Your mother doesn’t work here so clean up after yourself! A common refrain in my early years working with companies. I saw this saying posted in many breakrooms. Today, if this was the only major problem Leaders face regarding their workforce they would be overjoyed.
As I wander around company’s today, I hear a different tune from managers and Leaders about the workforce. Their thoughts are backed up by the literature that describes the Gen Z and Millennials workforce by and large as: at worst, they’re perceived as unmotivated, unskilled or a bit contentious and at their best innovative, tech-savvy and socially conscious [Indeed]. Do these traits transfer positively to the workplace?
To be fair earlier generations of employees had many if not most of the same personal characteristics. They just didn’t play out in the workplace like they do today. Factors in and out of the workplace moderated these traits and, in some cases, employees found themselves unemployed, which I am not advocating.
What has changed in the world that has shaped this labor pool: Covid, participation medals, grade inflation, personal feelings orientation and social media. My work is primarily with SMB company’s, and they typically attract and recruit GenZ and Millennials. Characteristically, these companies are led by ‘older’ individuals with a different set of experiences and motivation. I recently heard this descriptions of the GenZ and Millennial labor pool from a Leader; “they don’t know how hold a face-to-face conversation, can’t concentrate for more than 10 minutes on task, have limited critical thinking skills, inflated sense of self-worth and a need for instant gratification. Oh, and they can’t stay off their phones!!!!!”
Does this description fit everyone in the workforce? No, BUT listening to Leaders I would say far too many. I always remind myself that at times Leaders tend to broad brush a situation but by and large they have it correct. With many Leaders they are feeling that they aren’t in control it’s their employees who are because of the shortage of qualified candidates in the labor pool and the effects of social media.
Given the current labor pool what are Leaders to do? You have choices. Look again at the literature and it will give you a million and one ideas on how to engage these type of workers [culture monkey]. I would bet most companies are already doing many if not most of these in some form or fashion. Try and take some of the personal emotions out of the situation and look at what directly relates to a productive and healthy work environment and what you have control over. If you really think about it, you control what is put in place. What needs to be communicated to employees in many ways but always clearly is: Your mother doesn’t work here so you are responsible for yourself and your productivity.
Second, I think an overlooked element in the current workplace is employee selection. I know it’s a smaller pool out there but that shouldn’t be an excuse for an incomplete selection process. The only way you can change or reinforce your culture/work environment is by the new people you hire over time.
Education, previous work experience and technical skills are part of the historical approach to selecting new employees but incomplete. There is one area that is not explored and is an excellent window into how a person will operate in the workplace.
This point about selection comes out of my research on Leadership, and I think it applies to any potential employee. Research has shown that the characteristics that make Leaders successful as an adult were apparent in early childhood, pre-teen through teenage years.
How individuals operate and what they are involved in their pre-teen and teenage years will tell you volumes about them. Also, I have never seen a job description I liked. Think about the characteristics you want, i.e. self-reliance, toughness, innovation, team oriented or independence. Find out if the individual participated in extra-curricular activities. Were they team or individual sports participants? Were they in a band, or the drama club? The motivation and personal attributes demonstrated and choses made are somewhat different for different activities. Did they have a part time job in high school or were they an entrepreneur at an early age? If so, why. These years are a window into their future because you are able to see if they carried these forward and how in their careers.
I frequently hear about how external societal changes are negatively impacting how work gets done in organizations yet at the end of the day it is the Leader who makes the decision on what type of operating environment they need and want in their organization. Throwing up your hands and saying “this younger generation” is not the answer. You should be as concerned about how people behave in your work environment as you are about the rest of the business. Making changes in the work environment is one part of the solution. However, at some point in time certain employees need to hear the message, “your mother doesn’t work here so take care of business.”