Hire Nice People

A recent article in a local business magazine was discussing the youngest generation of workers to enter the workforce. They entitled it “Generation Gimme” How to Work With the Entitlement Generation. You got that right? The best and most important part of the article is this quote

The Laissez-faire attitude is common because this particular generation typically hasn’t had anything to worry about or work for. If they want something – be it a toy or a job – they get it. A lot has to do with parenting style…

Don’t get me wrong the article also offers some insight from the management point and some advice for the younger generation on the expectations in the real world, including some insight as to what a business owner is looking for these days. It is not much different from what we look for for the past uh.. forever. That is

“…they will hire some one with the ability to work hard and take pride in their work over experience anyday”

This article however finishes with a condescending attitude to us older folk (anyone over 30, ok 40?) the feel is we are supposed to parent the new employees. Now I do not have a problem with insight to new attitudes skills etc however this type of article becoming more and more common and I am getting concerned with this mentality. So I have my own advice to business managers and employees

Managers

I do call bullshit on the entitlement generation, we have already been pinned down by the political correcters in society for fear of offending somebody racially, genderally, disabilitied, ( yes I am pissed and I am making up my own words today) now we are being told to be afraid to manage our employees. I call BULLSH*T OH SORRY! this is inappropriate management. Ok Stupid Management, I cannot get away from this, I see it everyday in every industry and now as the same politicians that create the housing and banking mess Yes the ones that said loosen the lending guidelines so every American can afford get into a home are now the ones responsible for finding out what went wrong! Anybody check to see how much each one of these idiots recieved in campaign contributions? Well here is some light to the subject Senator Chris Dodd head of the “Banking Committee” over $4 mil from the investment banking industry including Fannie and Freddie.

WILL SOMEBODY GROW A SET OF BALLS AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT!!!!!!!!

What does this have to do with the Article I read well nothing and everything. It is called Business 101 You are responsible for the creation, advertising then delivering your brand to your customers. It is your business! You have the vision, the capital, took the risk invested Blood Sweat and Tears into starting and growing your Restaurant. You run your operation the way you feel best. If you want to be a draconian prick of an owner then deal with the high employee turnover, if you want to be a complete 98 pound weakling and be friends with every employee and worry about being liked. Then deal with them running your business into the ground. If you Choose to learn leadership skills and runn your business based upon having the best people in the best positions, train the heck out of them, employ effective leadership and management skills then you will be successful. You choose, But do not buy into this passive acceptance of changing your leadership style, and delivering your brand to fit the narcistic needs of the younger generation.

Employees

Now in this article the author did dispense some great advice to the new young employee’s.

1. Turn off the WIIFM (Whats in it For Me) radio station
2. Hurry up and Wait (your turn) Credibility is earned
3. Manage your career Paying your dues means extra time and energy (nobody owes you anything)
4. High Maintenance means see ya
5. Pride ( in your Work not ego)

Now I know that this does not apply to all of you, If you do not know which ones apply to you then you probably are on the wrong side of the PTO (Planned Turn Over) list. that means the bottom 5

I did hear the employee at Subway correctly. Yes the guy making the sandwiches at about 5 in the evening.  Clearly past the stores lunch rush. But why does this scenario matter? What Scenario is that you ask… well running out of your most popular items. After the employee was asked for the 4th time that all 4 people in line wanted the Italian herb cheese bread that he was out of. He finally uttered very clearly” My Manager is a Moron!” he does this to us every day!!

Yes his manager is a moron! You can explain a once in a while incident of running out of your favorite item but everyday? I am not sure what is to be accomplished with this management mindset so I guess writing this not blatantly obvious? If the sons swear slap the father!’

You read that right, have covered this subject with prospective employees as early as their first interview and orientations. I believe that the most clever and intelligent crew members realize this, as well as people that have something to hide. You may want to take notes on this if you are about to change companies, or if you are a “job-hopper”. Think about it. Assuming that nobody at your new job knows you, you have the power to be a completely different person than who you really are. You can be the silent-but-strong type, speaking infrequently on what is considered an important topic, the outgoing life-of-the-party animal, always in on the crew’’s after work life, or the mysterious, spooky type, that seems immune to even the most vicious gossips and naysayers. Be the person you to be, want to be or really are. Your coworkers only know what you let them know (unless, of course, it’’s in the local police blotter!). I have seen this countless times in women with a horrible life mate, kids with overbearing parents and loners that don”t have any social life to speak of outside of work. Unhappiness at home causes much of this. Most of them practice this unconciously and out of necessity – socially gasping for air, trying to preserve what self identity they still have. Have you ever heard of another employee suddenly being escorted out of the building, in handcuffs, by Sherrif Andy and Barney? You had no clue that they were “wanted”. Same thing. I”ve also witnessed this “life-out-of-life” behavior in very intelligent, contriving people, almost as if they were trying to amuse themselves, while escaping the childish ongoings that are often unchecked in some workplaces, and preventing what seemed to be the dull and the petty. Some individuals can construct quite elaborate “realities”. I remember one bartender who claimed he was a painter/sculptor from Greenwich Village, and who went so far as to claim that the dirt on his civilian clothing was modeling clay, as he hurriedly would redress into his uniform in the men’’s room. It turned out that he really worked a construction gig for his dad during the daytime. It probably got him laid more than he would”ve been. It doesn”t take much to shape a stranger’’s image of who you claim to be. Spend a few minutes thinking about who you are, and who you want to be before your next “first day at school”.

…They”re Just the Lid on the Septic Tank.You read that right. Those of you that are unlucky enough to work for a larger company that operates a Human Resources Department, might be curious about the headline. I” m here to enlighten you to another perspective regarding the “Nazis of political correctness” in your HR office. It’’s the view from way above the icky, dirty world called -gasp!-…..operations! That would be you and me. We”re considered to be a bunch of moron local yokels, sloth-like in our reactions to their needs, incompetent at our jobs, uneducated, and all of us either fighting or sleeping with each other. The only good thing coming out of this cesspool is the customer’’s money. I”m sure that most of you were led to believe that the HR Dept. exists as an actual resource for the employees and managers, that their main functions were being the “keepers of the training standards”, the policy definitions experts, the benefits administrators and paperwork shufflers. Some of us even think that they are there as a means to ensure that they are treated fairly by their managers – a kind of “principal’’s office” for the adult-mentality-impaired. In fact, most Human Resource employees often believe this too. Morons. Some of them even have college degrees that convince them that they are specialists at this. Fools. They do not, and cannot “make a difference”, as most of them give us as a reason for them choosing this field. They are merely a buffer zone to keep the issues of the septic tank from stinking up the Country Club. Vice Presidents, Board Chairpersons, Owners and Stockholders don”t want to even come close to dealing with our problems, concerns or ideas. We seem to have been looking at these do-gooders from the wrong direction. Do you really think that the corporate bigwigs ( that term had to come out of the middle ages ) and boardroom stockholder types care if you are eligible for medical insurance yet? Or are taking your vacation before the deadline? Or believe that your manager spoke to you in an inappropriate manner? Right.  BTW, how many HR people could get through a day without using the word “inappropriate”? Few, I would venture to guess. Not by chance, it’’s also the most often used term of those who presume to dictate what is politically correct, or not. I despise anything that’’s PC. The department serves to keep us drones from being a problem that the folks upstairs will hear about, to be a DMZ from the wretches that they must employ to scrape trash cans, clean toilets, clear tables and sling hash. “Our most valuable asset is our people!” they exclaim. What a load of crap. The most valuable assets are, well, the assets, the property. Property is easily controlled and insured. You and me are not. They should really be called the “Lawsuit Prevention Department”. Why do you think they have the company attorneys on speed dial? Whatever it takes to keep us away from potential stock purchasers, analysts and other investors is what they are there for. Whatever it takes to keep a lid on it. TIP for dealing with the HR Dept.: The first person to advise them of a “situation”, wins. It’’s just that simple. Whoever tells them their side of the story before the other party involved, is presumed righteous. This rule applies, ohhhhh, I”d say 80% of the time – right or wrong. The reason? They all view us as redheaded stepchildren (maybe so, in a lot of cases…) that just cannot play well with each other. They view themselves as a cross between educated, parent-like problem-solving King Solomon, and S.W.A.T. team hostage negotiators. The outcome of any conflict can be foretold by which side’’s story holds the least chance of a lawsuit against the company. If you tell mommy first, it is presumed that you believe that you are right, and therefore, principled and correct. Whoever doesn’t tell mommy first, doesn’t recognize their supreme authority to settle disputes, and, consequently, must presumed ignorant of who has the power in this company, and just have to be hiding something.\n