Published on: June 16, 2016
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Hi, Kevin Coupe here, and this is FaceTime with the Content Guy.
I want to circle back around to the conversation we've been having on MNB recently about the work ethic - or lack thereof - that is seen in the Millennial generation.
The reason? I was visiting a Florida ad agency last week, just to help them with some observations about the supermarket industry designed to help them with a potential client, and I heard a story about a 24-year-old woman who worked there.
She's an administrative assistant, and only had been working there for a few weeks, but had been put in charge of pulling together all the pieces of a proposal that was going to a prospective client, making sure that the materials got to the client by 10 am one morning, the deadline designated in the RFP.
The evening before it was due, she had all the pieces and was about to send them out via FedEx for signature-required, first-thing-in-the-morning delivery ... but she learned that if the FedEx truck got to the client's office at, say, 7:45 am, but the office did not open until 8:15, the truck would go back on the road and might not make it back to the office until after 10 am .... and the proposal would be late, with the agency instantly put out of the running.
And so, she took the entire proposal home, and the next morning got up at 5 am and hot the road early enough to drive the more than two hours to the client's office sop she could be there when it opened and make sure the proposal got there on time. Not only that, but because she wasn't 100 percent confident in her aging car, she contacted a friend to make sure that if the car didn't start or broke down, she'd have a Plan B.
Now, this is exactly what you'd want out of any employee. It definitely what you'd want out of a new employee ... it showed the kind of dedication and moxie she had.
The next step, it seems to me, is up to the employer. Because now that she has shown them what she's made of, it is up to the employer to nurture and reward this kind of dedication and effort. You can't just say, "This is what we're paying them for" and take it for granted. People want to know that the companies for which they work value them, are willing to invest in them. When they know that, they'll invest themselves in the company. Which is good for everybody.
That's what the employer has to do, it seems to me. Everybody - not just millennials - wants to be valued.
Let's be clear. I'm aware that not all millennials are like this. But there are plenty ... we just have to find them, nurture them, and reward them.
It also needs to be pointed out to millennials that this is the kind of effort that is necessary if you want to get ahead and succeed in any organization. If you're in the right place, and you behave this way, it'll be recognized and rewarded. If you're in the wrong place ... well, maybe that's the time to breathe in, breathe out, and then move on. Because there are plenty of places that will value you, and the companies that don't will be lesser for having missed the opportunity.
That's what is on my mind this Thursday morning. As always, I want to hear what is on your mind.
- KC's View: