Spoilt brats or exceptional workers

Many employers are lamenting the large numbers of employable young people that are available to work but are not. Even when they are hired, their performance on the job seems to mirror a comedy of errors. Lack of motivation, tardiness, excessive use of personal cell phones, inability to interact professionally with customers or coworkers, and the list goes on.{{more}}

Before we write off a generation of talented young people, let’s take a look at some simple ways to address a few issues.

Grow your employees. The Caribbean must quickly become reacquainted with growing its own workers. Government bond programs are popular among those attending universities who have promised to return to the islands after successful completion of their government-sponsored educations. But a modified approach must be considered for the future workers who are still in high school. Connections must be made early between youths and local companies, who could sponsor internships, offer job-shadowing days, and introduce business etiquette classes. Business education clubs could even be started within schools to familiarize students with the standards of behaviour and performance that are expected in the professional world of work before they suffer career consequences. Those who do well could be offered jobs upon graduation. 

Be positive. The world of work seems to be suffering from a bad attitude, and in smaller communities like St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the impact seems even greater. Our youth feed off the energy – negative or positive – that they get from the adults around them. It’s difficult to see positive, productive youths when the majority of adults around them are having a hard time staying motivated in their own jobs. How are they to learn if the examples they see are questionable? Each adult has to step up and tell the young people in their lives about the good characteristics they currently possess. Even the worst person has at least one good trait. Accentuate the positive.

Make it real. If you are not a person who loves maths, you might remember the days when you sat in class and wondered how on earth learning geometry or algebra would ever apply to your life… If you do hire a young person, show them how their tasks fit into the master plan, the grand scheme of things. Show them how and why their job is important.

Tackle problems head on. Don’t let little problems slide. As soon as a potential problem arises, be proactive and open the issue for discussion. Present your side in a positive, learning-oriented manner. Do not scold, but approach the topic like an adult professional. Ask for and listen to their ideas. Even if they say, “I don’t know”, they probably do; they are just not accustomed to being asked their opinions.

Stop spoiling them rotten! Youths have no incentive to work if someone provides everything they need. It could be a parent they live with or an absent parent who lives in America or an extended family member. If a young person has everything they need, the latest cell phone, brand-name clothes, cash to spend, why should he or she bother to work? The Caribbean is adopting some very bad American habits, one of which is a sense of entitlement. Yes, a criminal element also feeds the needs of some young people, but that is a small percentage. The primary culprits are the parents and family members who, in their attempts to provide for their families, strip their youths of a sense of personal responsibility and create lazy, spoiled monsters, who act like brats once they start to work.

Karen Hinds President/CEO – Workplace Success Group,
Toll Free: 1-877-902-2775; Tel: 1-203-757-4103
Karen@WorkplaceSuccess.com
www.WorkplaceSuccess.com
Creator of The Workplace Success Program (TM)