You post an entry-level sales position and sort through an avalanche of resumes to find a few that seem worthy of face time. After hours of boring interviews with candidates you know don’t have what it takes to make it in your organization, you suddenly encounter your next rock star. He makes a dazzling first impression, is quick on his feet to give all the right answers, looks you in the eyes and convinces you that he’ll work tirelessly to drum up all kinds of new business for you. Reminiscent of yourself when you were in your twenties, you extend your hand and welcome him to your team.
Six weeks later, your rock star shows up late for the third time, has already asked for next Friday off to serve as the best man for his buddy’s wedding in Vegas, and he texts throughout your weekly sales meeting. He’s now going a few days between shaves, and you’ve overheard him telling an associate that he’s found a way to survive on his base salary by moving back home with his folks. He managed to close a few sales and seemed disappointed when you didn’t throw a ticker tape parade to celebrate.
Put down the gun, padre. You’re not alone.
Pull any sales manager to the side and ask them to describe, in general, the work ethic that they see represented throughout their ranks and your apt to hear some colorful language. Even the eternally optimistic warm and fuzzy managers wince a bit when the term work ethic enters the dialogue. I interact with thousands of leaders, managers, business owners and execs each year and I’ve yet to find any who believe that the work ethic represented in the current labor pool stands up to that of the labor pool twenty, ten—or even five years ago. These same employers, however, will openly lament the prevailing entitlement mentality of the emerging workforce that many decry is contagious, now rampant among X’ers and even baby boomers.
Your rock star has the raw talent to be a top performer in your organization. Sure, he’s going to need sales training like everyone else, but to achieve the potential you saw in him during that first interview, he’s also going to require your help in developing his work ethic. And yes, this is well worth the investment of your time.
First, stop assuming he’s simply a younger version of you. He’s not.
Your parents made sure you knew the value of hard work, rode you like a Brahma bull when you messed up, and showed you the door at 18. His parents told him daily that he was “special” to build his self-esteem, did his homework for him and got in his teacher’s face if he didn’t get an A, and have made an apartment in their basement for him to live in at age 26. Times have changed.
Lesson – Let go of the anger.
Second, be very clear about your expectations.
Many managers tell their young associates to “act like a professional” and think that’s enough. But your definition of a professional is different than theirs, so spell it out. “Here’s what I expect from you in the way of personal hygiene and dress.” “I need you to be here at 8:50 each morning so you can be at your desk ready to crank at 9am.” “We are serious about reports and need them to be turned in before you leave on Friday.”
Lesson – Leave nothing up to personal interpretation.
Third, be a mentor.
Your prospective rock star has spent the majority of his waking hours in front of a screen and is a dynamo with anything that’s got an on/off switch. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the face time you got from your parents, teachers, and former employers when you first came into the workplace. So go beyond sales training to give him what he really needs. And don’t simply bark commands at him. Explain the why behind the what. Tell him why you need him to submit the report on Friday. Explain why the baby boomers he calls on tend to doubt sales people who aren’t clean-shaven and why they get extremely agitated when a smart phone goes off during an appointment. Explain why he’ll be perceived negatively by coworkers if he discloses too many details of his personal life.
Lesson: Help him understand the critical rules of success that aren’t written in your sales manual.
Have you had enough of hiring future rock stars only to find out they aren’t? Maybe they are and it’s time you change your approach to develop the core values, attitudes and behaviors they should have learned at home, but didn’t.
Stop complaining about the lack of work ethic among your new trainees and take steps to revive it. The payoff for taking on the responsibility is huge. The downside for neglecting it is catastrophic.
I especially agree with your second point. Don’t assume that anyone understands what you mean when you say “act professional” or “have a good attitude”. People need specific examples and clear expectations. Sometimes the difference in our definition of how one demonstrates a “good attitude” is extreme. I have several college interns (and even one high school intern) and I tell them as early as the interview that I will be brutally direct when I communicate my expectations, not because I want to be harsh but because I want to give them every chance to succeed.
I would like to clarify that the majority of Gen X’ers also have a great work ethic, we did not grow up being coddled by our parents and are adopters of technology, not natives. Being almost 40 and having worked since I was 13, I am somewhat offended by being lumped into the same category as a 22 yr old graduate who has never held a job -and by the way there are great workers in that generation as well. Let’s not set up a generation war, but work towards understanding people as individuals.
I agree 100% Bevin! I am not lumping you in to any category – in fact, my book clearly states in the preface that the lack of work ethic is not a problem that can be attributed to any specific age group. There are many 22 year olds that have a work ethic that is far greater than that of some people 2 or 3 times their age.
However, it’s far easier for a leader to improve the work ethic of a 22 year old than it is for them to make a dent in the work ethic of someone who’s 44 or 66. Those cakes are pretty much baked.
Eric, do you realize what you are saying here is blatant age discrimination? Seriously, “those cakes are pretty much baked”? Age discrimination is every bit as wrong as race or gender discrimination. It is no different. It involves making assumptions (under the guise of making a generalization) about a person based on aspects of them that have nothing to do with their abilities. You made it out to be a rule that older people find it more difficult to change their habits, and even though you tried to allow for exceptions, the fact that you argued that it is a rule in the first place is age discrimination.
Many of our most skilled and creative workers are facing difficult searches for work because of attitudes like these. (It is not all because of salary issues. If the position is 100% commissioned, how can an older person with a long track record be more costly?) I am sure many of their resumes are thrown out once their years of experience are added up. Some Hollywood writers have actually purged older jobs from their resumes (even blockbuster film work) in order to appear younger and protect themselves from discrimination. Do you yourself want to be pigeonholed as unteachable or uncreative as you continue to get older?
By the way, many attorneys say age discrimination cases are the easiest to prove because people make unwise statements such as these. You never hear people saying, “hire a white person” but you do hear them say, “look for a young go getter”, etc. And, it is not a defense to an age discrimination case that the defendant was also over 40! You should be careful about making public statements such as there. If you are ever sued for discrimination, a plaintiff’s attorney will google you thoroughly and be thrilled to find this.
Boy, Susan. I had to read your comment several times to realize you were serious. You actually think saying it’s easier to instill work ethic values in someone who has not already had years of work experience is age discrimination? I thought it was common sense.
There are hundreds of books written on generational differences, and I don’t see any of the authors being carted off to Alcatraz.
Maybe you should go after the people of General Mills for their slogan – “Trix are for kids.”
(Talk about age discrimination!)
I stand my original comment. And, I see you stand by your ageism!
Sue, I agree 100%!
Eric,
I came to work last week with this article on my desk. It was left anonymously. As a young professional, I am highly offended that you label young people in one category. Congrats for condoning age discrimination though!! While we are the most educated, we do not identify with work ethic?? Furthermore we are disrespectful, lazy, lack gratitude, self-focused, and contaminate the labor pool. Really?? I found that interesting because most of us have worked hard to obtain our one, two, or three degrees while maintaining employment. In my case, your article has contributed to a situation of harassment in the workplace. The article is intended for “frustrated leader or managers,” get that. However, perhaps you need to do your research before publishing trash bashing an entire group of people. You can’t simply lump youth working at McDonalds and Toys R Us and wherever other companies you’ve been so highly honored to speak for with all young people including professionals working in the private sector or federal government. How would the young people who listen to your “motivational” speeches feel if they read this article? That’s a rhetorical question!
We are still in an ecomomy where there are a lot of people out of work – many of them excellent hard working sales people! Coincidently, a lot of these people are baby boomers. The reason your “rock star” gets hired is that his base salary is probably $20K-$30K below that of a more experienced “mature” sales person.
The reality is that there are few 28-30 year old CEO’s and VP’s running around these days to make sales calls on. Yet, companies won’t hire baby boomers as sales people because they cost more. In my opinion, it’s better to hire the person that best aligns with the customer, and your rock star is not that person – at least not without a lot of proactive management.
Yes, I would enthusiastically hire the rock star IF they had the right attitude and willingness to work hard. Not all Gen Y’s spend their time playing with their smartphones.
I think that if you hire the rock star, no doubt these are elements you may have to manage based on their generation. I also believe you must proactively manage any sales person you hire. If you aren’t, then they are not the problem!
I would argue that it’s really more cost effective to hire a person (regardless of age)that is a hard worker and is “average”. Good sales people are made, not born, but why add more work – focus on selling, not grooming.
While the recession has been hard on everyone, Terry. I don’t believe that excellent hard working sales people stay unemployed for long. Sure, some companies will hire young sales people because their base pay requirements are less, but eventually, they’re going to demand performance and are going to either hire rock stars or create a system that develops them.
You’re missing one very key element; if you don’t take the time necessary to find out what your newhire aspires to accomplish, then you will get the result you mention from the interview. My experience tells me that most times when a manager complains “these reps just don’t (you fill in the blank)”, the real key is that THE MANAGER is poorly trained and unable/unskilled at getting the most out of his/her people. NO. 1 mistake in promoting somebody to manager: Take the good/great salesperson and make them the manager. In reality, managing/leading requires an entirely different skill set than selling does. Just look at how many average athletes actually become tremendous coaches when you barely (if at all)heard of them as players.
Great article Eric. As someone who was hired into 100% commission sales when I was graduating from college at 21 I was at first shocked by the lack of training I was given…then I realized I had to just go out take lumps and learn through trying and processes. I then encouraged my managers to go out with me to help me and help make myself better. Once I reached out to them and asked for their help it started to come without my asking and I am now 28 and happily to say I am still in the same industry, one job switch that was a promotion that I wanted, and learn still every day from my managers thanks to constant feedback, conversation, and work.
But if I hadn’t engaged in the first six months…I’m not sure what might have happened!
Eric, I think you make 3 strong points here.
Don’t assume they are like you. That’s great because I think great managers don’t assume anyone is like them; instead they are empathetic and really work hard to understand the person they are leading – regardless of their age.
The part about clear expectations is great. I have to agree with Angela that you have to be specific. Again, I think this is a great rule for managing anyone but especially under performers – again regardless of their age.
The third part about explaining the WHY is I think the real magic with younger people today. I think there was a different relationship with parents and children in the past. When my grandpa told my mom to do something it was enough that it was “because I said so”. With the independence of the young generation today it seems that providing context for them to make sacrifices is much more important. And I agree it makes them much more effective. I for one, can’t get myself to do much of anything when there isn’t a strong connection between that sacrifice and the goal I’m pursuing.
As usual you are hitting pragmatic key points that make for better managers and leaders of all ages!
As a 26 year old; is it bad that I agree with pretty much every point in this article? I do think people my age are very opinionated in what they think needs to be done and how it should happen, regardlenss of whether they know the system or not. Parents constantly told us growing up “you’re right-very good!” so we always assumed our ideas are the best. I grew up on a farm in a small town-I never got that treatment! (I actually think I was always wrong!) My generation is more apt to take someone’s Tweet or social media post as ‘someone’s word’ as opposed to people older than myself who would rather take the word of someone they have worked with before. While I do think that there are people my age who do have the work ethic of people twice their age, many would like the job or promtion handed to them for doing everything they are supposed to do; or they are willing to create (on company time) a spreadsheet of all the accomplishments they have done for the company expecting to get promoted to President; instead of seeing the big picture of what they have on their spreadsheet is all part of what they SHOULD be doing all along. I do agree with Terry that good salespeople are made and the hardworking people that you hire will be more beneficial to a company’s success than a hot-shot sales guy who can wow you once but then gets comfortable in the system. A hardworking person is going to go through the trials & tribulations of learning the sales/business world instead of thinking they already know everything and everybody else is wrong.
Hopefully some of that made sense!
You are wise beyond your years, Mike. Your work ethic comes straight from the farm, and it’s one reason so many companies are actively recruiting college grads from land grant colleges and universities who have an agricultural or ranching background.
There is high demand for your services, my young friend.
Mike,
Great comments Mike. Keep up that attitude and you will do great.
You left out the most important part. -It’s a 2 way street-
Modern management has put forth the preposition that all employees are expendable, and can be gotten rid of at any time. Long term employees are see as liabilities, requiring pensions and yearly raises. Then you are sincerely amazed and hurt that a 20 something, raised in this culture, doesn’t salute the company flag any more. We created a work environment whereby your working life, your career will be a series of gigs. So why do you expect anybody showing up for work today to behave like it is 1952 when it isn’t.
Now for the difficult part. If there is no bonus/commission – and no obvious expectation of one real soon, your salesman will just stop, I don’t care what generation he’s from. What you the manager perceives as value, and what your salesman sees as value, are often 2 different things.
First I just want to say there is a difference between agreeing with something, and empathizing with ones feelings, and I think that this atricle is rather one sided. In my observation, many older people feel the “younger” generation has an entitlement mentality – however, you have to look at what may have led to some of that. Sure, there are the helicopter parents to place some of the blame on, but from a professional standpoint, as Jim points out – it’s not 1952 anymore. Hard work used to be rewarded with pay, benefits etc. Now seeking time off is seen as a liability, something someone with “work ethic” should not seek. Not using your paid time off (if you get any) is seen as an admirable trait. An annual raise? Why would someone think they should be entitled to that? You should just work harder – sacrifice more, giving up time to see your kids grow, to develop relationships, seek the “work/life balance” that so many companies outwardly promote, but internally punish employees for seeking, and then as a reward, the well connected buddy of the manager gets the promotion, or due to “accounting irregularities” the company files chapter 11, or gets bought by the competition only to find that you are out the door after all of that hard work and “sacrifice”. And for that sacrifice, you can now take a 40% pay cut, go back 15 years in benefits, and start the process over again. This not only is happening now, but this is what those 20-30 somethings have seen happen to their parents – so they are gun shy. They want to see what they’re going to get before they lay it on the line for a company, that history has shown them does not care one iota about their well being.
Business has created, in my opinion, more of the issue (or at least equal amounts) with work ethic than the parents. The idea as comments have pointed out, that workers are just a “resource”, and are expendable will and have ultimately taken a toll on work ethic.
I’m not saying that this applies to every company, but how many of you have seen over the past 15 years mid level, mid career individuals have their career decimated by loosing their job, not as a result of job perfomrance, but becasue of “business”. 15 years ago, when this trend began, these 20 somethings were 10 years old. I think that could have had an effect.
Completely agree. My company offers BOGUS Bonus levels that no one in 10 locations is able to hit. The sales are down industry wide and they look to blame the sales representatives and not what they’re offering or their pricing. Not to mention they fill you with hopes and promise of promotion and greater opportunity. The reason sales has high turn over is because corporations exploit their employees and abuse them!
Age has nothing to do with anyone being produtive or not.
As a manager we sometimes resist the confrontation of explaining accountability. Training is on-going. Reviews should be held monthly if not weekly with new people. Building and maintaining a world class team starts with a vigorous recruiting and effective interview process. A well conceived training program follows. If your opinion of the person starts to change you should lose the candidate immediately or soon after. Take the responsibility for the imperfect hiring procedure. It takes a highly energized confident manager to start the process over. Sometimes managers over estimate their own skills and continue to try to develope something that is just not possible. It takes a lot more determination and courage to try again, from the beginning, than to continue to waiste your valuable rescources or to lazily embrace mediocrity. Don’t ever believe starting over is too expensive. Having an under-achiever on your team has incalculable costs. Doyle Holloway
Love the article. Very true. There is a whole generation that will need extra support to achieve their potential. One side thought: Why not look for candidates who have made the commitment to develop character and work ethic? I’m talking about veterans. We have a lot of young, motivated men and women who have given everything to protect and serve our country. They volunteered to develop the kind of work ethic we need. They left home at 18 and went straight to work defending our freedom. Now we can repay them.
In the early 1980s I was the up and comer hired as a bright shiny new headhunter for a new recruiting firm. The owner said he’d teach me about the business because he thought I could sell.
Over a very short period of time we became friends. One morning we both arrived in the parking garage elevator at the same time. As I walked into the elevator and slumped against the elevator wall, hung over from a hard night, he asked me if I was ok. As we were friends I told him the truth, that I was so hungover as to still be drunk.
When we got to the office he pulled me into his office and took a piece of my butt that may still be missing. He gave me work ethic ‘religion’ and 30 years later I am damn glad he did.
Thank you, your article has focused my mind. I am an ex-carpenter and forgot to bring my work ethic, to my new role as a sales rep, which i love! The organization engaged me as a contractor, so there is limited interaction and management. What I do get are the old sales tricks seated in the past. I’m basically on my own, so your article is so valuable to me. I’m looking forward to reading your book. I’m greatful to you and Jeffery. FYI I turned 50 last year. Ambrose von Erkel Melbourne, Australia
In the early 1980s I was the up and comer hired as a bright shiny new headhunter for a new recruiting firm. The owner said he’d teach me about the business because he thought I could sell.
Over a very short period of time we became friends. One morning we both arrived in the parking garage elevator at the same time. As I walked into the elevator and slumped against the elevator wall, hung over from a hard night, he asked me if I was ok. As we were friends I told him the truth, that I was so hungover as to still be drunk.
When we got to the office he pulled me into his office and took a piece of my butt that may still be missing. He gave me work ethic ‘religion’ and 30 years later I am damn glad he did.
Sales is NOT a junior role! Why do companies think that this is a great place to start off in?!
Customers are tired of “la belle de jour” showing up…they want and deserve expertise and experience.
Companies I know hire junior/new “high flyers” since they can save $20-$30K/year on their base salaries and think they can mould them to their vision…(not going to happen!). Then they wonder why customers hate their companies and it takes years to regain momentum and trust…wow, that was a real savings eh?!
Instead sales roles should be EARNED by expertise, experience and a network. It should be ascribed to after being immersed in an organization from front line to warehouse to accounting to product development and marketing to name a few. Sales is the de facto face of a company…
A seasoned and highly experienced individual who has been around the block will typically garnish more respect and time with a potential client as the prospective client will know that there is substance, depth and knowledge to be tapped.
After all, would you want the kid just out of high school shop working on your expensive car or a seasoned mechanic with 20+ years of brand expertise? Nothing against the junior mechanic but you get the idea.
Same for health care…want the intern or the senior surgeon opening up your chest?
We may yet see wise firms who understand this as the path to developing long trusted relationships with their customers.
Time will tell won’t it?
I completely disagree, Paul. Sales can prove to be a tremendous training ground for young aspiring professionals. The greatest sales people in the world started when they were in their teens and twenties.
You don’t have to be great to start. You just have to start if you want to be great. The key is having a great work ethic or being coachable to where a great leader can help you develop one.
Integrity, Intelligence, Enthusiasm, COURAGE…Do You have what it takes to lead YOU?
Yeah well motivation goes out the window when the company you work for lies about how much you can make. Lies about the promotions that are always out there. And the economy sucks and sales just aren’t possible because people aren’t spending money. And fucking idiots with no degrees are holding executive jobs and can’t spell their own name — but they’re somehow capable of telling you how to do your job. I gaurantee you that employers are seeing their workers act in these manners because they exploit them, lie to them, and under pay them.
“X”er: By chance did you just get fired by someone who you thought was ‘dumber’ than you? Maybe you need to take a look in the mirror and realize that sometimes you might be wrong and that you might not be the hardest working or the smartest person in the company. A company strives when everyone is on the same page and driving towards the same goal. The idiots in the executive functions must not be complete idiots; because they are in executive functions. They earned it-regardless of what you think. Also, if you are going to insult intelligence-you should make sure that you don’t start a sentence with the word “And” as well as spelling “guarantee” correctly…especially if your main point is spelling.
Eric:
Congratulations on firing up the conversation of what it takes to succeed in today’s world. From the chatter it seems we have a few different opinions, which a smart person would only expect.
Regardless of the generation, there are two types of productivity: Productivity to do the least amount possible but still good enough to keep one’s job, and doing whatever you can possible do to reach your true potential and do the best job possible.
Your book is dedicated on the latter and I applaud you for brining this conversation to the forefront.
As a sales expert and author of Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way, the field managers in my opinion are the MVP’s of any organization. They are the ones who will mold the minds of the people they coach. Today, sales execs of all generations need to buy in to the vision and values of an organization to achieve maximum performance.
Reaching a 20 year old may take a different strategy vs. a 40 year old. Yet there are similarities in all age groups when it comes to sales.
In sales, a great work ethic equates to results—-revenues closed. Most sales managers could care less if a sales rep starts their day in the field at 9:30am or takes an afternoon off to play golf just as long as they are making their numbers and thus the sales managers numbers.
What you are pointing out is ensuring the sales execs, of all ages, are employing the right behaviors and are holding themselves accountable for generating the results they are charged with.
I do believe the parenting skills of today are different than yester year. Having a 17 year old daughter and having coached her in softball and basketball, we did concentrate more on the positives than the negatives, something my parents did the opposite. I have to run after her to do things and she is getting everything she wants vs. having to work for it.
I believe this is what you are referring to as some of the differences in the younger employees. And this will impact how a manager will deal with them.
But in the end, it is up to each and every individual to have the internal motivation to succeed. Then It is up to the manager to coach each and every individual by assessing their gaps and creating an environment that will bring the best out of them.
This is why your conversation is so powerful because it makes us think about how we coach different segments of our population. After all, not every customer buys for the same reason.
Finally, there are superstars at all ages. We just need to do a better job of finding and nurturing them.