Dear Gen Y: Here’s a letter to the editor I wrote when you would have been around 10, give or take a few years. The ending is sort of Lisa Simpsony, but it makes its point. The letter appeared in the October 1994 issue of TRAINING Magazine. Enjoy!
STILL MORE ON GENERATION X
As a proud member of the Twentysomething generation, I must take issue with several points in “It’s Just a Job: Generation X at Work.”
Using my more than adequate math skills, I counted seven references to “managing” Generation X. My advice to managers: Manage your day-planners, lead your employees. Also, the article was full of contradictions. For example, Xers are accused of being lazy and disloyal, yet one source you quoted laments: “Feedback, feedback, feedback. Twentysomethings can drive their Boomer bosses insane with constant questions about how they’re doing.”
Asking for feedback signals a desire to grow and improve, and the willingness to accept criticism — hardly the traits of a slacker. Just as you’d never hear a frequent flyer say, “Why don’t these airlines quit asking my opinion!” you should never hear a manager complain about workers wanting feedback. Perhaps the problem isn’t too many questions, but rather too few answers. I’m reminded of the ex-roommate who was constantly saying, “When are you going to stop asking for that 50 bucks I owe you?”
Another source quoted at the beginning of the article says, “that … Nintendo has chips hardly qualifies an avid user as ‘computer literate.’” Yet later you devote an entire section to praising us for our unparalleled technoliteracy. (What happened to just plain old computer literacy? The world needs another buzzword like I need a hole in my nose.)
What hurt the most was hearing Robert Lukefahr say, “Your not going to get [these] people to do things because they have a deep sense of mission.” The implication is that we have none. Au contraire, mon ami! We all have — or seek — a deep sense of mission. The problem is, managers assume that what motivates them motivates everybody else. And if workers don’t respond according to plan, they’re automatically labeled “slackers.” You want to find out what motivates your younger employees? Ask them. You don’t need to read the latest study or watch MTV.
To bridge the communication gap between Boomers and Twentysomethings, let’s start by agreeing not to refer to one another as “you people” (you’ll recall that Ross Perot had a little problem with that phrase once before). Then, instead of pointing fingers or merely analyzing the problems, let’s go to work — together — to find the solutions. Our country’s economic survival depends on it.
Sharlyn, you bring up some great points and an important topic for discussion — in my communication seminars for the workplace, the discussion around dress goes something like this:
I like what you said about not requiring candidates to wear a suit if they’re never going to need it again – on the other hand, I can tell you that after I got hired at my last job (before starting my own business), I was told that I was the only candidate who DID wear a suit.
While I’m sure the suit wasn’t the reason I got hired, I venture to say it confirmed whatever good hunches the interview panel already had about me. I was not told to wear a suit – I just did it.
This reminds me of when my oldest niece was looking at colleges – it came down to two places: one that offered daily chapel services, and one that required it. In the end, she chose the former, saying, “I don’t mind going to chapel – but I don’t want to be forced to go.” Amen, sister.
As you said, let’s rethink what really matters when it comes to dress.