So, through Twitter I found a great piece about Millennials entering the workforce and the companies who are bending over backwards to accommodate these "Kids".
Now, depending on whose definition you believe, I may in fact be part of this Millennial group. I was born in 1977, which is really on the cusp as most feel that this group was born on or after 1980. I can tell you that if I AM part of this group, I relate not at all.
The thing with Millennials is that they are full of entitlement. They honestly believe that they are doing you a favour by showing up to work and well, WORKING. They DO think that because they have spent three or four years at post-secondary that they should waltz into a job, make around $30k and be immediately recognized for promotion and raises. How do I know this? I work in the media arm of a large advertising agency.
This place is CRAWLING with Millennials. They show up to work around 9:07am with their ear buds firmly in place and their Chuck Taylor's on their feet and blankly shuffle to their cubes to begin their workday (not before signing into messenger, checking their Gmail, Facebook and other social networks I'm not cool enough to know about). The girls likely have about 14 pairs of jeans worth almost $3,000 in total. They wear these jeans EVERY. DAY. The attitude is, I'm not important enough yet to see the client, so why should I bother "dressing up"? Besides, my jeans cost me $275.
They are petulant and fear real work. Other manager's and I sympathise on who exactly to motivate these people for fear of job loss doesn't seem to do it. They want sunshine, rainbows, free drinks, $5K raises, they want a step by step guide on how to perform their jobs and they want you to hold their hands while the do it.
My company though, does not subscribe to the "experts" teaching us how to "work" with this group as shown in the video. We are after all, advertisers and we do enough focus groups and studies internally or through clients to know who to work with these kids. No need to pay someone ELSE to tell us how they tick.
Of course, I'd be remiss to not point out that not every kid born between 1980-90 has this entitled attitude. Perhaps their parents taught them that second and third place DOES exist. Perhaps they had to actually type their own book reports cause Mommy (or Daddy) refused to. Perhaps this is not exactly a trend and every generation has these entitled types and we are only just calling them out now?
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I do want a blackberry, but...
I don't want to turn into a rude person who can't function without checking it every five minutes.
Yesterday I went to an industry luncheon event that was about three hours long. There was a "networking reception" (read - Free Booze), followed by lunch/intro speeches, followed by a keynote speech.
During the networking reception various people were using their technology, checking in with work emails or calling people along with schmoozing, drinking and general faking loving everyone within a 10 foot radius. I think that use of the blackberry is fine. I mean, you're at an event that is taking you away from work for a number of hours. You likely aren't going to be able to excuse yourself at any other time to take a look at your emails or make any urgent calls, so why not do it during the casual part of the luncheon.
But it seems that people have lost the art of being "disconnected". During lunch and the opening remarks I saw a few people brave the blackberry check, but most made an attempt at discretion holding the devise under the table and only briefly checking in with glances.
It was during the keynote where things went downhill. To say that the keynote speaker was awful would be an understatement. Obviously the organizers of the event believed she would be a great speaker, after all she came with all of the right credentials and was in a position powerful enough that she had to have spent many hours in front of groups presenting or giving speeches. In truth she was horrid. Ironically the speech was on "Engagement".
No one in the room was engaged after about 10 minutes due to her rambley, off-point, inside joke type of speech. And that was when the mass blackberring began. As I don't own such a device, I got to look around the room as people grew bolder and bolder in their use of the device. Maybe they were linking to the websites detailed in her speech... or not.
At my table of 8, only two of us didn't check in (and I would have been twittering away if I actually HAD a blackberry). The girl beside me was engaged in an IM conversation. The man I was sitting beside was setting up meetings for later in the week. All around the room of 600, people were doing the same. Then, then! The speaker pulled out her iPhone (with a point related to her speech, I'm guessing) and got distracted by her Twitter updates and IM pings! EVEN the speaker was lured by the technology.
So does it prove her point? Is Engagement, true engagement when people can't even go to a luncheon anymore without interacting with your product/brand? Have we forgotten our manners? Is blackberring during these situations rude?
People blackberry in meetings all the time. It really pisses me off. Don't come to the meeting if you're too busy. We're in advertising. No one is going to die because you didn't respond to an email right away. I find it plain rude. I bet that some people would even blackberry at a wedding or funeral!
I have a boss who has a device but never, ever takes it out during meetings. When my boss decides to attend something, my boss ATTENDS with full engagement. I really feel that it shows a certain level of class and position to do so. If I ever do get a blackberry it is my goal to follow the example of my boss, not that of the plethora of people in my industry.
Yesterday I went to an industry luncheon event that was about three hours long. There was a "networking reception" (read - Free Booze), followed by lunch/intro speeches, followed by a keynote speech.
During the networking reception various people were using their technology, checking in with work emails or calling people along with schmoozing, drinking and general faking loving everyone within a 10 foot radius. I think that use of the blackberry is fine. I mean, you're at an event that is taking you away from work for a number of hours. You likely aren't going to be able to excuse yourself at any other time to take a look at your emails or make any urgent calls, so why not do it during the casual part of the luncheon.
But it seems that people have lost the art of being "disconnected". During lunch and the opening remarks I saw a few people brave the blackberry check, but most made an attempt at discretion holding the devise under the table and only briefly checking in with glances.
It was during the keynote where things went downhill. To say that the keynote speaker was awful would be an understatement. Obviously the organizers of the event believed she would be a great speaker, after all she came with all of the right credentials and was in a position powerful enough that she had to have spent many hours in front of groups presenting or giving speeches. In truth she was horrid. Ironically the speech was on "Engagement".
No one in the room was engaged after about 10 minutes due to her rambley, off-point, inside joke type of speech. And that was when the mass blackberring began. As I don't own such a device, I got to look around the room as people grew bolder and bolder in their use of the device. Maybe they were linking to the websites detailed in her speech... or not.
At my table of 8, only two of us didn't check in (and I would have been twittering away if I actually HAD a blackberry). The girl beside me was engaged in an IM conversation. The man I was sitting beside was setting up meetings for later in the week. All around the room of 600, people were doing the same. Then, then! The speaker pulled out her iPhone (with a point related to her speech, I'm guessing) and got distracted by her Twitter updates and IM pings! EVEN the speaker was lured by the technology.
So does it prove her point? Is Engagement, true engagement when people can't even go to a luncheon anymore without interacting with your product/brand? Have we forgotten our manners? Is blackberring during these situations rude?
People blackberry in meetings all the time. It really pisses me off. Don't come to the meeting if you're too busy. We're in advertising. No one is going to die because you didn't respond to an email right away. I find it plain rude. I bet that some people would even blackberry at a wedding or funeral!
I have a boss who has a device but never, ever takes it out during meetings. When my boss decides to attend something, my boss ATTENDS with full engagement. I really feel that it shows a certain level of class and position to do so. If I ever do get a blackberry it is my goal to follow the example of my boss, not that of the plethora of people in my industry.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Work Boyfriend (WBF)
Do you have one? I do.
Kinda.
The work boyfriend is the guy who you hang out with at work, going for coffee's, lunch, smokes etc. You chat on MSN and gossip about co-workers.
You are both in relationships or married, but if you weren't....
Anyway, my WBF and I don't work together and never have. He is a supplier to me and we just happened to hit it off immediately and thus became friends outside of work. We go out for drinks and lunch and he came to my wedding. He complains about work and life and I do the same to him. We offer each other a sympathetic, other-sex ear.
My marriage doesn't suffer as a result of my WBF. In fact, my husband doesn't care about our 'relationship' at all. I guess our marriage is solid enough for any stupid bouts of jealousy like that. I'm not sure what my WBF's wife thinks of us. To be honest I've never really met her, nor has WBF met my husband. The only exception was the brief time we spent with them at our wedding.
I'm about to head out for lunch with him right now. We should have gone out drinking but things have not worked out for us to get together in the past month or so and thus we are conceding to lunch instead. I'm sure a pint of two will be consumed, but it is not the same thing.
Kinda.
The work boyfriend is the guy who you hang out with at work, going for coffee's, lunch, smokes etc. You chat on MSN and gossip about co-workers.
You are both in relationships or married, but if you weren't....
Anyway, my WBF and I don't work together and never have. He is a supplier to me and we just happened to hit it off immediately and thus became friends outside of work. We go out for drinks and lunch and he came to my wedding. He complains about work and life and I do the same to him. We offer each other a sympathetic, other-sex ear.
My marriage doesn't suffer as a result of my WBF. In fact, my husband doesn't care about our 'relationship' at all. I guess our marriage is solid enough for any stupid bouts of jealousy like that. I'm not sure what my WBF's wife thinks of us. To be honest I've never really met her, nor has WBF met my husband. The only exception was the brief time we spent with them at our wedding.
I'm about to head out for lunch with him right now. We should have gone out drinking but things have not worked out for us to get together in the past month or so and thus we are conceding to lunch instead. I'm sure a pint of two will be consumed, but it is not the same thing.
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