Younger Workers' View of Bosses, Managers, and Owners

We've been talking about bosses, managers, and owners, looking at them from their point of view and from the viewpoint of those they supervise. Now let's narrow this down to how younger workers view employers in general. 

Our ideas are derived from some remarks posted by a Catholic gentleman's email - an employer who runs his own business. Frankly, it was helpful considering his point of view. Having run my own business for going on 18 years now, it's been a while since I employed anyone. Independent contractors provide services I can use without the bother of dealing with employees.

Not that I've anything against employees. I was one for decades, before starting up my own little business. But being away from dealing with employees for this long, this gentleman's remarks reminded me that as time passes, things change (Duh!) And so his remarks were somewhat eye-opening.

Now, to balance things out here, let's get something on the table and out of the way. And this comes from experience and from testimony from those who deal with younger would-be workers. 

Apparently it's not easy to find workers who actually work - at least work full-time while they're being paid to work. Maybe you've heard this. But it seems younger workers just don't know how to - or don't want to - apply themselves during working hours. We could speculate as to why this has become an issue, but not now. Just know that this isn't some typical slave-driving employer's whining. It's a real thing. 

And if true, then wouldn't the understanding of the true nature of work - such as we have addressed over the years in this blog, for example - be a boost to such young workers? Or at least it would be a boost to those who take their spiritual lives seriously. 

Once you elevate your work and see it as means to grow closer to God (assuming you want this), your work will be attended to as it should be: diligently, every day.

Without this, then, sure, it's not a surprise that in a world where much of the work folks do is less than inspiring, there's a lack of assiduous effort.

Make sense? 

In any case, here's are some elements of the younger workers' view that we might consider if we're in the business of hiring and managing such folks.

First, they ask about fair pay that keeps up with the cost of living. They want reasonable benefits. 

Hmmm...this doesn't seem so different than what it might be for older folks, does it? Anyway, moving on...

They inquire about flexibility in the form of remote work, hybrid schedules. Now there's a distinct difference from how things were for us older workers. Who knew about these items, or expected them as part of their employment package? Their reason is apparently to support some semblance of work-life balance. Nothing wrong with that. But, again, what stands out is that this balance thing might come up with an employer at all. Not a subject for discussion years back.

As for career growth and job security, well, of course that's a concern. Nothing new there. But questions about training, and the impact of AI on work roles - that's new. 

Inquiries about company culture, values, support of "diversity", well-being, mental health - this was never a dialogue in which us older workers engaged with our employers - right?

This guy urges his younger readers to bring all this up to their prospective - or current - employers. I think he's trying to help these folks here. And I assume these subjects are actually considered contemporary sources of dialogue these days.

Some of this is really nothing new, while some is specific to the current crop of employees.  

So, younger workers, bring it up if that suits your temperament. On the other hand, don't allow these matters to set aside or minimize the daily effort to work for the greater glory of God, to perform our duties diligently, and ultimately to seek to become saints, even in the smallest details of our daily work.