they've held for that amount of time. So, I think leveraging that too kind of getting a little foot in the door as we start to transition is going to be extremely crucial. And I mean, there's a flip side there too, right? Older generations, learning from younger generations. We can offer a fresh perspective, I think, to a lot of the problems that we see on a day-to-day basis. I think just this willingness to be open and want to learn from each other is gonna be what brings it to the next level.
Matt Winn
100 percent and I like that word open for a variety of reasons. But it's that openness, and again, I say this from the posture of being in the middle, right? I am never afraid to go and ask some of my younger team members. How do I upload this PDF? Or like how do I do this?
And I know that I will not be judged or mocked for it, at least not openly, but at the same time, I try to have that open door policy for those team members and some of my younger colleagues to come and ask questions about anything and everything. I may not always have the answer, but I'm always happy to add my perspective if that's helpful and they're open to receiving that information or any type of constructive type criticism for lack of better words. I think that openness idea is really what's going to again bring the bubbles together and allow us to be a better industry as a whole. So that's my Oprah plug for season 2, episode one. Let's all be open and let's all get along, shall we?
But I do want to have a future. And Dani, I'm going to start this with you. Knowing that there is a changing tide technologically from a people perspective and frankly, what matters to those who are within the security industry, both as manufacturers, integrators, installers, consumers, end users, the whole gamut, what will security companies look like in seven years? What does the future hold in your mind?
Danielle Bazan
Holds a lot. Again, going back to the great retirement here in 2030, right. We're gonna see a lot of retirees, so companies are really going to have to rely on technology. And I think the labor market in general, the skills acquisition is going to be kind of a tough one here in seven years. So, it's going to be extremely processed, you are extremely important to use those processes efficiently, right? There's that, I think continued collaboration through technology is gonna be another one. What's going to come in seven years? I mean, think about the last three years, right? Like all of the situations that we've had to deal with where we've never had a global pandemic before, we've never had to deal with that in a supply chain environment, right? Who knows what didn't happen?
Matt Winn
Absolutely. Not to mention AI in the rise of the robots, but that's the podcast for later this season, so I'm plugging ourselves on that. Benji, in your head. What will security companies look like in the next seven years?
Benji Bolick
I'm really excited for the future. Being a younger professional in this industry, I feel like there's a load of opportunity to grow and develop ourselves. I think the future is somewhat unknown with technology, especially with AI on the rise. But you see, the technology is just progressing and progressing faster and faster and as the stakeholders in our companies are getting a little bit older and retiring, there's gonna be a large opportunity not from just a technology standpoint for adaptation and how quickly you can progress in this technological world, but that's just gonna open up even more doors of opportunity for these younger professionals.
So, I would say if you can start learning as much as you can about these technologies, that's just going to be able to help you grow your career that much faster. And on the other hand, if you look at the older professionals that are still here and they're a little, maybe a little nervous to learn about technology like, “Hey, I'm retiring in a few years. Why would I want to learn this in three years and AI what? Who knows what that's gonna look like?” It could be a completely different world and like that last three years, if you don't adapt or you don't learn or even just get integrated in some way or another with technology, you're going to get left behind.
Matt Winn
Very good, Katie, same question seven years from now, what will the industry look like?
Katie Greatti
Diverse in generally every sense. We see it now in tidbits as we're starting to push those types of initiatives. But historically, this industry has been a lot about who you know. That's how people are coming into this industry and getting jobs. But with as you called it, the great retirement, with that on our heels, what's going to happen when those people no longer know people, right? They're not hiring, So what?
You're going to see, in my opinion, people hired as individuals. Very random job histories and bringing them in and letting them adapt to our industry, which in itself will end up diversifying it. So when you seek out something a little different due to change, whether it be forced or not you end up with a very diverse workforce and that will change the industry as a whole. You're going to see diverse perspectives, diverse individuals, just diversity of ideas. So alongside technology that advances everyday goodness, there's a product launch I can't even tell you about every other day. So alongside that, it's just gonna be an influx of new ideas. Change openness to possibilities. I think we're right on the cusp of being able to watch that happen.
Matt Winn
The industry will be opening more doors for more people, literally and figuratively. I like that.
OK, Katie, we're gonna stick with you. And that's the final question, which is in fact the title of this episode. Is there a generation gap in the security industry and bonus questioned? And if so, is that gap a bad thing?
Katie Greatti
Yes, there is a generation gap. But I also want to be sure to say if you're only looking at it quantifiable by age, then yes, there's a generation gap. But I will tell you there's a brilliant mix of people who, you know, like myself, were forty when they were twenty or those individuals who are, you know, 60-65 who are just so eager to watch change and eager to be a part of it, eager to innovate so numerically, absolutely, a generation gap.
How to answer the second part? I think it is a good thing if you don't have anybody to learn from or to challenge you on both ends of the spectrum, you're not going to innovate. Actually, when you're not challenged and that becomes the status quo, there's no movement. So, with the fluidity of the technology, there should be fluidity of thought and idea between or intergenerational. In my opinion, their innovation is our legacy.
Matt Winn
I like that I do too. I'm gonna write that down and maybe frame that and put it in my office. That's very good. Thank you, Katie.
OK, Benji, that's hard to follow up, but I'm gonna make you do it anyway. So the burning question is, is there a generation gap in the security industry, and if so, is that gap a bad thing?
Benji Bolick:
I agree with Katie. And if you look at it from an age standpoint, yes, I also think of it as more of like technology wise, if they grew up pre-Internet or if they grew up post-Internet and there's learning opportunities for both of us to bridge that gap if that makes any sense and we can learn from them and they can learn from us or some of us are already in the middle trying to bridge that gap. I think there's just a lot of opportunity.
So yes, I think the gap is there, but I do think it's an opportunity. It can be an obstacle if you make it, but I think it's an opportunity from my perspective.
Matt Winn
Dani, same question to you.
Danielle Bazan
I think they said it beautifully. Do I think there's a generation gap? Yes, I do.
Do I think it's a bad thing? No, I think having different life experiences and different perceptions is what you need to innovate. And what you need to move forward. So there's definitely a whole lot of learning and a whole lot of growth on both sides.
I think as individuals trying to be agnostic and going into the workplace and working with different generations, we just need to remember to work hard, you know, work ethic counts, right? Work smart problem solving rather than problem finding and then I think we need to work relations relationally and now how we do that generationally, we do that may vary based on our generation, but I think there's a lot to be said of getting it done.
Matt Winn
Absolutely. And I think at the end of the day, that's what matters most. Work hard. Be nice. Forge good relationships and be open to feedback everybody. That being said, I will say that the future of this industry is very bright with individuals like you leading the course ahead. Thank you all for your expertise.
Thank you for your contributions to the industry and thank you for your contributions to our humble podcast and the season 2 premiere.
That was a lot of fun. And thank you all so very much. It's been a true pleasure having you both here in person and Katie virtually so. Thank you all immensely.
And of course, as always, thank you even more so for joining us for today's episode. Again, the season 2 premiere. Exciting stuff folks. We really do enjoy creating this podcast. Both this season and this new season, and we really hope that you equally enjoy listening.
While you are with us, be sure to subscribe to HID connections. If you do that, you will always stay connected and never miss a future episode. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcast and double plug. Be sure to follow us on social media. You can watch this episode and previous episodes on our HID YouTube channel, and of course, be sure to follow us on Facebook, X, Twitter, whatever, and LinkedIn.
And finally, in the spirit of connection, please send me your questions and topic ideas for future episodes. All you have to do is drop me a line at [email protected]. Until our next episode, thank you again for listening and may your identities forever be secure.