The Problem With Youth Isn't Attitude, It's Inexperience




by Dr. Kevin Orieux in : Articles


There's a proverb which states that the strength of a chain is limited by it's weakest link. In recent years a plethora of books have been written about how the Millennials (aka Gen Y) are the proverbial weak link in the corporate world. Reasons cited include that Millennials suffer from a sense of entitlement, a lack of work ethic, an aggrandized sense of self-worth, an inability to accept criticism, blah, blah, blah, blah.


I believe this is kind of generational discrimination is BS.

Here's why.

When I joined the workforce 40 years ago at the age of 17, I was told that *my* generation (aka the Baby Boomers) suffered from a lack of work ethic, aggrandized sense of self-worth, inability to accept criticism, etc, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

This brings up another age-old proverb:

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

In other words, every new generation entering the workforce is going to be accused of being the proverbial weak link in the chain and every young adult starting their first day on the job is going to be viewed with a wary eye by the veterans, because the veterans suffer from a strange form of selective amnesia whereby they conveniently forget that in days gone by THEY were the weak link.

But discrimination is often disguised as self-righteousness, so as long as new hires from the youngest generation act in any manner by which they exhibit a sense of entitlement, lack of work ethic, aggrandized sense of self-worth or inability to accept criticism, then those veteran co-workers who discriminate against younger employees (regardless of generation) will be justified in their accusations.

All the younger generation has to do, is prove the older generation wrong.

And that's why Ararat Consulting trains both ends of the spectrum in workplace human dynamics: Management as well as Millennials.

All that Millennials are lacking is mentorship. Mentorship is peer to peer training that will equip the younger members of the workforce so they can succeed on the job, make a meaningful contribution to the company, and learn valuable life skills and work skills from those with more experience.

That's what Fortifying Youth Today is for.

Equipping youth.

To make them "fyt" for the workplace, and to help them "fyt" into the workplace.

Sailing the changing waters of corporate competition requires a collective mindset of "all hands on deck" and without the younger generation, any corporate ship will ultimately sink in the ongoing battles that all organizations face.

Because without the younger generation, there is no future.