Younger Generations’ Organizational Skills – Do you see any evidence that organizational skills are related to the generational differences?
I’ve noticed that many of my younger employees and co-workers seem to neglect the importance of keeping organized, even in terms of professional office appearance (clean desktops, etc.). Is it a generational difference or do these folks just not have the skills or values that my generation calls “professional?” They simply don’t seem to see it as an issue or concern to waste their time on. In the past generation, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on convenience as a virtue. This, of course, has been enabled by the emergence of technology that seem to allow everything to be accomplished with a point and a click. Young workers have simply not experienced the necessity of manual organization. They have also grown up immersed in advertising and media that seems to encourage them to do the least work possible. But all of this said, it is important to examine the outcome of their efforts before assuming that sloppiness results in poor work. If clean desks and professional appearance a
