Gates, chief executive of Texas-based Virtus Real Estate Capital, needed the spread sheet for a prospective investor. He didn’t think much about it for the rest of the day, until about 16:30, when he noticed that the analyst had left for the day.
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Are young workers brats or brilliant?
Gates, chief executive of Texas-based Virtus Real Estate Capital, needed the spread sheet for a prospective investor. He didn’t think much about it for the rest of the day, until about 16:30, when he noticed that the analyst had left for the day.
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This article brings up some very interesting points, even though I'm not sure I should be flattered to be a part of the generation at the center of the issue. I find it to be very arrogant that you can expect a workplace to change their policies or the way the operate to suit your needs and what worries me most is that even I recognize that it is a very "my generation" thing to expect. The problem is that we can get away with this attitude because we are such a large part of the job market and have enough sway to be able to demand that things change. That being said, those changes do sound pretty good. I can see how having a flexible work schedule would make for a better workplace for everyone. Considering how much technology, such as teleconferencing, has advanced, working from home is getting easier and easier. Another change I did like was increasing and improving feedback. I would definitely agree that I like getting feedback, not just positive but also negative, as long as it is constructive. Apparently that is a relatively new idea which I didn't realize. Overall I do like the changes that are being suggested, I just don't like the arrogance that a workplace should be expected to change and operate around your needs.
The younger generations see work in a whole new way that was not common amongst many adults. It seems a bit strange that so many companies are okay with adapting to the younger generations regardless of how good or bad the change is. To me these seem like reasonable accommodations to made in the workplace, but I am a part of the younger generation so maybe I am just biased. On the other hand my mom had needed a bit more flexibility in her hours and was granted the privilege of working from home and setting her own hours. Maybe it is not completely a younger generation mentally but a new era for the business is done.
It's not about conforming to us, it's about meeting us halfway and on agreeable terms. We will not work they way you worked when you were our age. As millennials, we are very well aware that we are entering a workplaces that have a wheel that no matter how much we want to reinvent it in 3 seconds, it won't happen. We come in with a sense that the older generation's mentality is "It's our world, and you're just living in it." Of course we want a company that can accommodate flexible hours, because we know we're entering a job market where job opportunities are a level of magnitude more scarce than when older generations started working. I also think that we've grown as a generation to be quick learners since nowadays we have to be adequate or better at a wider range of skills in order to make ourselves more marketable to whatever job opportunities we can find. Yes, the work ethic we have is a little different, and I know that that's sometimes hard to trust as someone who's very dead set in their ways or because you can't always go to the next office over and physically see that they're there working. Ultimately, we need the job that brings a cash flow so we can survive, we know we have to work hard and to our best to feel fulfilled in what we're doing, so we're going to do our best to keep that job. It may not show in our punch cards, but it does show in our contributions to the company.
This is an interesting perspective. In my opinion, millenials have begun to notice the issue that lies within constantly changing and killing yourself to meet the corporate need. The point about company loyalty is also incredibly interesting, because it stems from the common economic model that is quickly spreading which involved the cutting of benefits for corporate work horses all over the U.S., and I think the millenials see these issues and rather than try to "fight the system" or try to fight with their boss over the loss of their benefits, will just leave for something that can provide better.
The yuoth of this generation have gotten very use to two things: the first is always getting their way and the second is being rewarded for their arrogance (what we now call intelligence). I am not saying that all intelligent youth are arrogant, the point I'm making is that this generation has become so used to being top of their class, circle, whatever, that they don't know how to function in situations where they are accountable or under someone. In the work place, this turns into setting their own deadlines, completing work to their own standard as compared to those of their employers. The youth need to learn that they are not the priority of their employers and while I do think that the workplace environment does change some from generation to generation. Our seems to have taken this slow progress and forced it through the roof, which is developing some pretty unhealthy habits.
The one major issue I have with this argument is that the author talks about millennials as if they were a huge mass of people that acted identically, or at least similarly. This is simply not true. The author is making all kinds of assumptions about the work ethic of young people that just isn't entirely true across the board. It isn't some unwritten rule of people born after 1980 to change the hours of their corporate job to suit their needs and if the corporation doesn't agree, they'll just hop to another job (because it's that easy). Young people won't just approach the CEO with their brilliant idea. The author is making huge assumptions about an entire generation of people and is using this assumption as the basis for their argument. That, in my opinion, is not a sound argument.
I tend to be skeptical of any article that makes sweeping claims about "millennials". I find that too often they just turn into "kids these days"-type rants about how young adults are lazy and narcissistic and can't be trusted. Every generation thinks the next generation is incompetent and doomed, and so far everything has worked out just fine. Sometimes I want to remind these people that when they were our age, their parents were convinced that their generation was a bunch of no-good drug-addled hippies that would never amount to anything. They turned out just fine. I'm pretty sure we will too. With that being said, this article actually makes a pretty balanced point about how millennial's working styles are different (and not necessarily worse) than traditional ones. I'm certainly not advocating expecting the company you work for to reorganize just so you can have the hours you'd prefer, but recognizing that this generation has very different ways of approaching and completing tasks is important. Flexible work schedules aren't just us being lazy- they're often a far more efficient and effective way to complete tasks. It seems like it's a win-win scenario to complete a task in 3 hours from home, rather than being stuck at a desk 9 to 5 because it's whats expected. Feedback is essential too- it's the only way anyone is going to get any better at their job.
I think that a lot of the “this is the way the younger generation thinks and works” points in this article are true, and can in many cases be attributed to the internet. Our generation uses the internet much more than the previous ones, and often more intuitively because it’s been around for a major part of our lives. The internet is flexible, works around the clock, and encourages written communication and constant feedback and responses. It makes sense for these characteristics to bleed over into the way that most of us interact with the world, be it for work or personal functions.
I think that the world is moving in that direction in terms of cultural changes, and it’s great that some companies are seeing that change and adapting to it instead of dismissing it as the “wrong way” and forcing their employees to adhere to systems that might make them less efficient, motivated and dependable.
Back in my day.. we had to walk uphill to school, both ways! Eh, but seriously, I feel like I always have to take these articles with a grain of salt. I am of the opinion that it's nearly impossible to make sweeping generalizations about anything, let alone ALL the millennials. But fine, let's assume for a second that almost all millennials are brats who demand flexible hours and other major concessions from their employers. Good for them, but in that case, I believe my flexibility and better work ethic will win the day. I say, if all my peers are a bunch of useless jerks, good for them and better for me..
I think the corollary to this desire/demand for flexibility is that younger workers tend to be less likely to "turn off" their work brains during non-working hours. I've heard our professors continually lament that we're sending them emails at 8pm on Sundays, which in one way is a function of our own procrastination, but in another, is kind of just how we think about work flow. As the economy has softened, things that used to be part of our grandparents' and parents' worlds such as pensions, fully covered health insurance, and the one company career simply don't exist anymore. Younger workers have been disproportionately squeezed by these changes, because they're at the bottom of the totem pole. Since ultimately, it costs a company less money to set up a VPN and allow more flexibility in working hours, this seems like a reasonable tradeoff.
I know everyone on both sides of this debate tries to make this about "kids these days" and how they are or are not going to save or doom us all, but could it possibly be that our work preferences are the result of nothing more than the economy and socio-political time in which we've grown up?
I think that there is a fine line between brats and brilliant in the workplace these days. On one hand you have these types of workers who at 4:30 they're out the door but guarantee good results while at the same time you have the opposite. I often have found that in working with fellow young people, especially in an industry with many older people that have been in the industry for a while, show no respect for those that are older then them. At what point is it being "bratty" and just working in a different fashion. I know for sure that in my experience I have been able to bring a lot to the table as a young person without totally disrupting workplace environments that I am placed in.
I realized that I accidentally just wrote M for my name, sorry!!I think that there is a fine line between brats and brilliant in the workplace these days. On one hand you have these types of workers who at 4:30 they're out the door but guarantee good results while at the same time you have the opposite. I often have found that in working with fellow young people, especially in an industry with many older people that have been in the industry for a while, show no respect for those that are older then them. At what point is it being "bratty" and just working in a different fashion. I know for sure that in my experience I have been able to bring a lot to the table as a young person without totally disrupting workplace environments that I am placed in.
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