Employers Start to Give Millennials the Axe

Employers are fed up with millennials’ attitudes toward work, and their behavior is beginning to cause serious blowback. An article in Inc. Magazine provides advice for millennials who want to stay employed.

• Be proactive. Employers are not parents and do not want to coach new hires. An employee is paid to do a job. Providing extensive on-the-job training doesn’t make financial sense to employers. Instead, millennials should take training into their own hands to close skill gaps and find a mentor from whom they can solicit advice confidentially.

• Show some work ethic. A new employer will be less than impressed if a new- hire comes in late or leaves the second the clock hits 5 p.m. Showing commitment to work will result in gaining trust and respect.

• W-O-R-K isn’t spelled F-U-N. Millennials who want to work in a fun place with “cool” perks like on-site meals and gym memberships often quickly become unhappy with their jobs. That’s because job satisfaction comes from internal motivation and doing a task well, not from receiving constant approval, praise, and perks.

— From Inc.com

How to Leave a Job Gracefully

Employees who are off to a new job should keep quiet if they have negative feelings about the position they are leaving. The following advice offers guidance to employees who want to leave on good terms—and know that they can rely on their soon-to-be prior place of employment for a good recommendation down the line.

• Vent elsewhere, not in the office, and only with those not connected to the job.

• Remember those with whom you used to work may cross your path again as a colleague.

• Hand off your projects to someone else before you leave, and work hard through your last day.

• Provide diplomatic reasons (such as a better opportunity) for leaving rather than complaining about the job or supervisor.

• Make your goal to leave with your relationships and reputation intact.

–From The Wall Street Journal

 Indulge in Temptation to Thwart Procrastination?

Research conducted by Katherine Milkman from the Wharton School has shown that temptation building—combining a tempting behavior with a more productive one—can provide procrastinators with the best of both worlds.

She found that combining one tempting activity, such as reading a page-turner, and one more productive but less anticipated activity—say, working out at the gym—led to positive outcomes. This bundling of instantly rewarding activities with less gratifying ones works especially well when the procrastinator can only indulge in the fun activity while also being productive. Milkman’s research noted that slips are bound to occur but that planning situations to minimize temptations helps procrastinators keep on track.

–From Fast Company