I must admit. When I started reading “horror stories” about how Gen-Y just doesn’t get it, I was offended and appalled. After all, my own work ethic (and that of my similarly aged friends) is stellar and I have a (tenuous) claim to the millennial camp. However, lately I may have to eat my own words. In blog posts, chat rooms, and conversations over coffee, I am hearing more and more horror stories of my own. And they aren’t coming from geezers, they’re coming from my peers.
Necessary disclosures:
1) In 2009, I will turn 30. If I ever argued vehemently for the right to be called a millennial, after July, it will just seem silly. (Good time to start bashing them then!)
2)I have oodles and oodles of children, which is why I skew “more responsible” than some in my generation.
Okay, so the first situation is this:
Employee calls in sick, notifying the receptionist, who neglects to tell the employee’s direct supervisor. Employee is told to always call-in to a direct supervisor. Two weeks later, employee texts her direct supervisor at 11 pm the night before she is planning to call in sick. The employer, being a gentleman slightly more advanced in his years, never receives the text. This employee was surprised when she was “written up”and placed responsibility for the original absence on the receptionist. Age:26
Second situation:
Assistant tells virtually everyone on her team that she will be taking days off in the coming weeks but is unsure which days these might be. When she discovers that she needs the days off, she texts her immediate supervisor (who knew nothing of this, although the remainder of the team DID) the night before, dispensing with the normal office protocol of filling out a time off request. She does not come in for a week. Age: 23
What do you think of these situations? Is this responsible behavior? Can it be chalked up to age, inexperience?
Would it change your answer if you knew that a VP of the company frequently texts his requests when out of the office? Why? Why not?
This thread posits that attendance policies are becoming a moot point. Yeah, we all know ROWE would rule but how to make that happen overnight?
Discuss amongst yourselves. Seriously, I need answers!
(Just so you know I expect to get a fair bit of vehemence in linking irresponsible texting to Gen Y. It’s cool. Just remember, I am practically Gen Y myself.)
Maren, now I’m wondering if I offended you with my post about Gen Y sounding “Like A Bunch Of Entitled Whiners….”
Yesterday I was on the phone with a college career center person who said she heard of students or recent grads leaving a job interview and within five minutes texting the hiring manager or interviewer with something like “i would <3 to have this job”
Oh. My. Gosh.
Seriously, how stoopid are people? Go ahead and keep it up Gen Y, go “change the world.” You are providing plenty of fodder for the fuddy-duddies to write about.
If you do that to the hiring manager or decision maker, what do you think we’ll think you are going to do the customer?
“i’d really > What do you think of these situations?
They sound like idiots, and I wonder if they were in professional roles or admin roles. AWOL for a week??? Seriously kids.
>> Is this responsible behavior?
Um. No. At least follow up with your bff at work to see if the boss is pissed. Oh yeah, maybe you will get negative feedback (and then have to deal with that)… better to just ignore it.
>> Can it be chalked up to age, inexperience?
Who knows… apparently this is an entire generation of people who think they are bigger than anything (procedures, work ethic, responsibility) just because they are so good at technology. “oh goodie, they can text and have a facebook profile… we must hire them because they are so much smarter than we are with technology.”
>> Would it change your answer if you knew that a VP of the company frequently texts his requests when out of the office? Why? Why not?
No, because VPs live in their own world… and I’m guessing the VP has a relationship and communication system set up with his admin… and a VP works 24 hours a day, so probably after texting he’s still following up during his “out of the office” time. What VP goes AWOL for a week? Even on their vacation they are constantly in touch with what’s going on (their responsibilities) via blackberry, phone, etc.
That’s wack! You know the other chick that USED to work here? Well this is exactly why! This grown ass woman didn’t come to work for what will now be 7 total days because of a sore throat! My boss is super chill and all so she just might have gotten away with such a thing, but she didn’t call him ONCE. She would simply text me @ 7:20 each moring (which is TEN minutes before I wake) asking me to tell our boss that she wouldn’t be coming in. I’m only 23 and I simply don’t get how someone doesn’t honestly think that a direct phone call is the least you could do. Now, she is totally baffled by the news that she has until Jan. 1 to find a new job. She has complained to me about the sitch and I can tell that she honestly does not get it. I recently watched Step Brothers for the first time, those two 40 year old men living at home are an extremely exaggerated example of what our work ethic has become. I’m not sure about the rest of the world but come hangover or high water, my ass will be in that chair at 8am…..well maybe 8:15. What?! It’s snowy out
Maren,
That’s the best title for a blog post I’ve ever read.
I can’t help answer these questions. At 32 years young, I know these millennials, have managed them in the past, but abandoned the effort. I’m now the youngest person at my firm. I like it that way
-Jonathan
Having managed people in a middle-management role for a couple decades and getting a pulse on both the Gen-Y and more recently “Millenneals”, it appears to me to be a continuation of atrophied communication skills. On the one hand, one could cite technology at being a root cause (why talk when you can text?). Having gotten used to more passive, less interactive forms of communication, email, starting in the 90s and texting this decade, our interactions are destined to me little more than a morse code exchange: brief, disengaged, unconfirmed, and often misinterpreted.
Another impediment each generation seems to experience is that of self-sufficiency. How many people could function without benefit of the grid of energy upon which we so casually rely: power, water, food, all available, all considered a given? Yet, we are experiencing one of the worst economic declines since the Depression with speculation that this recession may exceed its severity. One glaring difference between 1929 and 2009 is self-reliance and an expectation that someone else is going to “take care of it”. Should things worsen economically, we are going to have some very disillusioned people in every generation. How many of us could adjust to a much simpler life without feeling like it was the end of the freakin’ world?
My last managerial experience had mostly Millennials and a few Boomers. In addition to being more consistent in their temperament, the Boomers (funny how the original post only refers to our generation as “Geezers”) were also more reliable. Perhaps it’s just the mellowing one gets with age, the wisdom to pick one’s battles (at work and in life) but also the common sense and courtesy to know that the world doesn’t, in fact, revolve around us.
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Having spent a prior life in HR and administered many an Attendance policy, I’ve heard all of the stories, and also saw just how creative employees can be to avoid coming in to work and following the right procedures to notify the appropriate person. I don’t think these examples are necessarily any different than the employees who used the excuse that they couldn’t call in because they don’t have a phone, or they did but the “system” didn’t get their message, or they told a co-worker to tell their boss, etc. in the past. Yeah, they’re “Gen Y”, so they text, but the root cause is lack of responsibility and engagement in these two examples. I’ve seen that from much older employees in the past too. And I cling precariously to Gen X (cause I don’t want to be called a Boomer)!
Maren, you are Gen X all the way. The kids put you into the Gen X camp. The Y’s and the Millennials – I’m still trying to understand them. My office is full of them and they all have a great sense of entitlement. We’ve had some of the “problems” but we’ve also found they can be managed as long as the environment is creative, supportive but also has rules. We give people long, long ropes here and if they want to hang themselves with them, that’s their problem. But those long ropes also allow some talent to flourish. I’m Gen X by the way. Right down to my world weary cynicism.
A company’s culture comes from the top and flows down to everyone below. Whatever the rules say, if the VP is texting in his requests and getting away with it then this is how things are going to be done by those below him eventually. It has nothing to do with generations. It’s just the way it works. I’d grant that the employee who called in and told the receptionist she wouldn’t be in could still be slammed for not talking directly to her director, but she shouldn’t be punished more severely than the receptionist. If nothing was done to the receptionist who agreed to deliver the message, then nothing should be done to the employee. (Emails and text messages get lost all the time, never reaching their intended target and never notifying the sender of the failure. )
As for the assistant, telling everyone she is going to take days off, but never specifying which days, and then at the last second telling her boss she’s off, is somewhat like my telling everyone I’m planning to park somewhere in the parking lot, but I’m not sure which space I want. I’m just spreading the word that I want one. It means nothing and obligates no one to make way for me, especially not my boss. The only person she needed to tell was the one person she waited until the last second to notify. If the company has a protocol and everyone else, including her own boss, is following it, then she has no excuse. On the other hand, if the policy is somewhat randomly followed, as in not really a meaningful policy at all because the bosses don’t adhere to it, then she might argue in her own defense, but she still has a weak argument for the last second call.
I can’t believe you’re only 29. No wonder you have such awesome hair.
I love the post title…..and I’m kind of beyond words about the rest. I was hoping they were totally made-up situations……I mean, seriously? Are people that stupid? The text part isn’t necessarily the stupid part, I guess. My boss started becoming more text-savvy this past year, so I probably could get away with “texting” in sick. The difference is that I would never, EVER in a million years rely on just the sending of a text without getting a response back in confirmation.
After I read this earlier, I asked one of my patients (12 yrs old) what he thought about it. He asked, “So they didn’t actually GET permission? That’s dumb.” So, it’s not an age thing. And as far as thinking I could get away with the same thing as the VP? Yeah, right.
I think that this comes down to communication. I heard Nancy Berry speak about this and the bottom line is knowing how to communicate with people. If someone does not text – then dont text them. If someone is bad about checking VM but replies quickly to emails then…email them. The secret to find out to best communiate with someone…ask them. It is amazing how well it works.
Wow, what a great and completely diverse set of responses! I love it! You all seem to have incredibly unique perspectives and I respect them all (except the dude that said I was old! j/k) Anyway, I love the conversation surrounding this issue and the overarching themes it seems to have brought to the surface.
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. I’m so grateful!
Maren
2 words: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a Gen Y person, what Jason said. They should know this even before entering the workforce. Inform your superior of what’s going on and move on. Not that hard, unless they have secretive information to blow up the company
Just so y’all know. These are not all situations that I am dealing with personally but situations in which I have gotten the dirt.
Just to be clear.
Why did the 26 year old text? Let’s not jump to the conclusion that it was because she was so technology focused she assumed a text would suffice.
What’s the benefit of a text? No confrontation, and limited planning.
If you’ve ever called in sick, you know it takes planning. Most of us aren’t skilled liars, so you know you have to sit down and think through what you’re going to say. You have to have the sick voice, the good story, and finish it well, all without your friends giggling.
And calling at 11:20 won’t cut it. You have to call early, before anyone gets in, or else you look like you planned it.
So the text solves the problem of direct contact. No chance of the boss picking up the phone, and yet you have a plausible defense if you get in trouble.
I call BS. Here’s what happens. You simply fire her and don’t go into a lot of detail. Write it up, point out it was a second offense, and let her go. Letting is go because she’s Gen Y is enabling.
Besides, she can like, totally get a like, way cooler job paying more, through her awesome Facebook connections, and such.