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What happens when you work at a job you feel
indifferent about…or even hate? How about the manager who has to oversee
you?
When I deal with workplace issues that evolve around attitude, productivity
and turnover, I can guarantee you there’s someone is there who doesn’t want
to be, or shouldn’t be. Sabotage of personal work and those around them,
lower productivity, and eventual turnover are eventual outcomes.
There are countless studies on age differentials in the workplace.
Everything from which generation is more motivated, more loyal, risk averse,
or techno savvy, etc. One thing that is popping up more and more deals with
our youngest generation -- the Millennials.
At 25 and under, this group is huge, numbering over 64 million. Career
strategists like Anne Angerman, President of Career Matters (www.icareermatters.com),
work with people of all ages who are trying to find a career or make a
career change. A great deal of her work is with the 20 to 30 year-old
crowd…the merging adults within today’s workplace.
She’s noted that this group has challenges. Depression, alcohol and drug
abuse, easting disorders and suicide stats have tripled in the last two
decades. “The age of adulthood has stretched from 22 to 26. These young
adults are having a harder time finding their place in the world. It’s not
uncommon to finish college and immediately enroll for another degree or
certificate.”
Where a bachelor’s degree use to be four years in my time, today it is six.
Is school that much harder? Are the courses more difficult? Who pays for the
extra two years?
Usually the parents…and they may be part of the problem. People are usually
more sensitive to costs and outcomes if it comes out of their own pocket.
Today’s stats show that 58 percent of 21 year-olds are still living at home
(or have boomeranged back) and that at age 25, it’s 34 percent.
Have we parents made it to easy? Are today’s kids too indulged? Why are
there so many young adults with bachelor’s degrees who can’t find a good
match for a career? Why is college now six years? Why do so many young
adults struggle with career choice? Did we handicap our kids by focusing on
their happiness instead of making them get out there and work when they were
younger?
Angerman feels that one of the problems is that kids are urged to go to
college, but don’t know why. “Few do any true career assessment in high
school -- they are simply told, ‘Go to college.’”
“In the workplace,” she adds, “75 percent of recent graduates see no
relationship with what they were studying and now what they actually do.”
Yikes.
She feels that it just might be a good idea to put some space between high
school and college. “Research shows that it’s far more important to have a
vision for career success than being brilliant. When you have a vision --
using your natural abilities (research shows that they are solidified by age
16), skills, personality, interests, and values -- it’s where you want to
focus your energy. The end result is more success.”
Ahhhh…natural abilities, so that’s the ticket. My question to her was
simple, “I thought that career testing was done in high school. Wouldn’t
those natural abilities pop out at that time?”
They would, but according to Angerman, “The great majority of high schools
don’t do career testing; in fact, few used any assessment testing.” For a
test like that, it costs money. Schools don’t have it, or don’t want to
spend it.
Spend it? As a parent, I would gladly pop for a few hundred bucks knowing
that the probability would be that it could save me thousands in tuition
costs. And as an employer, I sure would want to know that I’m hiring the
right person with the right skills, abilities, personality, and interests
for the position I’m trying to fill.
So, what do we do?
If you are a parent of a teen or college student, start with getting them
out of the house. They could work for pay in a field that there is some
interest in. Forget about how much money is made -- the goal is to learn if
there is an interest in creating a career in the field.
Other choices include volunteerism or internships. Don’t expect to get paid.
If a student has to work to help pay bills, still do volunteer work. Be
willing to be a bottom-dweller -- you can only move up. Too, too many young
people expect that they are going to earn top dollar when they come out the
gate. Get over it. The key is to know yourself -- your likes and dislikes.
For the manager, you must help employees determine their strengths and
weaknesses. This isn’t an optional. Ask -- what projects did they work and
do well at? Also ask them which didn’t do so well? If one was great at
designing and laying out a project but a disaster at follow-up, you’ve got
some major hints of skills at work (or not). Sometimes, a manager has to
de-hire an employee -- a wrong fit for the team.
You can offer a fairly inexpensive assessment, such as the Myers Briggs Type
Indicator and the Strong Interest Inventory. Anne Angerman prefers the
Highlands Ability Battery -- it’s a non-self report and the results don’t
change over time. And, it not only measures natural abilities, but also
styles of learning and communication.
Assessment tools can be expensive at first glimpse. But consider this: if
you’ve hired the wrong person or you’ve got a right person, just doing the
wrong job, it’s going to cost you plenty of money. Not only is his
productivity not up to par, but the domino factor comes into play. Others
are affected by a crummy attitude, by someone who just can’t get work
processed in a timely manner, by lagging, tardiness, even absences.
# # #
Judith Briles holds
both an MBA and DBA. Prior to her career as a full time speaker and author,
she was a stockbroker with EF Hutton & Co. and headed her own
financial firm. She’s the author of 24 books including Money Smarts:
Personal Financial Success in 30 Days!, Smart Money Moves for Kids, The
Dollars and Sense of Divorce and The Confidence Factor..
Judith lives in Colorado. Her website is www.Briles.com and she can be
reached at Judith@Briles.com.
©2006 Judith Briles, All Rights Reserved
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