Just Say it Already!

A friend of mine sent me this email today. Enjoy...

To All My Democrat Friends (few that there are):

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To All My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Pleasing People

As I was preparing this week to teach my young couples adult Bible class, a thought hit me about pleasing people. I am teaching a series on decision making and we looked at the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5. The point I made this morning was that it is foolish to make decisions with the goal of pleasing people. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to please the apostles and other members of the church by saying they brought the full amount of the sale of their land. The problem they had was that they desired to please people, but they didn't desire to please God. They did a good thing. What they were doing had the potential to please good people. Still, what they did was not good. Why? Because of their motive.

As I was looking over my lesson last night (I taught it this morning), a very succint and powerful thought came to me. Think about this:

A godly person who wants to please godly people need only worry about pleasing God.

Who are you trying to please?

Gen Y Worker Continued...Again

Click here to read another article I came across regarding the Gen Y worker. Recognition of this issue seems to be growing in the reporting world. I would be very interested to hear your take on the matter.

A Challenge to My Post About the Gen Y Worker

Let me start by saying that I shouldn't really be surprised about the article I mentioned in my last post. 2 Timothy 3 gives us an insight into the last days. The first thing it tells us will characterize men in that time is that they will be "lovers of their own selves." When I read the article, it simply stunk with that attitude.

I emailed my post to a couple people that I am close to. One responded with a challenge to my point of view. Their email went like this (I have edited the email to keep the individual anonymous):

"I disagree with you on this one. If an employer wants to attract and retain good employees, then he/they must offer more than your typical factory or fast food outlet will offer. And that does include current technology (try working for any length of time without it), flexibility (often valued by the employee more than a monetary increase), and mentoring (it BITES to not be able to get your message across to someone who can make a difference and if your supervisor is inept on any level, this can be a real problem). Trust me, I have been in the workplace for 35+ years and even though I am not Generation Y, even I appreciate the items listed in the magazine article. If an employee is a good one (there's the catch), it really is worth doing what you can as an employer to retain them. Retraining new hires is time consuming and very costly to any organization. Turnover has been proven to be one of the greatest avoidable costs to a company. Enough for now. Just offering a different opinion!"

I will admit, I really don't have a problem with any of the main points of the article. I believe it's great for a company or organization to provide mentoring, to allow autonomy, to embrace current technology and to be flexible. My point is that these things aren't provided for the satisfaction of the employee, they are provided for the growth and profit of the company. I would be the first one to say that I like having the tools to do what my employer wants me to do. However, my having the tools is not and never should be the ultimate goal of my employer. The ultimate goal should be that the job he has assigned me to do gets done.

The tone of the article indicated to me that Gen Y is all about them (which is mostly true). In my humble opinion, that is a dangerous premise to found your life upon.

The Generation Y Worker

While I was on a break at work the other day, I picked up a magazine called Oregon Business. As I flipped through the pages of a publication I didn't really want to read, I came across an article that caught my attention. The title went like this: "How to satisfy the Generation Y worker." That statement struck me as backwards so I began to read.

One of the first things I learned was that I am a member of Gen Y. According to the article, this is the generation born between the late 70's and 1990. I was born in 1980.

Please understand something, I know that a lot has changed from the generations of the World Wars to my generation. One of those things is character. My generation lacks it. What I didn't realize is the degree to which it is lacked and how proud Gen Y is about it. In fact, it is something that should be accepted and catered to by previous generations according to the article I read. Click here if you would like to read the article yourself, but be ready to fight the gag reflex.

The article refers our "high self-esteem" that "results from years of parental encouragement." The author warns companies that "club membership isn't enough for these workers; they need reasons to feel loyal to a company." A few tips are then provided to help businesses attract and retain Gen Y workers.

Here are the tips:
1. Provide mentoring
2. Allow autonomy
3. Embrace current technology
4. Be flexible

Here's my take: as I said earlier, the whole premise of the article is totally backwards. When I saw the title, the first question that came to my mind was, "Since when is it the responsibility of the employer to satisfy the employee?" Isn't it the duty of the employee to satisfy the employer? That's why the employer hired him/her, isn't it? I'll tell you the only thing that should be necessary to satisfy any worker: a paycheck. The nature of this article and how it reflected on my generation literally made me sick to my stomach.

I wonder what Gen Z will be like...