Recently, several managers from different organizations have complained to me about the lack of courtesy that they find in younger employees. Some of the sins cited are:
- Engaging in obscenity-laced conversations in a cubicle area where it is impossible for others not to overhear;
- Sending text-messages to others while talking to the boss; and
- Openly exhibiting, via sighs and rolled eyes, a lack of interest in job assignments.
Not all of the people complaining about this behavior are aging Boomers intent on preserving some vestiges of status. The ranks of the critics are mixed and some are just a few years older than the offenders.
Discourtesy is not the only problem cited. Dress standards are a close second. Managers groan over having to tell young employees that plunging necklines and beach wear are not appropriate office attire.
To paraphrase a question from one manager (and setting aside the question of whether the young are being unfairly stigmatized):
Why don't those employees know better?
3 comments:
Boy, that is the sixty-four dollar question! In my "post-retirement" job I have seen more garden-variety rudeness than I ever did in thirty-five years before. Uniform standards are poor, hair styles and body language are pushy, portable phones are like a virus, and a lack of respect for simple chain-of-command authority are apparent all up and down the flow chart. It makes me glad that retirement is only a short time off.
A large part of "the problem" lies not with the offenders but with their bosses and supervisors whose expectations are not what they once were. Hardly a week passes that I don't observe an example of problem behavior being ignored by people two or three levels up...and nothing is mentioned, either to the offending subordinate or their direct manager/supervisor. I'm not talking about chewing someone out, just noticing and mentioning would be enough. But even that, probably because the authority figure wants to be a "nice guy" or is fearful of retaliation or some perceived PC offence, goes missing.
I think poor and/or inconsistent expectations on the part of bosses is to blame.
My question to those complaining about rolling eyes, groans and obscene language is: So what was your response? Did you immediately stop what you were doing and say, "Excuse me, but that is out of line. When we're finished here, you and I need to have a private conversation about what just happened." (And it goes without saying that the ball is now squarely in the court of the boss/supervisor and consequences are in order.)
Or was the behavior allowed to pass unchallenged when it happened? And if so, then why? Seems to me better coaching is called for.
Hoots,
Bravo! Great comment! I have the same question about why such behavior is tolerated.
I worked for a company nearly thirty years that simply didn't put up with anything out of line. Not until I left did I fully appreciate how good my OJT management training had been. When the working poor work for an outfit for two or three generations with years of service measured in decades, it says something positive about management.
Part of the formula is not being intimidated by "turnover." That term is nothing but a blunt instrument used to beat up line managers. The wise company pays attention to employees retained, not those who can't meet expectations.
Non-monitary rewards are essential when wages are low due to market realities. First on the list is not punishing good workers by forcing them to work side by side with others who don't do right. Nothing is more corrosive to morale than having a boss who won't take action when one of your peers gets out of line.
At some level we all know that we are paid partly for what we do, but partly -- sometimes more -- for what we put up with.
Rudeness in the workplace is deadly. Everyday politeness is in every job description whether or not it is in writing.
Two platitudes:
***What you permit you promote.
***Fake it til you make it.
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