Two women got into my car today who were apparently in town for a conference. They were comparing notes on what each other did. They both ran their own businesses that dealt with setting up booths and displays for businesses at trade shows.
The back and forth of their businesses was not interesting to me. What was interesting was what they talked about next.
They both agreed the most difficult part of their business was finding enough dedicated employees to work for them. They complained that Millenials were all so demanding of their job requirements. They only wanted to work two or three days a week. They didn’t want to work weekends. Obviously, they applied for the job and didn’t read what the job required.
Some of these Millenials took on jobs but then made their demands for less hours. They were told in the interview that they might have to work overtime often and weekends. They either quit or were let go. These businesspeople were surprised how hard it was to keep or find people. Don’t Millenials have bills to pay? They remember when they were hired how much they appreciated their jobs and would work whatever they had to so they wouldn’t be fired.
One said it was due to the pandemic but the other said this problem was happening before the pandemic. It had gotten worse since. There was no loyalty to a company. And they didn’t want to hire people who weren’t going to give their all to their companies. They worked hard to build them up and would not let them fall because of staff who were not equally as focus and dedicated to the company.
Then one asked how things had been going for the other since the pandemic. She replied that she had taken some time off to get more focused. She had been working so much that she had lost focus at the company and so she took six months off to clear her head and make sure she had a clearer vision of her goals. She decided to narrow operations at the company to make it easier to focus on one goal instead of the many that she had always tried to force.
The other said she had also taken time off. She had been working so much, she felt she had neglected her children and family and wanted to spend more time with them. She also realized she needed to do less at work so she could spend more time with them. She took this sabbatical as a method to learn to relax and not kill herself with stress. Now that she was getting back, she had a new vision that was less work and more time for herself and her family. Her husband saw how it was a positive change for her and was following suit. So, while he had been the primary bread winner while she was rejuvenating, she would be the bread winner while he was for the next six months.
I dropped them off at the hotel where they were having their conference. It was one of my old workplaces! I got out and talked to the valets who updated me on what was going on. Said there was a new GM and they were all being worked to the bone. I got out at the right time. Told them I really enjoyed my new gig as a driver.
As I drove off, I thought about the two businesswomen and their conversation. Everything that they took issue with about Millenials were things they had issue with in their own lives and acted on those issues as the Millenials wanted to.
But the Millenials were being pro-active, while these two women waited until they were nearly burned out. Millenials wanted to work less. These women both said they had restructured their lives and their companies so they could work less. Millenials wanted more time off. Maybe to spend with their families or to have time for themselves? These women both expressed how they needed to create more time for their families and themselves.
I wondered if these two realized that what the Millenials were asking for is what they realized they needed? Maybe if they hired people and gave them the same things that they realized they needed in their own lives, they would find those dedicated employees who would work hard for a company that understood that their lives were not their jobs. That, while the job is important, time for themselves was also important and working 50+ hours a week shouldn’t be a requirement of any job.
No comments:
Post a Comment