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Now hiring: Lazy college graduate
Why being a student employee is often seen as being a bad employee
Excuse me! Over here! Young employees have earned a reputation for being lazy on the job, yet they tend to feel a sense of entitlement and think they are above average.
Photo illustration by Jessica Sain-Baird
By Carly Halvorson chalvorson@kansan.com
Every morning during my internship with a non-profit insurance association last semester, I would log into my company email, my personal e-mail and, most importantly, Facebook. After more than seven months of being able to learn what couple broke up or browse my friends' photos while getting paid $13 an hour, one fateful morning. I was greeted with "the rat," the company's nickname for a prohibited Web site. My Facebook usage had finally caused my employers to block the Web site. I was frustrated that they took my favorite time-waster away from me, but then my rational side took over and I asked myself, "Shouldn't I be working, anyway?"
With some companies going as far as creating recess periods during the workday, many have noticed a general trend in the new crop of young employees. According to a study by Roger Hill at the University of Georgia and Susan Fouts at Western Carolina University, employers from the babyboomer generation have grown increasingly frustrated with their young employees, noticing a lack of work ethic and overall laziness when it comes to work.
When describing her own work ethic, Chelsea Rutrough, Salem, Va., freshman, admits the amount of work she puts in is dependent on how important the outcome is to her. In general she works hard, but if she doesn't care much, Rutrough says she doesn't put in as much effort.
"I work hard and put in as much as I need to get what I want out." Rutrough says. "Students don't want to be stuck at work. They would rather go to work, do what they have to, and leave as soon as they can."
In her article, "The Work Ethic, in a Modern Guise," Joanne Ciulla, author and professor at Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, says recent college graduates enter the workforce with three qualities that set them apart from older generations: a sense of entitlement to a do-over; expectation of rewards based on time put into work and not the quality, and feeling they are above average compared to their peers.
"These aren't necessarily bad qualities." Ciulla says. "It's just that every generation, every change gives employers different challenges in terms of what they have to work with."
Ciulla cites the current education system as a significant contributor to these behaviors, and she says grade inflation is the main culprit.
"Grade inflation is the saddest failure of the education system." Ciulla says. "If students go through college getting A's and B's all the time, they end up thinking they're pretty good, and the problem is that some of them really aren't. I don't believe in blaming students. It's an education issue."
In her article, Ciulla calls this the "Lake Wobegon effect," which is based on a fictional town created by author Garrison Keillor in which all the children believe they are above average despite evidence to the contrary. Having such an attitude can lead to students working less but expecting more. Even worse, Ciulla says, is that young workers do the bare minimum in order to keep their paychecks, and getting fired is of little concern because they can always get another job
Others point the finger at more general
Common work faux pas
continued on page 16
Employees young and old aren't perfect, and everyone needs a little help on what to do (and not to do). According to Mannersmith, an etiquette consulting firm, student employees tend to make the following mistakes.
Watch what you write
Using abbreviations more suited for chat rooms, neglecting to use punctuation and forgetting to check spelling are all regarded as signs of laziness. It's important to maintain professionalism in all areas of the workplace. Also, e-mail is open to scrutiny by employers. Many companies adhere to the New York Times rule: If you aren't comfortable with the contents of your e-mail being published on the front page of the Times, you should reconsider what you're about to say.
Use sick days appropriately
The name says it all. Sick days are intended for when you feel truly ill, not for recovering from the night before. It's easy for employers to tell when a person is legitimately sick or just doesn't want to come in. So, calling in sick the day after the NCAA championship probably wasn't the best idea.
Work when you're at work
"Stealing time" is just as bad as stealing tangible objects from your company. This is when you are physically present at work, but doing other things instead of your job. Short breaks throughout the day to check e-mail or to surf the Web are generally acceptable. However, don't make these breaks too long or too frequent. Limit yourself to a 5- to 10-minute break every couple hours.
October 23,2008
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