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.