CHAPTER 11
Managing the Linkster Generation
“Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.”
—Aristotle1
Every new generation brings a different mind-set to the job. Linksters, the generation just entering the workforce now, are no different.
Linkster #1 Comments
Jordan is 16 years old and works part-time at a retail clothing store. “The pay’s not great, but I like the employee discount and the opportunity to see some of the new fashions before everyone else has them,” said Jordan. “What sucks about my job is that being reliable is punished rather than rewarded. If you show up early, or on time, management tags you as dependable. When you are dependable, you are given all the less than desirable shifts like the day after Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, and Saturday night. My supervisor knows I won’t be a ‘no-show,’ even on Christmas Eve. Sometimes I think I should be one of the jerks who calls in sick when he doesn’t want to come in.”
Kylie, a 13-year-old Linkster, is on a competitive swim team. One of Kylie’s teammates, an extremely good swimmer, complained that he was not winning enough individual races and thought if he swam in the second heat instead of the first, he might win more blue ribbons. Kylie told him, “Yeah, but what about the team? We can only score team points if you swim in the first heat. You might win more blue ribbons for your trophy scrapbook, but our team will suffer.” For Kylie, doing the right thing for the team (her group of friends) is as important as looking out for yourself.
Linksters primarily work part-time while attending school. Similar to previous generations, many of their struggles spring from their youth and inexperience. Do not think, however, that they are younger versions of yourself. As we said in the previous chapter, Linksters have a different set of generational signposts that sets them apart. You’ll need to think strategically if you want to have a successful working relationship with this new breed of workers.
Goals for Managing Linksters
1. Settle them down and help them feel comfortable.
2. Get them into a routine to which they can adapt and master.
3. Provide them with fun and engagement to hold their attention.
4. Reward them often and correct them immediately when they need it.
Tips for Managing Linksters
1. Ride Herd on Them
Linksters are currently at an age where they may seem like rambunctious calves on a cross-country cattle drive. (For all you nostalgic Baby Boomers, think Rowdy Yates and Mr. Favor.) They may have short attention spans and will lose interest, especially if they find the work boring.
Paul is a high school sophomore. He is an avid reader and video game player. He wanted to make money to buy additional video games and magazines; we needed packets stuffed for a large mailing scheduled to go out July 1. This was the ideal summer job for a teenager: He could do the work at home while he watched TV if he wanted.
It was the first of June. It should have taken him about a week to finish the job if he worked on it just two hours a day. We figured it was a safe bet the packets would be ready to go out on time. We told Paul we would pay him when the job was completed.
Initially, he was enthusiastic about the work and expressed great interest in being given additional assignments. By the end of June, however, he had completed only half the work. He returned the remaining supplies to us and said he was sorry, but the job did not have enough “intellectual stimulation” for him.
He was right. Like any repetitive task, putting packets together lacks intellectual stimulation. People do them because there’s another reward at stake. It’s usually money, but it could also be because they want to contribute to a group effort, they find it socially stimulating, or they don’t want to disappoint their parents. But usually it’s money.
In Paul’s case, the money was not enough motivation. He stood to make $100. If it had been enough to buy a new Xbox, and he had a burning passion to have one, he might have been motivated to endure the dreaded “lack of intellectual stimulation” and done it. Or, if he was starving and living on the street instead of with his parents, he would have finished in record time just to get something to eat. But neither was the case.
In retrospect, we made several mistakes. We should have paid him for every 50 packets he completed. Having to wait a month for a reward is a long time for a Linkster. We also should not have let him work at home. The hands-off policy was a disaster. There were just too many distractions. Again, teenagers tend to have short attention spans and distractions like the video game player, television, and friends dropping by are simply too tempting. Finally, we should have hired two Linksters to come into our office so they could work together as a team and where we could watch them. They could have socialized while they worked and their pay would have depended on the numbers they achieved together. They would have been under close supervision so we could have done a Rowdy Yates–like herding job on them every time they wandered off task.
If we had done these three things, we wouldn’t have been scrambling around at the end of June trying to get our mailing out the door.
2. Provide Them with Job Descriptions
Like any new employees, Linksters need clear direction about what you expect from them. Know the job you want them to perform. Write a job description to clarify your expectations and give the job a greater sense of importance. Part-time jobs are sometimes treated provisionally and have a disposable feel to the worker. A job description helps elevate the job’s importance to the manager and the Linkster.
In the interview process, be clear about the times they are to work, the duties of the job, and the number of hours you want them to be available. Setting clear expectations in the job description and the interview process helps keep the Linkster on track.
3. Treat Them Like Valued Coworkers
Being part-time means Linksters have less time to connect and feel part of the group than full-timers. This can lead to a second-class syndrome. Linksters can often feel like outsiders, especially when full-time employees view them as disposable.
Linksters have had a steady diet of feedback and connections through their friends and family. Remember, it was Linksters who said their parents were their best friends. A work atmosphere that is less than inviting will seem hostile to a Linkster. Since most of them don’t really need a job, feeling that way raises the odds that they will leave.
Communicate with your full-time employees the importance of including part-time employees in office chitchat, meetings, and social events. Remind everyone that part-time employees add value by completing the tasks that full-time employees don’t have time to complete. Whatever Linksters contribute should be seen as important spokes in the wheel of work.
To that end, keep your Linksters in mind when scheduling meetings or corporate events. Encourage Linksters to attend company functions and after-work celebrations (except those who, because of their young age, are not legally allowed to attend). The more you include Linksters, the tighter the connection they will feel with you and the place where they work.
Meagan Reminisces
Recently, after a speech I gave where I told the “$1.69 story” that I told at the beginning of this book, a Gen X audience member approached me and said, “I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store with my 10-year-old son when I saw a $100 bill on the floor! I casually picked it up and shoved it into my pocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my son watching me. I was torn about what to do. I thought, ‘If I give this money to the cashier, how likely is it that she will look for the bill’s owner?’ Then I thought, ‘What would I want my son to do and how will I explain to him the reasons I kept $100 that didn’t belong to me?’ ”
The man gave the bill to the cashier, who told him she knew to whom it belonged and would make sure it was returned. The man told me he didn’t know if the money made it back to its owner, but in the long run, it didn’t matter. “My son couldn’t believe I had turned in the money,” he said. “It allowed me to explain the importance of giving back what does not belong to us. It also made me realize that we frequently expect our children to do what we don’t have the courage to do ourselves. The awe and amazement my son had for me were worth much more than $100.”
This reminded me that parents and managers fill a leadership role for their children as well as their employees.
Larry Responds
You got that right, Meagan. Now I don’t mean to go on a rant, but an event in the news in 2009 caused me to pause and think about how personal behavior is what leadership is all about.
Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina, disappeared from his post for five days with no word of where he was. Upon returning, he said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail before admitting he had been in Argentina having an extramarital affair.
We often hear “to err is human” and let’s face it, we have all erred a time or two. I can understand Sanford’s falling from the “holier than thou” pedestal on which he placed himself in 1998 when he criticized Bill Clinton for doing something similar. It simply made him a hypocrite in addition to a philanderer. From my perspective as a student of corporate culture, however, the more egregious sin Sanford committed was his blatant disregard for those who had placed their faith and trust in him.
Besides his family and the citizens of South Carolina, Sanford arrogantly displayed an incredible disrespect for the employees of the state of South Carolina. He blatantly broke a state policy that would get any regular employee fired on the spot. The South Carolina Budget and Control Board Disciplinary Policy, which, according to Mike Spanhour, director of public affairs, serves as the personnel policy guide for South Carolina state employees, reads:
SECTION VI, ABANDONMENT OF POSITION An employee who voluntarily fails to report to work for three consecutive workdays and fails to contact the appropriate supervisory authority during this time will be considered to have voluntarily resigned from the Budget and Control Board. The resignation is automatically accepted. A voluntary resignation is not a grievable issue.
Will Sanford be fired? Of course not. Spanhour went on to say, “It’s not clear that the governor has to abide by the rules that employees must follow.”
There’s probably no legal standard for canning him. That’s little comfort to the supervisor in the field who decides to discipline an employee for the same infraction and is confronted with, “If the governor can do it, why can’t I?”
Everything a leader does demonstrates what is or is not acceptable. Sanford’s behavior told the state of South Carolina employees that it’s okay to abandon your position and lie about what you do on state time. Of course, everyone knows that’s not true. The governor gets to behave according to a different standard than the rest of us. Is it any wonder government employees are sometimes perceived as having an “attitude”?
The bottom line is that people follow leaders because they trust them. When leaders are dishonest, when they lie, when they act without integrity, when they adopt special rules for themselves, they betray that trust. Think about the last time someone you cared about betrayed you. Did your level of cynicism about the world not go up a notch or two? Keep that in mind the next time you are treated rudely by the clerk at the DMV.
Of course, few of us are state governors. Most of us are supervisors and managers doing our best to lead and manage our folks—and that includes me. None of us would ever act in a way we wouldn’t want our employees to act, would we?
Meagan Responds
Gosh, Dad, I’m sure glad you didn’t want to go on a rant.
4. Lead by Example
Linksters are hatchlings in the workplace. They are still trying to figure out how to act and behave. They look to us for examples, and it behooves us to provide those examples. If you want your Linksters to come in on time, get there on time yourself. If you want Linksters to go the extra mile with customers, make sure they see you do the same. If you want Linksters to be honest and not steal from you, be scrupulously honest with them on their hours and paychecks. Remember, they are watching your lead.
One of Starbucks’ core values is equal participation. Everyone does what needs to be done to get the job done. Nobody has a title, everyone is called a partner, and when addressing another employee, you use the person’s first name. In South Korea, men do not traditionally perform domestic duties like cleaning or washing dishes. Rather than abandon their value of equal participation to fit with South Korea’s culture, Star-bucks demonstrated to its South Korean employees that everyone from the front counter staff to corporate management would scrub and clean by hanging a picture on the wall in every store of the international director cleaning a toilet.2
5. Orient Them to the Obvious
Be specific about expectations that may seem obvious to you but may not be to them. For example, tell the new Linkster employee, “If you are sick and unable to come in for your shift, give us as much notice as possible.” Linksters are usually still in school, and their mom or dad calls the attendance office when they are ill to tell the school they will be absent. It might not occur to the Linkster to give you as much notice as possible.
Be clear about the consequences of not showing up on time, missing their shift, or breaking core company values. Just as important—and this goes back to leading by example—be willing to enforce the rules.
McKenna, a Linkster we know, works as a barista in a trendy coffee shop. She told us, “It is infuriating to watch people show up late or not at all and our manager just shrug his shoulders. I asked him why someone that is a no-show is not fired like it was explained in orientation and he said, ‘Yeah, you’re right, but I’m busy and it’s too hard to find replacements. An unreliable employee is better than none at all.’ ”
McKenna went on to say, “With people showing or not showing, it’s hard to give good customer service, and besides, it’s just not fair.” We don’t expect McKenna to remain a barista at that shop much longer.
David, a Baby Boomer research manager, often hires Linksters as lab assistants. “I understand they are students and are still learning about the ways of work, but there are areas where I draw the line,” said David. “I hired a teenager who did a great job in the interview. Then he rescheduled his appointment with HR twice to fill out his paperwork and he showed up 45 minutes late on his first day. When he arrived, I explained to him that it didn’t look like we were going to be a good match so he should go home. Other employers may have been more lenient, but I know my staff. If I had let this person stay on, it would have been a rub with my other employees.”
6. Welcome Them with Open Arms
Let your people know when Linksters are joining your team and ask everyone to welcome them. Pair Linksters with buddies. (Pick good role models. Choose the kind of person who models the values, work ethics, and job performance you want Linksters to emulate.) Buddies can make the workplace seem a little less intimidating, like having someone to eat lunch with on the first day of school. Buddies should introduce the Linksters to everyone and show them where the fire exits and bathrooms are, where they can get something to eat or drink, and the layout of the building. Assigning Linksters to buddies also gives them someone they can ask the questions they may have forgotten to ask during training, like, “What holidays are you closed?”
Call Linksters the night before their first day. This sends the message that you are interested in them. On the calls, remind Linksters of:
Dress code. This avoids the embarrassment of having to send a Linkster home if he or she is inappropriately dressed.
Time they should arrive. Be clear about criteria for tardiness.
Items they should bring, such as driver’s license and Social Security card.
Traffic. Remind them if they will be driving in rush hour. Let them know that heavy traffic is not considered a valid reason to be late.
Snacks and water. Will the Linkster be working several hours before his first break? Remind him to bring a snack or a bottle of water, if appropriate.
Where to park.
Whom to contact once they arrive.
Quitting time.
7. Know What Songs Are on Their iPods
The greater the number of personal connections you have with the Linkster, the greater her loyalty will be to you and the team. Take time to listen to the Linkster. Young people have a language that is distinctively their own and it may be easy to dismiss what they have to say because of their youth. Do not assume Linksters do not want to learn. Their interest level increases the more they feel in touch with you.
8. Create Microcareer Paths
“Young people want to work the register. It’s the most prestigious job,” says Michelle, co-owner of Lox Stock and Bagel, a busy bagel shop in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Before they can do that, they need to understand our line of offerings and how the flow of customer orders works. The only way they can learn that is working the line, taking orders, preparing the food, and delivering it to the tables. Learning all that doesn’t happen in a day; it usually takes a year before they’re ready. Then, I have them run the register under my close supervision until I feel they can do it on their own. At that point, they get a special badge that says Certified Cashier, and a bump in their wages. We make a big deal about it so it becomes a goal they can strive to achieve. I know they won’t be with us for long, but why not give them something to work toward while they’re here? The practice has served us well for 20 years. In fact, we’ve had people who worked for us as teenagers return years later to thank us for the training we gave them.”
A Gen Y manager of a clothing retail store created the V.I.P. Salesperson honorary position. The manager took all the small tasks that were required of her Linkster salespeople, like colorizing a rack, cleaning a dressing room, and unloading shipments, and listed them on a chart in the back room. On one side was the list of tasks and on the other were all the employees’ names. Once an employee masters a new task, meaning he can complete the task without being told how to do it, the manager places a star next to the Linkster’s name at the weekly meeting. After the employee has stars by all the duties, she promotes him to V.I.P. Salesperson. It doesn’t pay more, but he gets a special name badge, a place on the recognition board, and the right to accumulate seniority points to be eligible for premium days off like the day after Thanksgiving, the prom, and New Year’s Eve.
The manager told us, “The V.I.P. status gives my part-time employees something to work toward. Since they are part-time, they won’t be promoted into management, but as their manager, I want to help them focus their energy. The best part is, as I hire new people, the V.I.P.s assist me in training them. Also, several V.I.P.s have chosen to go full-time and have progressed into management positions inside the store, as well as with our corporate office.”
9. Reexamine Your Uniform Policy
Part of being young is having a heightened interest in how you look and a preoccupation with your physical appearance. Examine the uniforms you are asking Linksters to wear. Are they embarrassing? Do your current Linkster employees complain about them? When was the last time the uniforms were updated? Are the uniforms comfortable to wear?
Gwen Stefani, lead singer for the band No Doubt, was recently hired by the trendy W Hotel chain to redesign its uniforms for female employees. Stefani wanted to create a dress for the employees that she imagines being in her own closet.3
If you hire young people and/or want to appeal to young customers, you may want to reexamine what you ask them to wear. The more fashionable (does not mean trendy) and comfortable the uniforms are, the fewer objections you will receive from Linksters and Gen Yers alike. Bruce Oldfield, better known for designing celebrity clothing, helped redesign the uniforms at McDonald’s in London. The new uniforms are more contemporary looking and more comfortable to wear. McDonald’s wanted the staff to feel more confident with the new uniforms and gain greater respect from the customer.4
Linksters want their personalities to shine through: The more you allow that to occur, the more enthusiasm Linksters will bring to the job. Be prepared to explain why certain dress codes exist. Any grooming, uniform, or clothing expectations should be relevant to the industry in which you operate.
Home Depot, for example, branded itself with its famous orange aprons. All employees are required to wear an apron to distinguish themselves from customers and to prevent damage to their own clothes. Employees are permitted, however, to choose what they want to wear under the apron.
For its uniform, a paint store provided all its employees with a golf shirt embroidered with the company logo. A group of employees at a West Coast location decided to tie-dye their golf shirts. Management decided to let the employees wear the shirts because the dye job better represented paint than the conservative, original brown color.
10. Thank Their Parents
Linksters are young and many still live at home with their parents. Mom or Dad may be getting up early to drive the kids to work and waiting in a dark parking lot to take them home. Taking a few minutes to meet the Linkster’s parents and thank them for their efforts provides a tremendous amount of goodwill.
Tell Linksters to invite their parents for a visit or hold an open house and encourage the Linksters to bring their parents and family members. (No, you don’t need to display their work on the walls and give them a report card, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about what value Johnny brings to the organization.)
Also, it’s highly likely that Linksters will voice any complaints about their job to their parents. Having the parents onboard increases the chance that they will help their child overcome her work challenges.
Linksters will probably be short-term employees. Consequently, they usually receive the lowest pay and get the least amount of training. Ironically, they often have the most interaction with your customers. The more you invest in creating a strong Linkster workforce, the better your brand image will be and the happier your customers will be.
Remember, Linksters will eventually become adults and their buying power will only go up. Giving them positive work experiences with your company plants the seeds for future business.
The Bottom Line
People entering the workforce need special attention during their first jobs. They don’t know what to expect. They have little or no work experiences upon which to draw. They are anxious and tentative until they get a few shifts under their belt and discover that they can, indeed, do the job.
A new generation entering the workforce faces these issues from a new perspective shaped by new signposts. For Linksters, those generational signposts include close ties to their parents, technology as a regular part of their daily lives, and a heightened concern for their community and their planet. Keep these signposts in mind as you design work and jobs that Linksters will want to do, and do well.