What is Wrong With Todays Workers?

Hello Robert,

Your comments (and rant any time you like ) are very insightful and well spoken.

One of the major changed I have seen in my own career has been the ease at which people can be disposed when corporations change. I wish I could say thees events are actually premeditated, but I think more times than not, they are just thoughtless. There is no doubt that sometimes 'adjustments' need to be made ... I've had this horrible task before ... its never fun. Of course its also happened TO me. But, I've also had more than one occasion when I had to forcibly intercede when some thoughtless 'adjustment' was about to happen. A typical MO has been an 'across the board' adjustment was needed, but someone totally detached from the daily routines was put 'in charge' of saying 'who stays', and 'who goes'. (I could easily start my own ranting at this point). In my position at that time, at least I was given a pre-view of the LIST, and it was only after I make it known how CRIPPLED we would be without 'Joe', or 'Bill', or 'Bob' who just happened to be the ONLY PEOPLE capable of doing some important task. The list was changed, but then, of course, I was left with the personal task of choosing WHO would then 'go'. It a time when you have to put 'business first', and that is never easy.

I said in an earlier post something that I had to personally learn ... all any company owes you is your next paycheck ... we like to think that 'tenure' has value (and it does), but there is no insulation at all from changes in ownership, changes in leadership, loss of business, and subsequent 'not so wise' generations taking over from the current or former 'more wise' generation.

For all those 'youth' just entering the workplace, it is quite likely they will come to this 'reality checkpoint' much sooner than did we. BUT, all it all, the attitude is totally up to us. We have little real control of all that surrounds us, but we can have at least some control of how we handle it.

Thanks for your great comments.

To everyone posting in this thread.

You have all been very insightful and well versed in your portrayals of current situations as well as past situations.

I am enjoying the teachings of all of you as I am learning a lot about the why and how of current society and have also learned that this is not just a local problem but a global problem. Your experiences and resolutions have been worthy of any professional analyst. I think that I am going to try to pass the link to this discussion to a few media professionals that seem to report acurately and see if we can get this discussion a bit more attention. Maybe the media can work for good for a change

If any of you think this is a bad idea let me know. I will not do anything until the owners of the sight approve or if any of you dissapprove. I feel like this kind of discussion merits disclosure but its up to you. Because as a people we can start to make things happen.

Double j b, you're correct in saying that a shift in work ethic has taken place but in my industry, the shift has also brought innovation and creativity that has excelled our clients' bottom line.

If you would like assistance in locating personnel that bring strong work ethics, stability, loyalty, and professionalism to one's company, drop me a line at kimberlyt@roxboro.net or check out my company's website at www.mriofpersoncounty.com.

Take care and have a great day!

Kim-MRI Person County

I sympathize with your plight but I am afraid that I must say that you should consider two things before you subscribe to prejudice. I say prejudice because that's exactly what you (or anyone else for that matter) would be doing by suggesting that all young people are lazy and lack morals.

Firstly consider the possibility that your company needs to revise or review its hiring practices. Maybe, your interview and hiring process looks only at technical or the qualifications of the individual and does not attempt to ascertain the softer side of their competencies such as team player, communication skills, honesty and so on.

Secondly my comrade, don't give up on humanity. Become a leader, take a position on this issue similar to what you stated in your posting ("I will not let them be hired here") but not quite so harsh and decide to do something about it.

The management experts often write about something called VABEs (Values, Assumptions, Beliefs and Expectations). Whenever an event occurs in life we always compare it to our VABE. We come to some conclusion and along with the emotions that are generated our behavior is determined.

Event + VABE -> Conclusion -> Emotions -> Behavior

When you say that "It used to be you had respect for the elder operators as they were the ones you needed to get that valuable information from", you are expressing one of your VABEs. It is said that VABEs are formed by age 10. Unfortunately, this gives some creditability to your observation that the world is changing and the younger generation is different almost hopeless beyond age 10 if VABEs are cemented in place already. Example of the VABEs of the new hires that your are describing might include "I must get paid to work hard" or "Authority must be questioned" or "older is not wiser".

So this is where the problems start. You look at the behavior of the new hires and you compare it to your own VABEs and they don't match! So what's the solution? The solution is to understand theirs. Understand what makes them "tick". If you understand that then you can start trying to coach them. Try to influence their VABEs and ultimately change their behavior.

Granted it's a lot of work but it can be fulfilling work to "give back" to society. All that said I go back to my first suggestion. If you just hire the right people in the first place you won't be in this situation!

Hi Guest,

I think you have this just about right. One of the problems we have as that as companies get larger, it is no longer 'the boss' who does the hiring, it is the Human Resources dept. These people may or may not actually understand the technical aspects of the job. They often rely instead on check lists (credentials, diplomas, previous experience, etc.), and standardized personality profile tests.

As the owner of a small business I get several emails every day from HR specialists, with tips on hiring, promotion, termination, etc. Most of this stuff is pretty narrow in its focus: it is written by lawyers advising on how to avoid lawsuits, or by psychologists/sociologists, some of whom seem to live in a parallel universe, touting new testing systems.

In many cases this checklist mentality, combined with poorly conceived personality tests will lead to poor decisions. You can end up hiring the wrong people: people who have learned how to 'work' the test, just as they learned to 'work' the educational system.

Your point about leadership is also well taken. Most people, even those who have learned bad work habits in the past, can learn better habits given the right kind of leadership. It is easy to criticize their morals and work habits, because they are at least on the surface quite different from a few generations back. Older folks tend to see the younger generation as selfish and lazy.

But young people are also in may ways much less self centered, much more collaborative than their elders. Many of them have what can almost be described as a 'hive' mentality. Learning to understand this is a big part of learning to motivate them.

I've been job hunting lately. Written psych tests are easier to game. the most interesting was a multiple choice automated phone based psych, much harder to game when you can't assess the over all tone & direction.

I definitly have to mouth the party line to get past HR & interview in the actual department. I've had several interviews where the intial screener [HR] were less than honest about the hrs & benefits. Describing a 12hr rotating shifts as days? or refuse to discuss the salary until after a couple of hrs of interview. The interview process works both ways of course. I had to turn down a position recently, I'm a little too independant to work in an environment with 4 different unions. The thought of standing around with handful of wirenuts, waiting for another department to install a motor is more than I could bear.

Finding a position that's a good fit, is tricky when both sides are trying to put a positive spin on their respective atributes.

Recently I stepped down from leading a project to consulting due a general lack of collectivism of the other contributors. I don't care much if I'm leading it or not but I do want to see it finished. So now I just say "show me".

I know the final result will essentially resemble the original plan anyway...

My goal would be to do good [quality] work, be reasonably compensated & be part of an effective team!

First, I am not suggesting that ALL young people are lazy and lacking in morals. I am questioning the teachings of what seems to be a growing problem amongst the younger generation. (I really believe this does start in the home.) My own children do not seem to have the same complications when it comes to how they do their jobs

Second, we have hired many people here in the last year and out of lets say 20 people, we only had 2 of them that had any kind of work ethic. One of those 2 is an outstanding worker and the other is above average. The rest have been at or well below average. When hired they do have to go through expectation examinations and if they make it through that then its on to training on the shop floor.

Third, We have training very similar to what you are call VABE here. Once a year All of the Department Managers,as well as floor Supervisors, go through training for different methods of dealing with employees. Both for recognition of their efforts and ways to help them cope and turn them into team players.

Finally, people are hired to do a job for a wage. It is not the company's job to roll over to their new age "do as little as possible and get big bucks" attitude. Yes a company should pay their employees a livable wage and work with them as much as is reasonable to help them cope in their new role within the company. The general attitude that every employee is a good employee is alive and well here but the problem is the good part is turning bad with each new employee hired and I think that I am not alone with that assessment.

Yes a person should enjoy their work if possible and get paid accordingly. But you should not just throw money out there to get someone to work harder, period. It becomes a vicious circle at some point and you end up paying them more to work less. By that I mean each time you agree to give them an larger increase than you intended, it boosts their production for a period of about 6 months. then they begin to slack off again just a bit. By the time you get around to their annual raise they are working less than the previous year but want you to pay them more this year than last and are mad when the percentage increase is the same as they got last year but the dollar amount is actually more. Makes no sense.

I realize todays thinkers have contributed to a great deal and I appreciate their contributions. But to say all these new Ideas come for all the young minds that are developing in the world today is just ludicrous. Ideas come from the young and old alike and the cooperative effort between the two is where the new developments come from not the individuals.

So you pay for what you get, not get what you pay for.

I realized after writing all this that it seemed as though I was a bit miffed when writing it. I assure you that is not the case it is just something that I am tired of hearing about. It seems it is always how everybody has to change to accommodate the complaints of others. I just don't buy it. So I apologize for sounding like crazed lunatic and not a diplomat.

Lunatic?

I didn't notice that bent but if you insist okay you can be a wacko at will.

But drawing an ethical line and sticking to it is commendable and the workers of today should acknowledge it.

Dig in your heels and hold tight this too will pass...

No, not all young people are lazy, I can think of quite a few that ARE though starting with my oldest . He seems to think that money grows on trees. I have done my best to show him that working hard to make an honest buck is a VERY fulfilling thing. I have quite a few apprentices on my job that are just starting out that are quite good and will (I hope) grow into really good journeyman electricians . It takes desire on their part and the willingness to properly train on our (the older guys') part.

Cheers......,

be good to eachother