Personal Responsibility

I manage a pool of about 60 employees and am starting to notice an alarming trend with the newest(youngest) of them. When asked about chronic tardiness I get the whole "it's not my fault- my alarm didn't go off, I ran out of gas, I forgot I was supposed to come in early, etc. What the hell are they learning in school and what kind of life lessons are being taught by parents? I could go on about "the way it used to be" but I'm only 42 for christ's sake! I was taught to work hard & be on time and anything else was just disrespectful to those you work with & for. Is anyone else seeing this in their twentysomething employees?

good luck

they want the cake with sprinkles

short timers bad goals

Roscoe,

We're about the same age, in about the same boat. I have staff that range in education from High school, to advanced degrees. There is definitely something to the generational stereotypes. I find that the staff we hire that are in their 20's now, regardless of education, in general, have less personal responsibility. They expect more from us as employers and are willing to put forth less effort. There is a sense of entitlement. They feel that they should be paid far more than the market will bear for someone with their skills or experience. These are of course sweeping generalizations, and it does not apply to everyone I hire. But I know we spend a lot of time seeking those few that have the work ethic that we are looking for. I'm not a believer in paying someone for their experience per se, but more for their skill, responsibility and "contributing value".

That all being said. I often wonder if my father and his peers said the same about us?

what ya got there is a whole lotta "self esteem".Feel your pain.

That all being said. I often wonder if my father and his peers said the same about us? Originally Posted by NerdHerd

Speaking as a guy old enough to collect Social Security, the answer to your question is YES. And my father said the same about my generation. And the beat goes on.

I have the exact same issues with the people who work under me.

I have pretty good luck with my junior staff. I think it is important for the long-term staff to set good examples and apply some peer pressure. I set the tone by being in my office typically by 8:10 am - unless, of course, I have an early morning "appointment" elsewhere.

I just fire them if they don't measure up and very quickly at that. I don't tolerate BS of any kind at work.

I have the exact same issues with the people who work under me. Originally Posted by GP

I just fire them if they don't measure up and very quickly at that. I don't tolerate BS of any kind at work. Originally Posted by GP

The only people who have ever worked under me are Heatherelite, Gabrielle, and China Doll....and i ain't firin' any of 'em.

How could you? That is the best crew ever.

This younger generation does have work ethic at all, they seem to think the world owes them something. They wouldn't know hard work if it slapped them in the face. Only handful will work. I saw it all the time at my work for someone else job.. retired 10 months ago.

Some need a swift kick in the arse! lol

Lateness all the time.. You're Fired!

It's funny that many of us came up with the same conclusion, sense of entitlement.

there is no personal responsibility! It comes from the parents. When my son was coming of working age, he knew to dress for success(shirt & Tie), give up any special requests till after you are working for awhile, and work your ass off!

i have the same issues with people I have supervised and I didn't take any excuses and maybe this will work for you. I use a point systems and after a certain points have been reached they lost something. In you case you could come up with a systems that includes verbal warning,written warnings and after a certain number of warnings than you move to the consequences and you have the paper trail to cover yourself- docking pay, suspension, and finally termination. With the economy they are alot of people who would love the opportunity to work. Remind them of that fact and follow through with It..just a suggestion

Yeah, I just canned a couple, got the papertrail and all. It's just the wasted investment of time & training that really bothers me. Some of these people are making 40K+ and must think that jobs grow on trees. And people wonder why the jobs get shipped to Mexico & overseas, there's someone else willing to do it for 1/2 the money and be more grateful for the job.