As
I look back at my career which began as forced child labor in the mid
60’s, I can’t help but be amazed at all that has transpired. At that
time handset type, Linotypes, Vandercook, Chandler and Price and
windmills were still in play. Offset press were the process of choice.
Shooting film and under developing it so I could opaque the pinholes was
a common practice. Hand collating, padding presses, paper cutters
(scary for an 8 year old), folders and hall races with press carts were
how I spent my youth. More important lessons like how to play cards and
keep my mouth shut were hard learned. How working hard got you fed was
much easier.
So today’s ramblings will revolve around the idea of
work ethic in today’s work force. It seems that this is a foreign
concept to many young people. Maybe the upturn of the “Nanny State” over
the past 20 years has lessened the importance of this practice. Why
work hard when everybody get a trophy or a smiley face in BLUE pen from
the teacher? I must have been a crappy teacher because I used the hell
out of RED pens and frowny faces (early non-digital emoji technology). I
guess at some point we turn into our fathers or mothers. I worry about
the current generations, X’s and Y’s, and Millennials, but mostly I
worry about the vanishing “Boomers”. Not the Oklahoma Boomers, just us
old middle-classers’. Oh and the middle class is disappearing too.
With
workers less interested in working and senior managers headed towards
retirement we (printers) could be in for a world of hurt. Dammed
depressing. Still we plug along with good intelligent young folks. Most
understanding that work is a necessary activity that permits them to
live their lives as they wish. I would say that if you asked your
younger employees about work, they would say that work lets them do
their thing and if truth be told, the “thing” is what is most important
to them. Whatever that might be, they are probably right.
Unfortunately
we can’t teach work ethic to grown people. That is learned at a young
age. If you were lucky enough to recognize and understood that lesson,
well then, you are ahead of today’s game. Miss that day in kindergarten?
Then you might be the person that hates time clocks and is habitually
late for meetings. Maybe you burn thru all your leave and don’t worry
about what might come. Hopefully debt hasn’t crippled your ability to
live comfortably too.
There
is no magic pill to remedy this situation. A pill that will
automatically transform your employees into super workers. As managers
you hope that the under-performers don’t drag down your stars. Carrots
and sticks work with performers. Unfortunately those with a shelf full
of 10th place participation trophies just expect to be
rewarded. For them clearly defined expectations and rewards can work.
Milestones and benchmarks can be used to measure progress towards your
intended goals. Permitting some flexibility into the work place can help
too. Understanding that our youth work at different times and speeds,
you could actually free up some of their creativity and desire to work
with some modifications.
The bottom line is that today’s work force is diverse in their wants
and personal goals. I believe most have some form of work ethic, but us
old guys have trouble seeing it. Under-performers can simply be poor
employees, other just need to be allowed some flexibility to find their
groove. The lesson for today is to not be so rigid that you stifle the
workers managers of tomorrow.