Workplace Diva: TTYLSOS: Young Employees Suck At Confrontation

Your "Millennial" co-worker is upset, and if you keep it up she might just send you a text message!

Your young co-workers who say stupid things like "who is Gene Wilder?" and think they should have already had your job yesterday are struggling with confrontation at work. Give them any negative feedback, or simply disagree with their ideas, and they somehow think you're all up in their grill "yelling" at them. They're more likely to complain about it electronically, too. As Chicago Tribune writer Rex Huppke e-xplains:

"One of the primary reasons in this past year or two that I've been called in to coach executives or companies around generational differences is to help them leverage the skills and talents of millennials," said Linda Gravett, a psychologist and senior partner with the Cincinnati-based human resources consulting firm Gravett & Associates. "Many of them have trouble handling conflicts and don't have confrontational skills or seem able to deal with conflicts in a straightforward way."

Gravett said that in a recent focus group with 10 millennials, the subjects said they prefer to text someone they're having a problem with rather than speak by phone or face to face.

"I asked them why they won't just talk to someone over coffee or something," she said. "And they said, 'Oh, that's too personal.'"

So don't take it personally, Gen X mid-level careerist. Your Millennial co-worker thinks you were a big meanie for questioning the workability of her innovative business idea the company hasn't tried since 2007, but don't expect her to tell you to your face. Consultants are now referring to this workplace communication problem as the new "diversity." Uh-huh. I call it the "stop hiding behind text messaging and tell me to my face when you have a problem with me" problem.

Of course, with age comes an increasing intolerance for stupid B.S., and developing good workplace communication skills can take years, if not decades. We were all there once, just like reporter Luke Russert offending House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi with his stream of poorly-thought-out questions, and we didn't have nearly as many electronic crutches to lean on for support. Nowadays confrontation is no sweat, and we know when not to sweat the small stuff.

So maybe we shouldn't be too hard on the younger generation. Help us help you, Millennials, in a Jerry McGuire kind of way. Talk to us. In person. But preferably not in a bathroom while wearing nothing but a towel. Problems are always better sorted out face to face, and your older co-workers are more likely to take the problem, and you, more seriously when you talk instead of text.

Older employees might have to be the ones to get personal by starting the "are you having a problem with me?" conversation. I know, I know, Gen Xers: You're insanely busy and you don't have time for all the he-said-she-yelled dramarama. It's not personal, it's business, right? But the young workplace warrior in the next cubicle is struggling to learn this fact of business life. This is where the rubber meets the road, or the fingers meet the keyboard as the case may be.

So spell it out, in black and white, clear as crystal. Use Grandpa Joe as a confrontational template if you must. Yes Millennials, someone made a Willy Wonka movie long before Tim Burton did, and it starred a funny guy named Gene Wilder. You ought to check out Young Frankenstein, too. I still love this video.

Source: http://workplacediva.blogspot.com/2012/11/ttylsos-young-employees-suck-at.html

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