The Work Ethic, in a Modern Guise
AFTER the last of the college graduates hug teary parents and toss their tasseled caps into the air, universities pass their charges on to employers, who then face the challenge of transforming students into employees.
I often wonder how some of my students will fare in the world of work. After 32 years of teaching, I still delight in hearing that a former student who made careless mistakes on exams and could not turn anything in on time has become exceptionally good at his or her job. Each cohort of college students comes with annoying and admirable attitudes that present challenges and opportunities for their first full-time employers.
You know you are getting old when you find yourself complaining about the way young people work. Every generation does this, so it is doubtful that there ever was a golden age of work when people of all ages shared the same attitudes.
The Protestant work ethic said that people should work hard and do the best job possible, regardless of the reward. Martin Luther told us, “All men, whatever their calling, ought to seek perfection in their work.” Luther believed that doing quality work helped make you a better person. The traditional work ethic has always been a tall order, especially for those who are more interested in earning enough money to eat than in attaining perfection.
For young adults who have grown up in a society that celebrates consumerism and status, the old work ethic seems hopelessly old-fashioned. Even in college, students seem to value the external rewards of work over learning for its own sake.
A 2006 survey of college freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that about 74 percent of men and 70 percent of women say that the primary reason they attend college is to make more money. Students reflect this attitude in they way they approach their schoolwork. Most college professors have probably observed at least one of these traits in today’s students:
ENTITLED TO A DO-OVER It has become common for students to ask to retake tests or to rewrite papers in order to get a better grade. Usually the students who make this request are not failing the course but want to push their grade to an A- from a B+.
While the apparent desire for self-improvement is admirable, usually the higher grade is what really matters. Sometimes a student’s second try is not much better than the first, but he or she still expects a better grade for the effort. This attitude leads to the second problem.
CLOCK PUNCHING Students tend to take an industrial view of work. They commonly contest a grade by saying they deserve a higher one because they put so much time into studying or writing a paper. Such students see grades as pay for the time spent on the job, not the quality of the product.
THE LAKE EFFECT Like the children in Garrison Keillor’s fictitious town of Lake Wobegon, many college students believe that they are above average. This is not entirely their fault, as grade inflation runs rampant in many universities. When professors inflate grades, they give students a misleading picture of how their work stacks up against others, and they deprive students of the feedback they need to improve.
These three qualities have positive and negative implications for employers. This year, they plan to hire 17.4 percent more entry-level employees than last year. Recruiting and retaining the best of these graduates will be a challenge.
In response, some employers are trying to Google-ize the workplace. Google lures talented college graduates by creating a perk-filled work environment that looks and feels like a college campus. By getting rid of restrictions like structured office spaces, time clocks and dress codes, a Google-ized workplace eases the transition from college to work.
Even so, workers at a company like Google are in a highly competitive environment. Managers probably limit the number of do-overs. The quality of the work is as important as the quantity, if not more so. And some people are clearly better at their jobs than others. Recent graduates soon discover that a high grade-point average may help land them a good job, but it won’t help them keep it.
Most companies cannot Google-ize their offices because their business takes place at a certain time, in a certain place, and the culture has no tolerance for flip-flops and Frisbees. Young people have to adjust to the constraints of work.
FOR these employers, there is some good news. First, young people are willing to work long hours — if it pays off. Second, the Googles of the world face the same challenges as everyone else: how to instill in young people the desire and skill to do a job well. This aspect of the old work ethic doesn’t benefit just the employer. Teaching young employees how to find personal gratification in a job well done may also help them become better people and live happier lives.
I admire many things about my students — their idealism, creativity, energy, technological competence, hard work and dizzying sociability — but working with them can be trying.
For those times, I offer a bit of advice to today’s baby-boomer managers. When you are frustrated with a young employee, imagine the pictures of students in your college yearbook and ask yourself this question: Do these people look like they could someday run the world?
I often wonder how some of my students will fare in the world of work. After 32 years of teaching, I still delight in hearing that a former student who made careless mistakes on exams and could not turn anything in on time has become exceptionally good at his or her job. Each cohort of college students comes with annoying and admirable attitudes that present challenges and opportunities for their first full-time employers.
You know you are getting old when you find yourself complaining about the way young people work. Every generation does this, so it is doubtful that there ever was a golden age of work when people of all ages shared the same attitudes.
The Protestant work ethic said that people should work hard and do the best job possible, regardless of the reward. Martin Luther told us, “All men, whatever their calling, ought to seek perfection in their work.” Luther believed that doing quality work helped make you a better person. The traditional work ethic has always been a tall order, especially for those who are more interested in earning enough money to eat than in attaining perfection.
For young adults who have grown up in a society that celebrates consumerism and status, the old work ethic seems hopelessly old-fashioned. Even in college, students seem to value the external rewards of work over learning for its own sake.
A 2006 survey of college freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that about 74 percent of men and 70 percent of women say that the primary reason they attend college is to make more money. Students reflect this attitude in they way they approach their schoolwork. Most college professors have probably observed at least one of these traits in today’s students:
ENTITLED TO A DO-OVER It has become common for students to ask to retake tests or to rewrite papers in order to get a better grade. Usually the students who make this request are not failing the course but want to push their grade to an A- from a B+.
While the apparent desire for self-improvement is admirable, usually the higher grade is what really matters. Sometimes a student’s second try is not much better than the first, but he or she still expects a better grade for the effort. This attitude leads to the second problem.
CLOCK PUNCHING Students tend to take an industrial view of work. They commonly contest a grade by saying they deserve a higher one because they put so much time into studying or writing a paper. Such students see grades as pay for the time spent on the job, not the quality of the product.
THE LAKE EFFECT Like the children in Garrison Keillor’s fictitious town of Lake Wobegon, many college students believe that they are above average. This is not entirely their fault, as grade inflation runs rampant in many universities. When professors inflate grades, they give students a misleading picture of how their work stacks up against others, and they deprive students of the feedback they need to improve.
These three qualities have positive and negative implications for employers. This year, they plan to hire 17.4 percent more entry-level employees than last year. Recruiting and retaining the best of these graduates will be a challenge.
In response, some employers are trying to Google-ize the workplace. Google lures talented college graduates by creating a perk-filled work environment that looks and feels like a college campus. By getting rid of restrictions like structured office spaces, time clocks and dress codes, a Google-ized workplace eases the transition from college to work.
Even so, workers at a company like Google are in a highly competitive environment. Managers probably limit the number of do-overs. The quality of the work is as important as the quantity, if not more so. And some people are clearly better at their jobs than others. Recent graduates soon discover that a high grade-point average may help land them a good job, but it won’t help them keep it.
Most companies cannot Google-ize their offices because their business takes place at a certain time, in a certain place, and the culture has no tolerance for flip-flops and Frisbees. Young people have to adjust to the constraints of work.
FOR these employers, there is some good news. First, young people are willing to work long hours — if it pays off. Second, the Googles of the world face the same challenges as everyone else: how to instill in young people the desire and skill to do a job well. This aspect of the old work ethic doesn’t benefit just the employer. Teaching young employees how to find personal gratification in a job well done may also help them become better people and live happier lives.
I admire many things about my students — their idealism, creativity, energy, technological competence, hard work and dizzying sociability — but working with them can be trying.
For those times, I offer a bit of advice to today’s baby-boomer managers. When you are frustrated with a young employee, imagine the pictures of students in your college yearbook and ask yourself this question: Do these people look like they could someday run the world?
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