Kids these days, amiright?
May. 19th, 2019 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plutherusSo, I saw another annoyingly stupid claim on the internet this afternoon and wanted to respond.
Kids these days.
It's a common refrain from old people. Today's was a complaint about how millennials aren't being taught to handle adversity. If they complain about "microaggressions" when they're in high school, how are they going to handle it in the real world the first time a boss yells at them?
You know what you should do the first time a boss yells at you? Complain about aggression. (No micro here.) I think I can count on two fingers every time I've had a boss actually "yell" at me. And I did what I was taught to do: quietly put up with it. It hasn't happened since I was 20, but I can tell you I wouldn't quietly put up with it now.
You know what happens when you have a boss that yells at people who've made mistakes? First, those that have the experience to recognize an abusive boss quit. Then those who have the resumes to easily find other jobs quit. Those that remain hate it, hate themselves for staying, morale plummets, which means productivity plummets, and everyone under them, and everyone nearby who's working for the same company that allows it is spending time updating their resumes and quietly job searching.
And those who stay? What are they learning? I tell you what they learn: to cover up their mistakes. They don't learn not to make mistakes - everybody makes mistakes, and they aren't doing it on purpose - that's why they call them mistakes. So, the alternative is you end up with the kind of employees who cover up their mistakes, or shift blame, which means you don't know when mistakes are made or how to fix them.
So, yes, these kids who "probably break down and cry the first time a boss yells at them" are responding appropriately, and any company they work for is better off for it.
Kids these days.
It's a common refrain from old people. Today's was a complaint about how millennials aren't being taught to handle adversity. If they complain about "microaggressions" when they're in high school, how are they going to handle it in the real world the first time a boss yells at them?
You know what you should do the first time a boss yells at you? Complain about aggression. (No micro here.) I think I can count on two fingers every time I've had a boss actually "yell" at me. And I did what I was taught to do: quietly put up with it. It hasn't happened since I was 20, but I can tell you I wouldn't quietly put up with it now.
You know what happens when you have a boss that yells at people who've made mistakes? First, those that have the experience to recognize an abusive boss quit. Then those who have the resumes to easily find other jobs quit. Those that remain hate it, hate themselves for staying, morale plummets, which means productivity plummets, and everyone under them, and everyone nearby who's working for the same company that allows it is spending time updating their resumes and quietly job searching.
And those who stay? What are they learning? I tell you what they learn: to cover up their mistakes. They don't learn not to make mistakes - everybody makes mistakes, and they aren't doing it on purpose - that's why they call them mistakes. So, the alternative is you end up with the kind of employees who cover up their mistakes, or shift blame, which means you don't know when mistakes are made or how to fix them.
So, yes, these kids who "probably break down and cry the first time a boss yells at them" are responding appropriately, and any company they work for is better off for it.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-21 01:22 am (UTC)Saying "STOP. We're not having this discussion until you can do so in a civil and professional manner" to the aggressor can feel near-impossible to do in the moment. But believe me it can be powerful.
Because that's the ONLY way it'll get recognized as unacceptable way to treat another adult and get stopped.
I was lucky to have superiors who believed me and addressed it when I had to do it a few years ago. As one of them said, "If the company doesn't back you up on this, would you really want to keep working here?"