How to Communicate for Success with Today's Teens and Young Adults.  

May 22nd, 2012

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

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When we switched from traditional scheduling, to an online company, it was amazing! We had a full time manager spend upwards to 2 full days creating a week long schedule. Our phones would ring off the hook daily from employees saying they couldn't make it to work, needed a day off, wanting to switch shifts, etc.

Once we implemented our online software, our manager does what they needs to do in less than a day, the phones stopped ringing, and we didn't have to spend any time training our over 250 employees on how to use the software. They totally got it.

Online scheduling software provides employee interaction amongst them self, easy time off requests, the ability for employees to switch and trade shift (still needing a manager approval) and more. 

If you haven't switched yet, what are you waiting for? Need more information or want to learn of a great company to use? Contact us to learn more.

Not Just their Attitude... What About Yours?

I've primarily focused on feeding the attitudes of your teenage employees. With that said, I can't think of anything that can have a bigger effect on a teen's attitude than your attitude!  A condescending, disrespectful attitude showing no personal interest towards your teen employees will send them out the door, and working down the street.

I'll be the first to admit that it can be hard to maintain a positive, outgoing, caring and personal attitude. But if you have a young workforce it's a discipline you are going to need to excel at if you want your employees to serve your interest at work. 

Getting a teen's attitude in line with your needs may be a moving target.  But you are always in control of yours, and it's the one small thing you, and your managers, can do on a daily basis that can have a huge impact.

Following is a quote from Charles Swindoll about attitude:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes."

I can't think of anything else that will have a larger positive impact on a teen than the attitude that is directed towards them by an adult. 

Provide Variety

Patience is not a virtue with today's teens. To say they bore easily is an understatement. Be cognizant of the functions and tasks individuals regularly do. If there is never any variety, do what you can do to create some change of pace at work. A little cross training goes a long way to build bench strength and makes you more flexible.

This is classic! We all know that every generation thinks they had it harder than the young generation, and this might be truer today than ever. This was an email that was sent to me that I wanted to share. Pretty funny, but true. Today's Teens simply have no idea how much has changed in so little time! That's scary considering it was not very long ago that the below was the ONLY way of life. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days. All this 'technology' stuff can be too much at times.

-Jeff.

Recognize Positive Behaviors

Have you ever lamented about all of the ways that today's teens don't match up to you or others when you were that age? Are you always on the lookout for the next screw up so you can pounce on your teenage employee to let them know about their most recent mistake?

If you want to improve employee performance, forget about the constant vigilance about what they are doing wrong.  Catch them doing something right! Even at the expense of telling them one more thing they did wrong. Every time they perform at the level you want to see repeated, let them know! Be specific about what they did to your satisfaction. They will respond to this type of interaction in a positive way. Build a foundation on compliments and they will be motivated to improve in other areas at work. 

Set Goals and Empower

Empowering teens with more responsibility and goal setting may seem counter-intuitive for many. I often hear employers commenting on how irresponsible teens are and how they can't handle even the basic responsibility and workplace tasks they've been given.

Today's teens are the most knowledgeable ever. Not only have they been exposed to more information than ever before, but they also have been hard-wired to know how to instantly access relevant facts, data and ideas.

Turn them loose and make them part of the solution. When teens are micro-managed and not able to function in a way that is natural for them, they'll disconnect from your expectations.

If you have a challenge you can't solve, get your teenage staff involved in the process.  Give them the background they need, limits to function within, and a vision of what a successful outcome looks like.  Let them come back to you with their solutions.  You have nothing to lose and will be amazed at the outside of the box approaches you will receive.

Don't Let Them Quit

Often times when a teen quits it isn't because they are unhappy with their job. It's due to the fact that life priorities have taken precedence. School work, extra curricular activities or family commitments take priority.  Those are larger issues than what is generally an entry-level, seasonal or part-time job. 

Set up an "on-call" category of employees.  These can be employees who you don't want to lose, but for the reasons mentioned above they can't work. By being on-call, they would never be scheduled or expected to check a schedule.  But when you have a short term or emergency need, they are available to call, providing you with no loss of productivity.

Provide Life Mentoring

There was a time when the workplace would have been the last place that a teenage employee could have expected any life advice or direction. I'm not suggesting that an employer's role be expanded to replace the advice received from parents and teachers. However, due to a variety of circumstances, many teens do not get career and life guidance.  They are left to figure life out for themselves, or through TV, movies and the internet.

I hear all the time from employers about the unofficial expanded role they have taken on in a teen's life. Why not formalize it a little and provide educational materials or bring in speakers that promote the value of financial planning and investments, goal setting and time management, career pathways, benefits of fitness and nutrition, and continuing education. This can cost next to nothing, but will build tremendous loyalty and improved performance.