I was conducting a session for a group of employers and someone asked, “What do we do with young people who don’t seem to show self-initiative?”
When I asked him to be more specific, he said, “I’ll give them something to do. They’ll do it, and then they’ll just stop. They don’t look around for other things to do. Instead, they just start texting their friends or doing something on their cell phones.”
I’ve been asked this question any number of times. After doing lots of thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that this behavior is not about laziness, as some have suggested. It’s more about fear.
Put yourself in the place of someone who has come of age immersed in the external stimuli of today – Menu-driven options that help you navigate through the day. Media messages that preach convenience. A host of others who convince you that you should have total control of your surroundings, your appearance, your career, your job, and all other aspects of your life. And there are your parents and friends who tell you that you are special and can do no wrong.
Now, imagine yourself in a new workplace. You’ve not held a job before. You’ve learned in school that do-overs are okay and that you can talk your way out of difficulties. Your parents are forgiving and society has told you that because you’re a Millennial, you’re entitled.
But none of this seems to be true in this new work environment. You’re just one more cog in the machine. Just show up on time and do your job. You realize if you screw up there will be consequences. So you do exactly what you’re told. But when you get to the end of the assignment, it doesn’t occur to you to look around for something else to do. No one told you to do so. You don’t want do something wrong.
So you stop. Besides, there are those friends on your Smart Phone who have sent you dozens of text messages in the past hour and you need to respond. The manager gets irritated when she sees you texting on the job. But you were finished with your work or it was a slow time. So why would she be mad because you were just talking to your friends? Hmmmm.
So what’s a manager to do? (Read the remainder of this post in May’s GenTrends E-newsletter).