The Troubling Arrogance of the Young
I was trying to think of who to poke fun at this week. It seems almost unfair to start with recent college graduates, but they’re such easy targets it’s hard to resist. Hiring them has turned into a hazardous game. One would think people just coming out of school would be anxious to make a good impression, to assert they’re willing to go the extra mile, to show they actually want to work, to start something productive in their lives. I guess that’s not so true these days.
My personal experience hiring (and firing) new employees has generally been more fortunate than many other business owners I know. Many new college grads still convey respect, dress appropriately, and express a certain flexibility in order to get a job. But things have changed pretty drastically since COVID. There’s so much we can blame on that ill-conceived shutdown (But that’s another subject entirely).
Most prospective hires want more of everything – more time off, more remote work time, more money, a blustery job title, more this, more that – pretty much anything they can think of. Oh, and I almost forgot the big ones – no responsibility to perform complete tasks and limited ability to effectively communicate. They want to suggest and start shit, and then throw it over the fence for someone else to just congenially pick up and finish for them. Then, they’ll take all the credit for it because, after all, it was their idea. I’m not kidding, I’ve had several millennials try that one. Especially if they have an advanced degree. Somehow, they think they know more than the rest of us. Yes, more even than the boss and the actual, real, live savant with 30 years experience sitting right next to them.
They love to foist tasks on others to avoid having to do the dirty work, the investigation, the digging through files, the endless reading of regulatory and compliance documents. You know – the fun stuff. The stuff one ultimately needs to know to do the job effectively. When they’re told it’s they who must do these things, they look gob smacked. Worse, they seem to have no idea how to do it.
There’s still a real thing out there in most businesses – learning the ropes by paying your dues and doing the menial tasks. There’s no better way to learn process, to understand the difference between productive shortcuts and disastrous ones, to figure out why things are done the way they are. It’s difficult to change something for the better until you understand how it works and why it’s done that way. These all-knowing grads arrogantly believe the profs at some exclusive college, where someone else paid their expensive tuition fees, taught them everything they could possibly need to know. I got news, kiddies, they taught you the beginnings, the basics. And they didn’t teach you there are lots of ways to skin a cat. Using your imagination based on the constraints of the situation is still a very real thing out in the real world. Your textbook solutions don’t usually work here.
Some of these grads interviewing for jobs are good at kissing ass by saying all the right things and being appropriately deferential. Unfortunately, their job performance and what they do often show a completely different intent. Winston Churchill once said, “I no longer listen to what people say. I just watch what they do. Behavior never lies.” The old axiom that actions speak louder than words. So true. I don’t care what you say, I care what you do.
Employers these days have some troubling complaints about recent graduates and their approach to job interviews. Reportedly about half of all interviewees have trouble making eye contact, dress inappropriately, ask for far too much compensation. I have also seen such behavior. And I’ve experienced millennials with a fair amount of related job experience do the same. Their self-inflated vision of their value and indispensable skillsets is actually quite mindboggling to witness, particularly once the charade of the interview process is over and they begin trying to fit into a new role.
All in all, they are just so out of touch with reality. Who taught them this? Where did these behaviors come from? Computers, COVID, isolation. Lack of meaningful, in-person interaction with humans who are not your enabling parents. With people who are ultimately indifferent about you, your participation trophies, your impressive video gaming skills, or your ability to conjure complete essays through AI algorithms.
What about your people skills? Your ability to actively listen, to persuade, to concede, to compromise, to move initiatives forward in a work environment? Can you communicate! Still, and always, the most important aspect of moving your thoughts into things, to creating progress, to winning, is the ability to clearly and effectively communicate. It motivates others to positively affect your cause.
Technical skills can be easily learned. The art of communication takes much longer and is much more difficult. It’s emotional, inconsistent, unpredictable – it’s dealing with human nature. Anything can happen and you need to learn to roll with it, to embrace the uncertainty, the ambiguity, and find a way to create a positive out of it. If you can become accomplished at that, others will realize your value. Until AI and robots do everything, there will always be a need for people who can communicate the value of an idea and motivate others into action. While no one is indispensable, that’s as close to it as there is.
