<p>Last week I had a painter working at my house. When I used this man a couple years ago, his son worked with him (a 20 year old). I asked what his son was doing now, as he didn’t show up with his dad. The father replied, “I fired him, he thought he could come late, leave early or not show up at all. Son or no son, no employee of mine will get away with that”. Seems the son is still out there trying to find an employer who will allow “flexibility”. ;)</p>
<p>Gal- on the drive through, clean & stock your area, I am guessing you don’t wear a headset that allows you to walk too far from the drive through, but you can stock cups, ice, straws, napkins, bags, lemons for tea, make sure there is enough tea or the back up available to make more, sugar packets, other condiments, wipe the counters, sweep your area, wipe spots off the walls, clean the drive through windows- all things that ought to be done and are so much better done before you run out of things in the middle of a rush, and more efficient to do them one at a times between orders than to spend an hour at the end of the day, yes?</p>
<p>It would make sense to go back and do dishes, but if you don’t have a headset, then some one needs to be watching your area and take the order whilst calling you back up front.</p>
<p>So, just look around for “spring cleaning” things- dust in drawers, look for grungy stainless steel and polish it , etc</p>
<p>I HATE the cell phone usage. I’m only 20 and still in college, but when I’m home on break I work at this taco place. I’ve been there for years and I’m a manager now, and it just gets worse and worse. The other day, while this girl was supposed to be cooking the meat…in front of customers no less, she was texting away on her phone. Seriously? I had to do a double take…maybe its because I’m not big into cell phones and whatnot, but I never did that. I have to constantly tell these kids what to do, none of them are actually proactive and look around/notice things that need to be done. Whenever they get done an assigned task…they sit. They sit and they text. I tell them it’s not ok, I write them up, I tell the owner, but it’s the same with every kid we hire. </p>
<p>Then we get to cleaning. Cleaning is a big deal with my boss and he’s the one who checks it in the morning. So what do these kids do? They neglect the customer and focus on cleaning during the last two hours of their shift. We close an hour before our shift ends to clean…which is ample time to get everything done. But earlier and earlier I have to keep reminding them to stop cleaning and get the tables, or take drinks out, clean off the counter…it never ends. </p>
<p>Grrr…seeing this thread right after work just made me want to rant, sorry :)</p>
<p>My solution to the texting issue was to fire the most flagrant violator. And let the staff know why – she was hiding in the bathroom on the busiest day of the year texting with her boyfriend.</p>
<p>And then we started a new regime. Employees sign in on their time card. Time cards are kept in a picnic silverware basket – it has one long slot where the out-of-use cards are kept, and then three small slots. Sign in, your time card, your keys, and your cell phone, turned off, go in the small slot, upright. (I don’t care about their keys, but I don’t want them lying around to get lost. We don’t have lockers or even a good cloakroom).</p>
<p>It works fairly well, it is kept in ‘command central’ by the register, and gives some structure to the no-texting rule.</p>
<p>Can you really expect teenage employees – or any employees – to know the rules without having been taught them?</p>
<p>I ask because I’m a middle-aged mom who did freelance work for 20 years, but now I’m back in a full-time job. I’ve been there 3 months, and I still can’t figure out what some of the rules are, which ones are taken seriously, and how to avoid getting in trouble for violating various procedures, some of which I had never heard of until I did something wrong. </p>
<p>For example, the logic of allowing employees to print as many pages as they want on the computer printers but not allowing them to photocopy even a single page without charging it to a client account escapes me totally. And although one of the things that I was told the first day was “no personal calls,” I’ve discovered that nobody takes that seriously, and I don’t intend to, either. (I don’t mind having to use vacation time for a doctor’s appointment, but it seems ridiculous to me to have to use vacation time to MAKE the doctor’s appointment, which is what I would have to do if I followed the rule strictly.) </p>
<p>If I’m confused – and I assure you that I am, despite a decade of full-time jobs before I turned freelancer – I’m amazed that kids with no experience can function at all.</p>
<p>Marian … it sounds like you work for an engineering firm and I agree some of their ‘rules’ are pretty hard to figure out. Not to mention silly.</p>
<p>But …what I am talking about is a clearly stated policy, detailed in their welcome letter, explained in the first hour of employment as part of how you come into work and sign in, that is then flagrantly violated left and right. (That would be the cell phone policy.)</p>
<p>And when they are spoken to about the violations … “Duh I dint think it was such a big deal. What’s she on my case for?”</p>
<p>THAT was my college student intern …</p>
<p>I have found that even my adult employees are spending a lot of time on their cellphones and on email, but I figure, as long as they are getting their work done, I am not going to make a big issue of it. She will get off the phone when I need her, but I have found the frequency of personal calls increasing, not decreasing. My current person is wonderful in so many ways I do not want to micromanage. If it becomes a problem, then I will say something.</p>
<p>I agree that many of today’s youth do not seem to have the work ethic we’d like, but I’ve also seen employers take advantage. My younger s was one of those who was given more hours to work than had been agreed to during the beginning of his senior year, people kept changing the schedule at their whim and changing his work hours whithout checking with him (they’d just erase their hours and stick him in their spot and switch it around) and the manager didnt care-- said he was lower on the totem pole, so too bad. To me, the most egregious thing was the owner having him go out back under the guise of washing out trashcans and instead had him washing his car (which is illegal now under our current drought conditions). Oh- his “real” job (what he was hired to do) was " front end customer service clerk" – essentially a bag boy at a high end produce/super market. He also applied to be promoted to cashier after about 3 months and they gave him the impression it was a done deal, but they then said thought he was doing such a good job at his bag boy job (also they had him cleaning the bathrooms) they hired someone new from outside instead of promoting him like they promised. I guess at times it works both ways. </p>
<p>OP-- can I come pet the bunnies :D</p>
<p>I wanna come pet the bunnies too!!! (How much does that job pay again?)</p>
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<p>I think we’ve got both generations to blame for this one. The youth definitely get some blame for being LAZY and their parents also get some blame for allowing them to be lazy. I’m 19 so I fit into the youth group, but many of my peers drive me nuts. Just last night I was getting ticked because I had to tell my brother what he had to do (and he still didn’t listen). He’s 17, he should be able to see things and do it.</p>
<p>One girl at work spends half her shift sitting at the computer or playing on her phone instead of cleaning equipment, doing laundry, etc. We had one weekend that was a cleaning weekend, fitness center was closed… it seemed like everytime one of us would turn around she’d be on the phone with somebody!</p>
<p>My brother credits his work ethic to the one summer he spent cleaning out chicken coops. My Mom wouldn’t let him in the house until he put his work clothes into the soak bucket. I admit I’m still a little unclear whether it was the shoveling, the smell, or the embarrassment that did the trick.</p>
<p>Yikes! This thread makes me nervous. Both my kids definitely have a sense of entitlement common to their generation, and both are working this summer. </p>
<p>One is a lifeguard at a local pool and loves the job because he’s only in the chair 15-20 minutes out of the hour and “gets a lot of reading done” otherwise. I’ve asked him repeatedly whether there are other jobs to do when he’s not actually lifeguarding, but beside the occasional swimming lesson or cleaning the bathrooms, he swears there aren’t. I do know there are several lifeguards assigned to his shift, so there must be some downtime.</p>
<p>Anyway, neither has been fired yet. In their defense, they’ve both held other jobs and acquitted themselves reasonably well. But if you’re not there looking over their shoulders, who can know for sure?</p>
<p>I do have a question that’s haunting me a bit. S will be going to a school that was a reach for him and I’m a little concerned about his preparation for it. </p>
<p>Part of his financial aid package is work study. The school will eliminate either his summer earnings component or his work study component based on outside scholarships. I’m torn about which to do. I think on the one hand that work is beneficial, but on the other, older D is fiercely arguing for me to let him go to school unencumbered by that responsibility. She says it was difficult for her to work, participate in her EC, and study.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>DadofB&G, do you know what type of work the work-study involves and how many hours it would be? At many schools, its not too cumbersome and no more than 8 - 10 hours per week (I think). Often it’s the type of job where the student can do some of their less-intensive homework on the job if they’re not busy - checking books out at the library desk, or signing people in to use the fitness center, etc.</p>
<p>In general, work study is very easy to accomplish while maintaining good grades in college. Typically, the jobs are designed to allow students to earn money while maintaining their grades. Students don’t have to work during exam periods. </p>
<p>Many of the jobs either are related to students majors and may even help students get into professional and grad schools. For instance, one of my college roommates got interested in medical research as a result of a work study research job she did as a bio major. Afterward, she went to Columbia med school and now is a professor doing extensive research at a medical school.</p>
<p>My work study jobs all were easy – things like shelving books at the library or staffing the checkout desk at the library. Plenty of time to study, particularly at the latter job.</p>
<p>Lafalum84, yes 8-10 hours sounds about right, and we’ve no idea where he’ll work - it’s assigned. But that’s 8-10 hours/wk he could be studying.</p>
<p>I agree about kids being so tied to technology that they don’t understand when the “establishment” views its use as inappropriate. S is a little annoyed that his workplace doesn’t have wi-fi for his Ipod Touch!</p>
<p>And my lectures are sometimes met with a blank uncomprehending stare. I guess that the good news is that they will be the “establishment” in 20 years, and…wait, no, maybe that’s not good news.</p>
<p>DadofB&G–My d finished her freshman year at a reach school. She did about 10 hrs/wk work study, played club field hockey, joined a sorority her second semester, is a science major and also has a music scholarship that required her to take lessons, compete and perform. Her grades were fine and if your s has good time management he will be fine, also. None of her friends had work study requirements and it didn’t seem to matter as far as her social life, either.</p>
<p>DadofB&GI got better grades in college once I started working ten hours a week. I don’t think it’s too onerous a requirement. </p>
<p>That said, my older son has said he doesn’t want to work first term next year because he’s taking a course that is a notorious time sink. He’s making enough this summer that he’ll have enough spending money without working anyway. Those work study jobs are important stepping stones on a resume.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want my employees taking a lot of personal phone calls, but when I first had a job we had a formal scheduled break mid-morning that would have been plenty of time for making doctor’s appointments and the like. There should also be a lunch break (though I realize some doctors close their offices during lunch.)</p>
<p>So Marian, can you scan pictures instead of copying them and then print them out on the computer? 
I actually do the same thing in my office, but it’s because I don’t do copies in house, so it’s easier to keep track of them.</p>
<p>“Lafalum84, yes 8-10 hours sounds about right, and we’ve no idea where he’ll work - it’s assigned. But that’s 8-10 hours/wk he could be studying.”</p>
<p>College offers plenty of time to study and participate in ECs, have a social life and even work a 8-10 hour a week part time job. </p>
<p>I did much better in college after I started working during my sophomore year. Having a work study job forced me to organize my time better. Prior to that, I wasted a lot of time doing things like sleeping late and talking and playing cards into the wee hours of the night. </p>
<p>Even students in rigorous majors can find the time to work a part time job, particularly if it’s on campus.</p>
<p>When I taught college, many of the top students were working. In fact, one of the very top students was putting herself through college by working a total of 3 jobs (including 2 that were off campus) for a total of 30 hours a week while also carrying a full load. She graduated magna, and due in part to her work experience, had more than 9 excellent job offers from top firms.</p>
<p>Thanks for the work study comments. I’m going to talk to S - I think it’s a good point about some jobs being more of a caretaker thing, with time to study. I feel there are advantage to working, but given the situation, there really is no money advantage to it - so I’m still undecided about how strong of an argument to make. Plus, he doesn’t spend his money and he’ll have plenty after this summer to spend on incidentals during his freshman year.</p>
<p>I suppose he could work the first year and not the second if it proves burdensome.</p>
<p>But like I said, D felt that her job did make things more difficult for her. Maybe it was just hard for her to adjust to college, and work study was easy to blame for it.</p>
<p>Fooey. I think this is just proof of Sturgeon’s Law, which is that 90% of everything is crap. I think it applies to both jobs and employees.</p>
<p>"That said, my older son has said he doesn’t want to work first term next year because he’s taking a course that is a notorious time sink. He’s making enough this summer that he’ll have enough spending money without working anyway. Those work study jobs are important stepping stones on a resume.:</p>
<p>His plan of not working first semester makes sense to me. That’s what younger S decided to do, and things worked out. By second semester, he had the lay of the land, friends, etc., and was able to handle well working while going to college and doing ECs.</p>
<p>He also had been able to scope out what kinds of campus jobs were most amenable to his being able to handle well his academics.</p>