Discussion Week 8

Answer each topic questions 3 of them:

Topic 1

Every generation has brought their own “psychological baggage” to the workplace and businesses certainly has adapted to each. Now the Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) and now Gen Z (1996 – 2016) are entering the workplace and they are bringing with them a completely different set of rules for workplace behavior. It is said that they have been doted upon by parents who have told them from the day they were born that they were special and that life is all about them. Parents wanted to be sure all were given trophies and ribbons just for trying and were never able to lose at anything; especially t-ball or swimming.

Per a 60 Minutes news story from a few years back the thoughts the reporters had regarding the younger generation is they are so focused on themselves and are throwing what is considered traditional business etiquette out the window. But we all know that business etiquette changes over time; the boomers all showed up in tye-dye tshirts, Gen X is the Birkenstock generation, Millenialls it may very well be shorts, t-shirt and flipflops. We will have to just wait and see what Gen Z is going to want in the business environment.

Companies are in a difficult position to tell them that their attire is not appropriate. It used to be that a company could have a policy that no body art could be showing but the Portland Police Bureau just changed their policy allowing visible tattoos, as is the military, since neither can find candidates that meet the old standards so they can widen their pool of candidates.

As stated in the 60 minutes segment, though very savvy technology speaking; there seems to be a lack of concern for the usual business decorum, they are more concerned about what their friends are doing than what the coworker standing in front of them want, if you have to discipline them – expect pushback.

An example of this is during the Olympics, a gymnast made a mistake during her competition. When she walked back to the sidelines, her coach and teammates hugged and consoled her. The announcer made the comment that when this team was a “powerhouse” in the field, the coach would have jumped down her throat for such poor performance.

For a better perspective, go to The Millennials are Coming. Once you have read the article or viewed the video, come back and post your thoughts on how to integrate the younger workers into your workplace. If you have Millennials in your workplace how are they doing? If you are a parent of a Millennial or are a Millennial yourself, do you fit the description? What can we expect from Gen Z?

Topic 2

Resume fraud is a real problem for many employers and the unwary public, whether it be misrepresenting a job or title held to faking degrees. How bad do you think it is? Use your favorite search engine and find an example of resume fraud then post a description of what it involved. Here is a most recent occurrence of fraud and at first, the offender was unapologetic! Lies on top of lies!

Even closer to home; I have a family member that states they have over 25 years experience as an IT professional which sounds good; the problem though is this person is only 35 years old and I don’t know many 10 year olds that started in their career field. Is stretching the truth ok since the job market is as tight as it is?

Week 3

Our life outside of work is our business; right? No one should be telling us how to act, how to dress, where to live etc. But – employers are now using technology against applicants and employees alike but doing internet searches on them. Things they are looking for are social networking pages that show what the true character of the applicant. Or they may find that the applicant has sued previous employers for this or that and won or lost. Public domain information can be very helpful in a job search but it also can harm the applicant and result in them not being considered.

Do you feel this practice of “digital dirt-digging” is a fair practice or not and why.

Topic 1 Classmates answer response on them please:

1.I am Millennial, but I am not born in the U.S., but it is the same in my country when talking about Millennial. I saw lot of kids get compliments when they only do simple things. This is not a really good way to raise kids because when they grow up, this will affect their personality as the article says. They only thing about themselves and do what they want. Luckily, my parents didn’t raise me like that. They are very strict, and sometimes is unfair to me. But I am thankful for that because thanks to the way they raise me, I don’t become the person as the article describes.

About how to integrate the younger workers into your workplace, I think one of the easy ways is do the training for new comers. I see many company do this. They train their new employees how to adapt with company’s environment, how to work efficiently, etc. I think this way may help the Millennial do better in work.

2.Analogy, so your 10 years old or your 16 years or your 25. This to me is about workplace politics as it relates to the article. Lets look at the attire issue and the swimming coach issue, I’m 32 years old by the way. Ok so the Portland Police had to say ok to tatoos yea thats because your 60 years old and your son doesnt care whos 25 about tatoos because in my oppinion he is 3 times smarter than you are now. Because of youtube, google etc. A computer programmer has a full beard and hair down to his backside and can shut down the power grid, thats why you let him wear birkenstocks becuase he will shut you down. Its respect for someones intelligence thats why they are running things. University of Oregon was noted as the football team who yells at its players the least if at all and wowwww, what do you know there the best in the country what a suprise. Forget generation z worry about the year 2300 generation xyzer or whatever, the guys and girls in the matrix who become doctors after a 12minute brain download.

3.Interesting article. For starters, I was born into Gen Z and there was only one condition that you referenced that I related to: tattoos. For my age, I do have quite a few tattoos and I neither flaunt them nor cover them- I just get dressed in the appropriate attire for my daily tasks. I am a firm believer in dressing both business professional and business casual, every place has its dress code and I have never considered breaking it just because there are a few lunatics in my generation that want to change things. I have always been known to have strong work ethic and been quite the people pleaser for both older and middle age crowds. I think there is a common stereotype for us millennial’s and gen z’s – it is not really us changing the work space, but culture changing the work space. I don’t see the impact as something that has people cut loose, but be more comfortable in their own skin. Though, like we reverenced in an earlier post this week… our work life and style needs to be separate from our personal life and style. That is all there is to it!

4.I was born in 1984 and thus I am technically a Millennial but growing up we never used that term, it wasn’t until the last couple years I even realized that I was grouped into that category. I started working when I was 13 and by the time I was 18 had already worked for 5 different places. I always adhered to dress code without complaint because that is what was expected, if I messed up on the job I got a good chewing out because I needed to understand and learn what was expected and thus corrected course as to not make the same mistakes again. In sports if I wasn’t willing to learn and try, I got benched. There were no trophies for last place or simply trying. I’m not saying any of this is the right way to do things, I am a firm believer in positive reinforcement however the idea that people don’t need to follow the rules or try their hardest because they simply don’t want to is a bit ridiculous to me. If you are going to participate in any team you have to be willing to adapt and change while still maintaining your self and your integrity. If it isn’t working out for you, you have every right to quit but not the right to expect the team or group to coddle your ego.

The best way to integrate younger workers in the workplace is the same as integrating older workers into the workplace. I think the first step is to remove age bias and stereotypes and treat everyone with a clean slate. From there you would do employee wide training where everyone can work together to complete a task and get to know one another. There is also diversity training for anyone who simply is not getting it. As a manager I always made a point of having one with one conversations with my teammates and leading by example, making sure they understood what was expected and making sure I understood what was needed. It is important to judge people on their own merits and teach them the expectations of the work place.

Topic 2

1.When I searched resume fraud I found an article about the resignation of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson. It has been a several years now, but it sounds like many of the other scenarios from this discussion topic. It appears that Thompson said he had a computer science degree from his college that wasn’t even offered until four years after he graduated. It sounds like it was at an inopportune time with the Yahoo stock already struggling.

I like what Joy Chen said in the article, “People who pad their resumes often start in their 20s when they are trying to boost their chances of getting a better job. Once the lie has been recorded, it’s hard — but not impossible — to fix by speaking up.”

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-may-14-la-fi-yahoo-thompson-resigns-20120514-story.html

2.Sadly, I’m pretty lying on your resume is pretty common. I had a girlfriend many years ago who did this, and it worked out very well for her. I found out she did, and I questioned her about it, because I didn’t like it, and I was basically told “so what, they won’t know”. I don’t believe that it is acceptable to do this at all. Regardless of how I feel about it though, it will continue to happen.

In my internet search, I came across this interesting article https://www.lawcrossing.com/article/3032/Resume-fraud-rampant-in-the-work-force/ . There are a couple of highlighted cases which involved some folks getting fired from a high level position because their resumes were found to be fraudulent.

While I think employers should be more diligent about hiring people and doing thorough background check and/or checking references, this will not solve the problem. It is simply too cumbersome and almost impossible to completely weed out fraudulent resumes. It is up to the newer generations to have better moral compasses.

3.OK this goes back to 1810 when a guy or gal put up a sign saying hey I’m a dentist or a great movie Catch me if You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio impersonating an airline pilot for 20 years. Resume fraud, hmmm this is what this is to me, in my opinion 50% of office jobs you could perhaps train a 16 year to do….. really…. do you need a degree from Harvard to learn computer software, probably not. So, if your gonna take out my appendix yea please have a degree, but hey if your gonna paint my car and you have painted 100 other cars perfectly do I need you to have painting technology degree, ahhh no. The state of Oregon enforces degrees on people to protect the public OK and get there cut in a lot of instance. From personal experience there are probably 200 illegally practicing Asian massage parlors none of which are licensed, do they deliver a good massage? absolutely, if they break your back are they insured, big not, so theirs that.

4.I find it shocking that people lie on their resume. How can people lie about such sensitive information, you really think you won’t get caught? If people lie on their resume they shouldn’t have the chance to reapply because clearly they are not honest people. I found an article about Chef Robert Irvine from 2008. He was removed from his food network show dinner impossible. He lied on his resume about having made a cake for royal member Princess Diana and also that he received a castle from Queen Elizabeth. His punishment was only one year away from the television. A spokes person stated that “Symon apologized for the inaccuracies and took responsibility.” He was later reinstated to continue being the host. I don’t think we always deserve second chances. He clearly was being dishonest and it is not fair for other that he was reinstated.