Dear Bosses: What Young Employees Wish They Could Tell You

Buchanan PR / PRGN, Filadelfia / USA, 20.03.2012

Drodzy szefowie, dyrektorzy i kierownicy w branży Public Relations!

Przeczytajcie, co Wasi młodzi pracownicy chcieliby, byście o nich wiedzieli. Bardzo ciekawy tekst Anny Buchanan z Filadelfii.

Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting the first gathering of the newly formed Young Professionals Group of the Philadelphia Chapter of PRSA. It was billed as an informal exchange where I would share some of my best tips and advice for new PR professionals and we would, as a group, share workplace problems, client challenges, ideas and solutions.

As the hour-and-a-half drew to a close, I told the nine 20-somethings that I would like to turn the tables.

What, I asked them, did they wish their bosses knew about them? If they had the opportunity to give some feedback to their boss, what would it be?

They didn’t hold back. Here is what they told me, in their own words.

Tell me everything you know. I want to know everything in your head. Literally. Teach me everything you know. Don’t hold back.

Please don’t stereotype me as a Millennial. Don’t assume I need constant praise, that I can’t survive without my iPhone, and that I live at home.

We’re more balanced in our lives than you think we are. You might be surprised to know that when I get home at night, I totally disconnect from technology. Using technology all day in the office leaves me with little desire to spend my evenings online, too.

Help me learn how to achieve work-life balance. We need time for ourselves. But we also want to do a good job for you. Please teach us how to reach a happy medium.

Don’t make me guess when it’s appropriate to attend a meeting or offer a comment. If you tell me ahead of time what’s appropriate and what’s not, there’s less likelihood that I will overstep invisible boundaries.

Give us the opportunity to surprise you. Let us try something new. We want to make you happy and pleased.

Don’t ever underestimate how important office culture is to us. Do you know what it feels like when you and other senior staff are gone all day from the office, pursuing new business? Morale suffers when you don’t pay attention to the culture of our office. When the office environment is bad, my whole life feels bad.

Don’t assume we know how to do everything perfectly. We’d rather have you spend five minutes telling us something we already know than for us to spend 45 minutes struggling to figure out how to do something you incorrectly assume we already know how to do.

Your knowledge isn’t stale. I know you know the fundamentals of public relations and business. We’re still learning that. Everyone thinks all we care about is the shiny, new toys. Well, guess what? I want to know the old rusty tools, too.

I learned a lot the other night. How ‘bout you?

Source: Buchanan PR – PRGN member from USA