Leili McMurrough (Worsham College): How to hire and retain Gen-Z funeral directors | #26

Today’s guest is Leili McMurrough. Leili is a licensed funeral director and licensed attorney in Illinois. She’s also the Program Director AND OWNER of Worsham College of Mortuary Science and an expert on the Gen-Z workforce in the industry. Leili sits on the American Board of Funeral Service Education as the Accreditation Chair, overseeing all the Mortuary Science programs across the country. We’re happy to have her on the podcast to discuss the changing workforce in deathcare and what you should consider when hiring, managing, and retaining young professionals in the death care industry. Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (01:08) - Welcome Leili McMurrough (01:57) - Graduating 10% of new death care workforce (06:18) - Leili's journey to becoming the owner of Worsham College (10:56) - Redesigning mortuary science education (13:04) - Incorporating feedback from funeral homes (16:13) - The changing demographics of mortuary science students (20:17) - How to onboard the younger generation (26:45) - Why are students choosing funeral service (31:56) - What should be in the curriculum (37:03) - What is important when hiring a new funeral director (46:48) - Instilling the culture for a new employee as a leader (56:19) - How can funeral home owners retain their new employees (1:03:55) - Hiring proactively instead of reactively (1:06:45) - Being open to feedback as a leader (1:09:39) - The path to building a process for new employees (1:14:05) - What deathcare looks like in the next 10 yearsWorsham College of Mortuary Science Website: https://worsham.eduFor Innovative Funeral Directors Blazing a Trail. Find us at directcremation.comListen on Spotify or Apple PodcastsWant to start a cremation brand yourself? Learn how the some of the biggest cremation brands do it at partingpro.com