What is it with young people today? Did we fail them? Are we responsible? I don't get it.

Have two twenty somethings that work for me. We talk. They listen. They forget. We talk again. They forget.

They are so concerned about all the goings on around the business that they don't pay attention to what they need to do.

I have talked to them many times. I tell them exactly what they need to do to succeed.

I've been nice and I've been mad. I don't yell or cuss. And when I correct them, they act like it's the end of the world. Yet both look to me for leadership and the guy that has all the answers.

They can't seem to grasp the concept of teamwork and attention to detail.

I understand what it's like to be young and strong. On top of the world without a care. But when I was their age and an older more experiences person spoke, I listened. I still do.

I don't think it's me that 's wrong. I'm very good at managing and motivating people. But these two are testing me.

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I'm not that much older than some of your employees, and I run a business with 26 people under my supervision, with a wide variety of age, and background. I have the same if not more problems than you do. The 20 somethings drink all night long, call in sick all the time, produce a lesser quality work, and are generally a constant cause of concern for me. I am not allowed to discriminate against age, due to laws and corporate concern for equality, I do not own this business. I have one guy, old enough to be my grandfather, Vietnam Veteran, been married 6 times, smokes two packs of cheap cigarettes a day, and works circles around pretty much everyone. I wish I could clone his work ethic, and bottle it, I could be a Millionaire overnight. Society is failing our youth, our Government and Educators are compounding the problem. We might already past the point of no return. I wish I had been born 30 year earlier, or more. As a Country, our greatest years are already spent.

I've taken two different "generational leadership" classes and I highly recommend it. Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millenialist are all motivated differently. Once you understand the motivational factors it helps to lead them more effectively.

__________________
- Change it back -

It depends on if they enjoy the job or not.

I'm a 20 something. I don't drink on work nights. i show up for work early and leave late, I do what I'm told and when I'm told to do so but the other guy my age at work does not.

He complains when he gets in trouble for being late and is only there to get the pay check and go home. He's more interested in things outside of work and always complains about wanting to go home.

The difference between us is, most days, I like my job

Though what you are saying is true, many kids appear to have been taken over by aliens and can't be recognized as human by their actions (or lack of action). There are still some kids, though, who really have it on the beam.

There's your problem!!

__________________
Halfway and one more step

I disagree. Doesn't matter if they/you/we enjoy the job. If someone hates their job then go somewhere else and stop wasting my time and your time.

Millions of men go to work everyday and I'm willing to bet most of them don't want to for one reason or the another. But part of being a man is accepting the responsibility and to do your best each and every time whether you want to or not.

But instead they look for excuses as to why they should or shouldn't do their job. They want the easy way and a pay check to go with it.

The problem is maturity. Not just with young but older men too. They don't accept responsibility. Their word means nothing. And the only code they live by is "how can I get one over on you".

Sooner or later I'll weed them out.

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

True. I know several youngsters that really have their heads screwed on right. But it seems with each generation, older folks complain about the younger one. And that complaining seems to get worse with every generation!

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Exactly! You're not there to have a good time, you're there to work! If you can have a good time while you're doing your work, that day is going to fly by and everybody is going to enjoy being there!

__________________
Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

They don't seem to understand that if we don't take of the business, it won't take care of us. But they might start to understand when they aren't getting as many hours as there are used to!

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Ill be 27 next month, when someone of older age speaks i listen. I will say though just because someone is older than you doesnt mean they know it all, ive seen people in their late 40s acting like they are 15. We live in a world filled with garbage. common sense has gone out the window a long time ago.....

__________________
Aim small miss small

It's a stereotype. Not all of us young folk are like that. Just like not all of you oldsters are crusty, crotchety, complaining old coots.

Most are of course.

__________________
- The Federalist #46 -

whenever possible ... let em fall flat on their faces...
the general script is as follows

You"looks like your having a rough day"
kid " blah blah went wrong then blah "

you"any idea why it blew up in your face?"

at this point it dont really matter what the kid says cause your all set up to illustrate how they provoked the failure. do so ... perhaps just the highest priority problems and follow with ... "while thats what happened ... what might have happened if you ... (correct procedure)"

provoke some thought on their part ..
if you can't manage to provoke thought, they are the memory drone type who could use some time repeating "do you want fries with that"

__________________
it just needs more voltage

while most of my supervisory time was in the military I found it true in civilian life also: 90% of supervisory time is spent on 10% of the people. the 10% found out from me pretty quick that I had a very low tolerance for stupid and sent them on their way. lee

From what I've seen, every older generation complains about the one behind them. Some rightfully so. I don't think it has as much to do with the generation as it has to do with the person. Bottom line is what you learned at home growing up. They can't and don't teach personal responsibility at school. You only learn that at home. If you grow up in a disfunctional family you will more than likely be disfunctional yourself even though some unique individuals are able to overcome it. It's even harder when one of the parents is not in the home and with almost 50% of parents today not marrying it compounds the problems. For whatever reasons children today grow up with little discipline. It spills over into the workplace. Whenever I was hiring and firing I always looked for military veterans because I knew that they had at least been exposed to some discipline and would somewhat follow orders.

Who you callin old?

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Welcome to the "Entitlement" generation.
Everybody wants a paycheck, few want to do the work to
actually earn it though. I see it everyday where i work.
Now the company i work for has taken to hiring lots of
immigrants, folks from Mexico and Burma.
These people come to work EVERY day and don't complain
about having to work hard or overtime. They don't stand around
and talk to each other while on the clock either.
The younger whites and blacks call in sick all the time, complain and
piss and moan about every little thing, and are always standing around
flapping their jaws while on the clock.
My observations from the past ten years or so.

Chuck

__________________
They hold no Quarter

I'm with Chuck on this. This mindset has now permeated all generations of Americans.

Trying to communicate the importance of self reliance and responsibility can be more than a little frustrating.

__________________
GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I can tell you that I see people even in my line of work I would like to zap with a cattle prod. They go as slow as possible, complain all the time no matter what they are doing and in general just seem to not want to do anything. They range in age from mid 20's up to 40 years old. I am not sure that it is so much the age of people know, I think its this "me me me" mentality that has hit this country. They feel entitled and they feel they should not have to work for the money they get and its getting worse. I know I have been working since I was 12 and I always believed you should be paid for what you do, not for just shining a seat with your backside. I think the educators now who are some of those who feel entitled are the ones teaching these kids. Not to mention you have those who feel that "less fortunate" folks should get all the goodies they can handle. So why work? Why should you have a good work ethic when you see so many sponging off the system? It's hard to be a productive worker when some flunkie is in line at the grocery store getting more food than you for free and then getting into a nicer car than you own and talking on a brand new I-phone all courtesy of the taxpayers.

__________________
Vaya con Dios

this is what happens when every one gets a trophy.

Everything above this response just makes me feel so good about being retired. When parents both had to work outside the home and the term 'latchkey' came into common usage, things started to slip fast. America sure has changed in the 74 years I've been here.

I own a small construction company and typically employ a couple of college age kids as laborers, some family, some unknown, and have had vastly different experiences with them. I found that it has foreshadowed what their lives were going to be:

Partner's son: Great work ethic, paid attention, always did what you told him, then five more things that he saw needed doing, then immediately was asking for the next thing you wanted him to do. Currently civil engineer with a County DOT.

My Nephew: Work ethic, smart, cheerful at all times, quick on the uptake Current: 1 tour in Iraq, 2 in Afghanistan, made E-6 in four years, married with son, graduated from helicopter flight school last week at the top of his class, headed for Korea

The above nephew's younger brother, worked for me one day, never asked him back, now teacher's aide, still lives with his folks

Good friend's son, not the fastest guy I ever had but never looked up until a task was complete, would figure problems out then run his solution by me for approval before attempting it. Graduated with honors with two majors. Now just married and a rising star in a mid-sized bank.

Another nephew, not brother to above; good work ethic, smart-*** (almost got him fired, partner talked me out of it, had heart to heart with kid) , no loyalty; went off to vocational school, got homesick after a week and came back home. Gave him a job and encouraged him to go to work for RR. Got the RR job but wasn't slated to start for six weeks. We took on big job relying on his help and he quit and left us for another $.50 per hour. Didn't tell new employer about RR job til he quit them. Currently laid-off by RR (Karma's a bitch)

Kid from local work program; willing, screwed up family situation, gave him time off so he could get his GED. Time off when his grandfather was dying, after grandfather's death said he had to take care of his grandmother (she is 2 years younger than me and in perfect health) wanted his job back after a month.

Young guy that walked up to us on a jobsite; Missed first day of work and more after that, fired. currently; parts unknown, get letters still from child support people looking for him.

Kid from church; Good work ethic, keeps my otherwise dour partner in stitches, Cant wait to get to work. Just finished 4 year pre-med degree, getting married in August, then deciding where to go with education.

Son; harder on him then other employees, developing into good carpenter, today is his first day after completing his junior year as business major, losing him in a month to basic Training for NY Nat'l Guard. Wants to be third generation NYSP Trooper.

So my experience with young people has been decidedly mixed but, on a whole, positive.

Common sense is not common ?

I was working with some kids on a shooting team and told them that second place was first in a long line of losers and one of the parents told me he didn't want me saying things like that to his kid. If the losers had to make it on their own without the ones of us that do make it having to support them when they got hungry them might be more inclined to work. Larry

I think it has to do with the education system. Starting from 1st grade there is not a lot expected from kids. I once saw what my younger cousins were doing as homework in 1-2 grade and i was absolutely floored. Here is the assignment ......(pictures of animals with their colors written near by) "what color is the turtle?" (Circle GREEN) "using a crayon color in the turtle with the correct color" WTH!!!?!?!?! this should have been done first day of kindergarten not in school. And it continues like this through 12th grade. No real learning, no real pressure, relatively easy. And thats what they are used to. Yes some kids do try and excel. When they enter the work force they're still used to easy stuff. Kids are small not stupid, its time the education system demanded more from them.

I graduated in 98 so im not that far ahead of your employees. First few years i went to school in a different country. Here was my 1st & 2nd grade experience. 1st grade ......learn to add/subtract and multiplication/division up to 5. Learn cursive writing, and basics of grammer. Geography of your area and a few more countries + their capitals. 2nd grade......finish multiplication/division up to 12, start on other math stuff, study and memorize poems that were a page long and recite in class. More grammar. More countries and cities in geography. Start music and art class. And so on and so on.

When i came to this country i went to 4th grade where multiplication was being taught up to 4 (4x1, 4x4....) SERIOUSLY?!?! Unfortunately i started school here sometime in March and while i aced most things i was held back due to lack of English. During that summer my parents bought me a bunch of children books, made me read and write them out. By the next school season (2.5 months later) i could speak, read and write English. Not perfect but i had a base on which to build on. I was about 8-9 years old.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Lack of apprentice programs and a system geared ONLY toward the Liberal Arts has brought us to this.

Education in school IS the problem. In school, first you get the lesson, then you take the test. In real life, first you take the test, then you get the lesson. The whole concept of "school" is part of long experiment in culture that has gone horribly wrong. Now it's little more, in many cases, of a prep for prison. "you're there, the law says you have to be there, just do your time, they'll feed you and eventually turn you loose. What happens after that? You go back."
Liberal Arts School is not for everyone, or even for more than a few.
This nation was built by men and women who worked to produce, not to re-organize and shuffle papers and teach school.

__________________
Halfway and one more step

I have noticed a change in attitude among the under 30 crowd in the last 15-20 years. When I started in the work force conversations with my peers revolved around what you did for a living. Your standing within your peer group (friends) encouraged you to do more to improve yourself and get out on your own. Vacations, outings, and getaways with your friends were there, but infrequent. Things are the opposite now. Nobody cares about their job, as the main point of the job seems to be to fund the latest crazy outing. So young people are happy to live with their parents and spend all their available cash on recreation. Parents that struggled to get their kid out of bed to go to school now struggle with the same young adult to get out of bed to go to work. In the mean time the kid might take a stab at marriage, (or not) produce a couple kids and then move back in with mom n dad when things go sour.

__________________
SOS USA

I find few young people that have good work ethics. Why?

Entitlement. Everyone gets a trophy. You don't have to win to be a winner. Whatever you do - that's good enough. You tried. We don't expect you to try too hard.

This is drilled into kids non-stop today.


.

__________________
Kirk / Spock 2020

Mommy drives a jag, Daddy drives a mercedes, the kids are dropped off at the day care early every morning, picked up late, go through the drive through at the local burger doodle for family dinner, play video games 'til bed time (whenever that is), same thing next day. Of course it is necessary for both parents to work, other wise, how will the payments be made on the jag, mercedes, fifteen room three story house, country club membership, HOA fee and all other items of luxury. Do we really need to ask what the problem is with young folks? Ain't it obvious?

Talk about stereotyping and discriminating based on age... Because everyone over the age of 40 right now are hard workers There are dead beats in every generation and age group. As a 20-something who went to a public school and public university and work a full-time job in an office full of 20-somethings where our job is to deal with dead beat 40/50-somethings, maybe you should get off your horse and understand that everyone has to start somewhere.

Just men? Maybe younger generations work ethic is different than olders, but they're probably not as closed minded either..

Kids are taught in school that everyone is equal no matter what. If your grades are lower than average it must be because our testing and evaluation is too high so we'll lower it. They stay in our liberal colleges as long as they're parents or gov loans will let them, and they learn things that will never help them in the real world.
I look for the next bail out to be in the form of forgiveness of debt from gov supplied educational loans.

__________________
SOS USA

Them driving Jags and owning luxury items are no different then you wanting an AR. Whats the phrase that everyone uses when asked why we need ARs? "Because i can!" Whats the point if you cant enjoy it. If mom and dad are making the $$$ to afford it then why not.

My cousin is like this. Her and her husband take a 2-3 week vacationabout to different countries about once every 2 months. They are building a huge house because what they have now they consider small (i think its about 3k sq ft now) although they have only 2 kids. They drive nothing but Porsches but he makes money hand over fist.

Living above ones means is a different thing.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Wow. I run a business that employs around 20 folks in a county with the highest unemployment level in the state. Ages range from mid twenties to near 50 (and then some, in my case). I started the place up - I did the hiring - I understand the value of good employees, so I did a complete, thorough, and painstaking job of it. I ask a heck of a lot from these people based on the immediate and ever-changing needs of the business - their schedules change rapidly, they work hard, and they understand they NEED to be here. In five years I have lost 2 employees. The success of the business lies with them and they know it...they are a great group. I don't buy most of the generalizations above - if you have hired substandard people, then you didn't put forth enough effort...there are always good people out there. And for those who think schools and education are the issue, last I checked schools don't raise children, PARENTS do. The old computer maxim "garbage in - garbage out" applies to school children as well.

The point is...Folks are so busy making making the money to afford things they don't need that there is no time left for the kids. Sent from my acer desk top, 'cause I can't afford a DROIDX, whatever that is, nor can I afford an AR. I spent my life raising my kids instead of buying expensive stuff.

The "DROID" thing is a phone. One that cost me $50. Taptalk is an app for this phone that makes it easier to go on forums. Essentially it simplifies the page so it loads as fast as if on PC. I get all posts and pics but its plain white background without the advertisements. This app cost me $2 (two dollars). Thats a total of $52. Much cheaper then the Acer desktop.

This app automatically puts that phrase in. Sorta like a signature. I dont type it in.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Im in my twenties, I have a solid work ethic, I don't drink on work nights and I don't call out sick unless I have to stay close to the bathroom if you get me. I have worked with the types of people you are describing and they make me sick, complaining about stuff that's their own fault NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIER ACTIONS. Those kinds of people usually find them selves unemployed. They give the twenty something's like me and others like me a BAD REP and it needs to stop, soon your going to have to show your AARP card to get hired.

- Hesiod (8th century BC)

__________________
Now go make God proud...

I am a older adult I am crusty, crotchety. I don't complain often. But I do/did have expectations of co-workers and those who worked under my supervision.

When I had a new person assigned to my area I trained them on the job and gave them my expectations for doing the job. Team work was part of the training.

My father instilled a work ethic, and the Air Force taught me team work. my father taught me pride in doing the best job possible and doing a days work for a days pay. My first job was cleaning stalls on a cattle farm were they had seed bulls. All winter the bulls were keep in a stall in the barn. everyday more straw was put into the stall. In the spring when the bulls were let out into the pasture. the stall were cleaned. There was 6-7 feet of packed bull poop and straw compacted that I got to dig out. The first day I gaged and pucked from the smell from the poop and urine. It took 10 hours to dig the stall out and haul the stuff out side in a wheel barrow. I did that for 6 days 10 hours a day for a buck and hour. I hated that job; until I got paid I was 14 years old. My dad said he was proud of me for sticking with the job and doing a very good job. And I thought twice before spending that money on foolish things caused learned you work hard for the money.

Some kids today are not required to do chores around the house. I think kids don't learn responsibility and doing a job well. because of that. We all know that there are times we have to do jobs we just don't like; we do them so we can take care of our family. I had a young man working for me that hated the work and it showed and he made no bones about his dislike for the work. One I called him aside and told him he could do one of two things. one shut his mouth, do his work to the required standards and look for a different job or I could let him go at the end of the week with a cause (no unemployment)and he could look for a job. He stayed for 4 more months did a good job and found a different job. and I gave him a glowing reference.

__________________
Carpriver.

Seems to me that "Accountability" and "Responsibility" are two words that have become nearly extinct in our language. Everyone seems to want to start at the top level of whatever job they want, and if anything goes wrong, it's always "the other guys'" fault. Doesn't seem to me that those attitudes were so prevalent in the days that I was growing up, but then, that was 75 or so years ago. I'm sure that we had our share of slackers but it seems as though there weren't that many. And they weren't coddled when they did their little dance.

__________________
... ed ...

There are a lot of decent kids out there. But if there is no one at home to teach work ethic, discipline, manners etc. they learn from other sources like television, their friends etc. No one at home when they come in from school -television or video games become the parent. I really think when a teenager graduates from high school you have 2 years of service to the country - either armed forces or peace corps just to get them up to speed to have the skills that will serve them a life time.
As for parents stretched to the limit and no time for their children - why did you have them? If that BMW or Mercedes is that important, your priorities are on the wrong track. The kids need you - they are not little adults. They need guidance, values, manners and all that goes with that. You can't blame a young person for doing something wrong if they have never been taught right from wrong. There are some kids that go bad and some that you can't do anything with but most kids are fine - they do need guidance that's called being a parent.

most of the children problem is a parenting problem from the get go. to many people have kids just because they can or accidently on purpose. just being the mother or father is not the same as being parents.

ive said it before and ill say it again...both parents should not work .its about the division of labour .mom should stay home and look after the kids and home, while dad goes off to work . this model has worked well since the industrial revolution, and probably for much longer than that.
but this idea is not pc.-it was met with disapproval on this site in the past.
regardless, i feel it is the truth.

__________________
the rules? there are no rules

I went to Wally World today(first mistake, right?)to pick up a few things. As I waited in line I separated the cold items from the rest. When I got to the counter, I placed my insulated bag first, then my cold items, then my reusable cloth bags, & finally the rest of my items. The kid at the cash register looked at the insulated bag & asked me "Do you want to put the cold stuff in that?" I had to bite my tongue from saying something like "No, I just brought it in here to show it to you!" The sad thing is that this is not an isolated incident. I've only had one person understand why I wanted the items separate. Pretty scary!

__________________
Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

Lack of discipline. The current generations were not spanked or ever told no. And when they finally fail, their world comes crashing down around them.

I went to a lousy school that offered zero academic challenge. I was "out sick" many days each semester and caused disciplinary headaches for teachers because it was just plain boring. Some textbooks never left my locker for the entire semester or school year. I still pulled a B+ average. We were actually allowed to smoke at the high school in a designated smoking area. The education system was a mess. I graduated high school in 1985. Those school days taught me nothing about a real life work ethic.

These days, I don't miss work. I put in honest effort. Do the best work I can, and help others do the same. I learned a work ethic in spite of a lousy education. How?

I endured a lousy public school education but was blessed with a loving, hard-nosed dad who made sure that I knew what a work ethic was. He just didn't tell me about it. He lived it every day right before me. Thanks, Dad.

__________________
Just pretend this is witty.

I forgot to ask. Whats the mist expansive S&W you own/paid for? I can almost guarantee i paid less or equal for my Colt AR. $650! Not thousands of dollars


Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

"Dopey little fat kids that can't make change, spendin' all their time playing video games, smokin' crack and cussing at their teachers. GET OFF MY LAWN! ...call me crotchety will ya'...I oughta'....."

__________________
Halfway and one more step

One thing stood out for me in the OP, "attention to detail". That has been a fading art for the human race for some time. Attention to detail takes time, accountants don't like you taking time to do things, "You have not got time to do it that way". I have made myself plenty popular by retorting that the company does not have enough time for me to do it wrong. This is nothing new, has nothing to do with age and has been a creeping death in the workplace from about 1980.

The problem the young have with attention to detail is that it implies that there is more to life than instant gratification. This causes the "Does not compute" light to illuminate immediately along with general grumpiness. Better still, I work in an environment where there are no cellphones and no Internet at your desk. The workers are required to focus on the job. This causes massive anxiety for the connected generation. You will often hear them complain about the work environment saying things such as "I might be missing something". What most do not realise that despite the modern mantra of "making things easy", the workplace and our society as a whole have become so complex that attention to detail is more important than ever.

Take a chill pill buddy. Nobody pointed a finger at you personally. If you were mature enough to read between the lines, you would understand what the majority of us are complaining about. And you would understand that youngsters like you are the exception. So who's being close minded and presumptuous?

The younger generation as a whole seem to have a problem with work ethic, authority, and general attitude. Are there exceptions? Of course.

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I've seen similar traits in both old and young. you can't fix stupid. you may be able to motivate them and make some changes to get better performance from them. the types that bother me, young or old are the ones that never learn from mistakes and will spend more time and energy to avoid doing their job than it would take to simply do it right, in the first place. if these kids are not under your supervision don't let their problem become yours, you tried. hopefully someday they may notice how much better your work is, and how you do it with less effort and ask how?