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Leveraging the Third Leg of Your Employment Stool

It doesn't take a mechanical engineer to understand why a stool needs at least three legs to fully support and balance even the slightest weight. When trying to support and balance the challenging workplace relationship between your business and your young hires, consider the advantages of inviting their parents into the employment picture as the third leg of your stool. And don't be fooled into thinking that I'm limiting this strategy to only the moms and dads of teenage workers.

Gen Whys are getting married later, having children later, and increasingly living with their parents well into their 20's. Gone is the notion that adulthood officially started at 18, when one typically graduated from high school - or even 21, the modern-day age limit for drinking alcohol. A University of Chicago survey released last year found that most Americans now believe that adulthood begins at age 26.

Over the past decade, the years from 18 to 25 have evolved into a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood, in which many young people stall for a few extra years in an effort to contemplate the next phase of life, or prepare for it. It's not at all uncommon for a college grad to accept a nice-paying, full-time job with a company (a career position, so to speak) and then move back home with mom and dad for an undetermined period of time.

If you find this unsettling and want to assign blame, you may be tempted to heap it all on the shoulders of Generation Why. Scores of them are coming out of college saddled with gargantuan student loans and feel the need to rely on someone else to take care of their basic needs while they struggle to get out of debt. Others just want to free up the cash it takes to support the entertainment-rich, techno gadget-filled, bling-bling lifestyles they've grown accustomed to. But don't put it all on the kid.

Much of the reason for the delayed emancipation of our nation's youth can be attributed to the rise of the helicopter parents; parents who hover over their adult children's lives and refuse to let go. Some of these chopper-pilot moms and dads are obviously afraid of the old-age feeling of being empty nesters while others are simply trying to compensate for the lack of quality time spent with their children during their adolescence.

But let's save all the Freudian analysis for the therapists and simply agree that Gen Whys are relying on their parents to a much greater extent and for a much longer period than mature children of previous generations. Knowing this, it might be a good strategy for you to integrate parents as a supporting leg in your employment equation.

I can hear you grumbling, "Yeah, right, Chester. All I need is more immature brats on my payroll who can't think for themselves and need to call mommy whenever things don't go their way." Way ahead of you. But as they say, "It is what it is", and you and I aren't going to stop the blades of this helicopter-thing from turning. Better to accept this reality, remain positive, and look to leverage this to your advantage. Here's how:

1. Meet the Fockers. Be proactive and extend the welcome mat to the parents. Perhaps even invite them to new employee orientation. Let them meet you on your turf when you're relaxed and prepared to tour them around and see your best side. Explain why you hired their son/daughter and what you ask from your young staffers. Tell them how you go about developing young talent and grow them with the attitudes, skills, and values that will prepare them for success in any career.
2. Pick up the phone within the first two weeks. Don't wait for something to go wrong before you re-establish contact. Rather, make your first call home one to praise their kid. "Geez, Ms. Baker, Devon is sure a quick study! He's learning the ropes much faster than most. I'm elated he's on our team." This will pay huge dividends when you call home at some point needing their input to correct a behavior.
3. Share the love. If you offer employee discounts or other non-compensatory perks, extend some of those to parents. Any costs associated with doing this will be more than offset by your savings in employee turnover whenever a Gen Why employee approaches a parent for help in updating/circulating his/her resume.
4. Don't tattle. Regardless of how good your relationship with the parents is, never run to them with a problem without the consent of your employee. Although doing so might more easily resolve a short-term issue, it will shatter the trust between you and your young hire, and it will ultimately tarnish you in the eyes of the parent. Wait until the parent approaches you or until your new hire tells you they need to consult their parents for advice on an issue before suggesting that all of you converge for a pow-wow.

The Bottom Line? If your business employs teens, then this practice is an absolute no-brainer, and you're at a disadvantage if you're not involving the parents. But with the research pointing to so many mid-to-upper twenty-somethings still living at home and relying on mom and dad for advice and support, it makes sense to consider strengthening your employment stool by adding parents as the third leg.

To read a recent Newsweek article on this topic, click here.

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Whys Cracks

STOP TRYING TO BE A STAND OUT - Austin Perkins, 17, a senior at Golden Gate High School in Naples, Fla., was one of several students sent to the office for violating the school's dress code. "This was a group of students who had been talked to before," said Principal Bob Spano. "Because there was a group of them, it sort of brought more attention to it." The violation: the students wore coats and ties to school. The school dress code "says 'business dress'," Perkins said. "A coat and tie are business dress." All the boys received in-school suspensions for "exceeding" the school's dress code. (Naples News)

The next time any of you exceed our expectations, we are going to make you walk the plank! Now get back to mediocrity like all the rest!

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Bring Your A Game...To Work! Update

The workplace values training and certification program for teenagers Eric has been working on for more than three years is currently in the 'PreLaunch' (beta test) phase. To become certified as workplace ready and prove to perspective employers they know how to bring their A Game to the job, teen participants must read a book, watch two 16-minute videos, and then pass an exam. (The book is complete, but only currently available to prelaunch partners). If you'd like a sneak peek at this new online tool, visit TheAGame.com and register using your email address and the passcode 'sneakpeak'.

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Whys Blog

Check out Eric's latest blog - always insightful and inspiring; sometimes humorous. Read it here.

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