What Did I Get Myself Into?

It's important to note the general demographic of the plant before we get too deep into thought. There are 12 employees I'm responsible for. There are 8 black people and 4 white people. There are two women and 10 men. The youngest employee is 27 and the oldest is probably about 65. The average age is probably 46. The average length of employment of the folks in the plant is 13 years, the longest is 29 years and the shortest is 2 years. The hourly wage made by people in the plant is between $10-$15 per hour depending on how long they have been with the company. That equates to $20,800-$31,200 per year. Most of my employees only have a high school education if that.

What's even more important to note is my demographics. I am a white male. I am 26 years old. I'm literally the youngest person in the whole company, not just of those in the plant. I have been at the company a little over 4 years now. I get paid a salary of 2-3 times what my employees make. I'm well educated. I went to one of the city's best high schools, then to college and have since taken some masters classes.

These statistics alone put me at a monstrous disadvantage for accomplishing anything with these guys. I'm not on the same page as these guys. I live in a different part of town. My daily issues consist of making sure my son gets to daycare at the beginning of the day and home at the end. Their daily issues involve making sure their car starts so they can get to work and make money to pay their rent and bills. It seems like in their lives, when it rains it pours. Health issues, the law, family issues, or a combination of all three seem to constantly plague everyone and there's little hope they'll ever come out on top.

At work, I'm concerned about making my plant and its performance look good which means making the employees better at their job with regards to quality and efficiency. With all that goes on in their lives, I feel silly telling them that we HAVE to get these chairs out today or that we MUST get better quality results from our products. I'm just a punk kid who doesn't know what life is really about and the struggles they face in real life.

How can I relate to these people? What can I possibly do to get their attention?