The Problem with the Young

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers”, says a famous thinker.

Every time two Gen X entrepreneurs (that’s those of us in our 40s) or boomers (those in their 50s and 60s) come together, chances are the topic of dealing with Gen Y employees would pop up.

Today’s generation is one of instant gratification. Bonuses are preferably paid upfront. And promotions should not be longer than once a year.

VICE PRESIDENTS GALORE

Many businesses deal with this problem by promoting their top talents once every few months. So you see twenty somethings running around with name cards that say Vice President. So much is at stake with job titles, that these days bank branch managers do little more than selling mortgages and business loans. One telco have four layers of Vice Presidents – I to IV, and two layers of Senior Vice Presidents, so as to distinguish the real vice presidents from those ‘in-transition’. I met a VP of a major global bank in Hong Kong over dinner recently, and his job is to serve Chinese businesses who wanted to open an account in his bank. That’s right, he’s doing what a bank teller would be doing just a decade ago! And there were sixty others in his bank in the same role.

Titles are now the favourite currency to satisfy the younger generation’s thirst for instant growth. When I applied for a bank account, I was served by a relationship manager. When I wanted to transfer a few hundred dollars to a supplier, it was service manager who attended to me. And when I had a complain to make online, an online manager was at my service! None of them could have been more than 25.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE YOUNG

Often, any discussion on these younger employees is laced with negativity. That employees these days are no longer loyal. That job-hopping is no longer seen as shameful and indeed it has become a badge of honour. That instructions are never followed to the letters. That the Gen Ys demand before they give. That projects are abandoned halfway with no consideration of responsibility. That they often think they know everything when they know nothing.

Depending whom you ask, these could be the truth or a complete lack of understanding of what Gen Y stands for. The current generation, unlike those of you (and us) who are in your 40s and 50s, did not grow up watching TV. They grew up playing on their computers and playstations. As the country has gotten significantly wealthier in the past two decades, these younger people have never tasted (pun intended) hunger and therefore have no reason to worry about losing their jobs.

But wait! That sounds exactly what our parents have been saying about OUR generation! If you really think about it, it’s more a progressive degeneration than sudden shift of priority. It’s progress rather than signs of armageddon. In short, as SMEs and employers, you will simply have to accept that this is today’s practice. Don’t fight it. Don't even bother lamenting about it.

Some of the smartest companies in the world, banks included, have learned to adopt to times and shifted their games to follow the new rules. Those of us who refuses to play by these new rules will be the ones to lose.

For many years, I call myself a Publisher rather than the more glamourous CEO. I have always associated CEOs with failing dotcoms. And I have always believed that anyone can be a CEO, but you will have to earn the rights to be called a publisher. A door sign at a recent business networking event put me in my place. It said: “CEOs Only”.

Yes, times have changed. In case you have been wondering, it was Socrates whom I’ve quoted in the first paragraph.

The problem with the young isn’t exactly new.

Move on, you dinosaurs.