Older business workers are looking at new recruits, born in the early 1980s, and finding it a challenge to combine the new technology culture with the best of face-to-face and more formal business practices.
Young workers are used to text messaging, scanning and Googling, writing in incomplete sentences, dressing too casually and being overly familiar with their superiors. While older executives find that these skills are productive for multitasking, there are gaps in the education of young workers that need to be filled.
Large firms like J.P. Morgan, Chase and Goldman Sachs are instituting training and mentoring programs to introduce younger workers to the face-to-face aspects of conducting and succeeding in business.
Stan Smith, human resources executive at Deloitte, says of his newest employees: "While the Gen Y crowd has shown a wider gap than their predecessors between college life and readiness for the workforce, they do generally show a willingness to learn. A lot of them actually do want to be mentored; they respond well to smart adults" (Tom Van Riper, "Text-message Generation Entering Workplace," Forbes, Aug. 30, 2006).
Common courtesy and good manners apply, no matter the level of technology at which an individual functions. Those skills are at a premium when entering any new field of work. A wise, older person who is gifted in courtesy, good manners and common sense makes an excellent mentor for those seeking to learn.
