Employment tips for teen-agers by their future employers

by Maria Marsala

Summary: As small business owners are working harder to compete for new business, less time is left over for the ongoing administrative and business building tasks necessary to keep the business heartbeat pumping. Database maintenance, filing, and even keeping the office organized are all tasks well-suited for a competent teenager. This cost-effective extra set of hands can help, but this scenario is not without its own set of challenges.

Everyone is trying to do more with less these days. As small business owners are working harder to compete for new business, less time is left over for the ongoing administrative and business building tasks necessary to keep the business heartbeat pumping. Database maintenance, filing, and even keeping the office organized are all tasks well-suited for a competent teenager. This cost-effective extra set of hands can help, but this scenario is not without its own set of challenges.

Regardless of whether your teen employee is someone from the neighborhood or from a work/study program, it is important to establish the rules up front. Employers need to set personal feelings aside and treat any teen employee as just that - an employee. As with any employee, it is the employer's duty to clearly spell out the responsibilities and expectations of the position, as well as all workplace protocols.

The distinguishing factor for teens is that few of them have any experience in a corporate workplace, so employers mustn't assume teens will know what is considered acceptable in an office environment; for many teens, this might be their first real job and you may be their first professional role model. In particular, if the "office" is a spare bedroom of a home-based business, employees need a clearly defined list of do's and don'ts, because they may quickly forget that they are in a work environment.

Yet with this responsibility also comes great opportunity. Besides the potential to save money on the salary required by a teen, employers also get a blank slate ready to be trained on the attitudes, interactions, and expectations of a great employee. In this role of mentor, employers can teach teen employees the skills to not only do the job at hand, but those that will be valuable throughout their entire working years.

Here is a list of common problems and recommended solutions for teen employees, as compiled from leading business owners and comes from the first-hand experience other employers faced when teaching teenagers how to act at work. Read through this list, and then make a copy for your young employees or use the information in your employee handbook before these situations present themselves. You'll be doing a service to both them and to the future success of your own business!

1. The Unacceptable Behavior: Breaking or damaging items in the workplace.

Solution: Tell the business owner right away. Accidents happen and things get broken. Be honest about what happened, whether it was an accident or not. Trying to hide the problem or putting off telling your employer till they find out themselves creates distrust.
Maria Marsala, Owner, Elevating Your Business, www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com, Poulsbo, WA

2.The Unacceptable Behavior: Making a mess of the workplace.

Solution: Keep it clean. Be sure to clean up any messes made, either unintentionally or as part of a work project. Leave the house the way you found it. Save five minutes at the end of the day to make sure the workplace is better than when you first arrived. Before leaving for the day, look around and be sure that your dirty glasses are put in the dishwasher, and anything used to complete a project is put back where it was found.
Maria Marsala, Owner, Elevating Your Business, www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com, Poulsbo, WA

3. The Unacceptable Behavior: Don't wait until the last minute. Waiting until the end of the day to talk with your boss about important matters. If you want to discuss taking time off, quitting, coming to work late, or asking for a raise, when you are walking out the door for the day is not the time to do it.

Solution: Important matters mean you speak to your boss at an appropriate time, date and place, and allow enough time to fully discuss the issue. If you want a raise, make sure you have earned it and be prepared to state your reasons. Tell your boss what you'd like to discuss and ask when you can schedule a meeting at a time that is convenient for them.
Maria Marsala, Owner, Elevating Your Business, www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com, Poulsbo, WA

4. The Unacceptable Behavior: Even though you're offered food and drink, I would not be happy if I found that my employee had drank the last soft drink that I was looking forward to for myself, or had opened a new package of chips and left them open in the cupboard to go stale.

Solution: Be Fridge Friendly. Bring your own food and beverages in case the employer doesn't offer anything, or what is offered is not to your taste. If the employer does offer food or drinks, be mindful not to take an excessive amount of either.
Source unknown

5.The Unacceptable Behavior: You don't watch TV at work on your time or your bosses time.

Solution: If it's time to take a break, remind your employer. If you need a break try a script something like this "What would be a good time to take a fifteen minute break?" That way your employer won't think you're slacking off when they sees you making a personal phone call, surfing the net, or watching TV. Also, if it's not a good time, the employer will know you want to take a break and can let you know when a better time for your break will be.
Kathleane O'Leary, Director, Sitters Unlimited, www.OCsitters.net, Orange County, CA

6. The Unacceptable Behavior:No phone calls while you're at work. Making or receiving personal phone calls during the work day takes away from actually doing work.

Solution: When you are at work, BE at work. Focus all your attention to the task at hand. There is no task that you can do well while you are on your phone making/taking personal calls or texting. If you need to make a call at a certain time, let your employer know at the beginning of your shift that you would like to take your break at a certain time so you can make your call. Better yet, make the call before or after work. It's best to use your own phone, but if you are using the employer's phone make sure to ask permission first. She may be expecting a call or may be charged an additional charge for outgoing or toll calls. Remember that land lines incur charges on many calls, even though the number is in the same area code.
Eva Rosenberg, EA, Your TaxMama®, www.TaxMama.com, Northridge, CA

7. The Unacceptable Behavior: It is never acceptable to invite a boyfriend, girlfriend, brother, sister, a child or even a parent to your job. Your employer did not invite the extra person into the house, there may be confidentiality/security issues, and it is fairly certain that the employee will not be working all the time for which s/he is being paid.

Solution: Go it alone. It is the employer's responsibility to set a firm rule that only the employee is working in the location and that no guests of the employee are allowed on the premises at any time, regardless if the employer is present or not. If the employer is open to discussion about situations the employee sees as a real emergency requiring a guest to come to the workplace, this should be clearly stated in advance.
Diana Gardner Robinson, Owner, DGR Coaching, www.ChoiceCoach.com, Rochester, NY

8. The Unacceptable Behavior: Your behavior outside work is not acceptable inside work. It is commonly accepted to today's teenager to divulge personal information to nearly anyone is OK. Most managers want to maintain professionalism, but the traditional barriers are broken down by such behavior. This makes for very uncomfortable discussions between the boss and the teenage employee.

Solution: Managers must adhere and enforce guidelines for what is acceptable and unacceptable. First, the manager or employer must describe these expectations early on in the employment process, preferably during orientation. Secondly, the employee must still be given the wiggle room to develop a relationship with their manager. With these two simple guidelines, teenage employees and their employers can maintain an effective, productive work environment while adding community to the mix.
Bret Bernhoft, Generation Y Consultant, www.insyghtconsulting.com, Portland, Oregon

9. The Unacceptable Behavior: Not calling when you are running late or your plans change. Nothing is more annoying than having to worry about someone who doesn't have the common courtesy of calling if they are going to be late.

Solution: Common Courtesy Call. Call the boss the minute you know you'll be late. There are life emergencies that are excusable, but don't make a regular habit of calling with excuses or just not calling at all. Work shifts start at a specified time, and employers expect employees to be there. Remember, "Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." - Lord Chesterfield
Carrie J. McIndoe, Senior Director - Youth Entrepreneurship Programs, the Council for Economic Education, www.ncee.net, New York, NY

10. The Unacceptable Behavior: Doing something wrong because you failed to ask critical questions you needed to complete a project.

Solution: Speak up! Ask away! Ask twice or three times if you feel that's what you need to do the job the right way.
Carrie J. McIndoe, Senior Director - Youth Entrepreneurship Programs, the Council for Economic Education, www.ncee.net, New York, NY

11. The Unacceptable Behavior: Text messaging and checking your email or messages while you are at work are inappropriate. It indicates that your priority is toward yourself and not toward your job. If you expect to get paid, you should expect to work.

Solution: Be sure to learn and respect all cell phone policies at the work place. Exercise self-control - cell phones should be turned off and put away for the hours you are at work. If you must have your cell phone on for some reason, explain in advance to your employer, "I am expecting a call from the mechanic about my car so I want to keep my cell phone on today". If you have spare time and think you'll just take a quick look at your messages, stop yourself and pick up the broom instead. Your employer will think you're great! If you want to talk to your friends and text, do it on your own time while taking a break, or after work. Except for dire emergencies, hold off on personal communication in the workplace.
The Rosemary House, www.TheRosemaryHouse.com, Mechancisburg, PA

12. The Unacceptable Behavior: Dressing inappropriately. You may think that sweats and flip-flops might be acceptable in a small home office but they might not be. Working in an office often demands a different set of rules then you'd have if you were out with your friends.

Solution: Dress to Impress. Take the time to read the dress code and abide by it. If there is no written dress code, ask your employer for guidelines. When in doubt, overdress rather than underdress. Be mindful that neglected and untidy clothes reflect a neglected and untidy mind, and outward appearances do matter.
Carrie J. McIndoe, Senior Director - Youth Entrepreneurship Programs, the Council for Economic Education, www.ncee.net, New York, NY

13. The Unacceptable Behavior: Ignorant, rude or aloof phone etiquette. It is especially important to be conscious of how you answer the telephone. You are often the caller's first introduction to the company.

Solution: Learn proper phone etiquette, good habits on how to answer the telephone, and be articulate when leaving a message. Ask your employer if there is a recommended script to use in various situations. A customer's first impression can color the whole relationship positive or negative.
Carrie J. McIndoe, Senior Director - Youth Entrepreneurship Programs, the Council for Economic Education, www.ncee.net, New York, NY

14. The Unacceptable Behavior: Sitting around waiting for instructions. Instead, stay constructively busy. If your employer is occupied, try to make sure you know filler projects to stay busy. Or look around at what you think needs doing.

Solution: Take the Initiative. Be proactive, keep yourself busy since every bit helps. Consider ways to do research, filing papers or updating the contact lists. Ask your employer for a task list, and be sure to mention if you have any skills that might be helpful. Like Donald Trump says, "If you really want to succeed, you'll have to go for it every day like I do. The big time isn't for slackers. Keep up your mental stamina and remain curious. I think that bored people are unintelligent people."
Carrie J. McIndoe, Senior Director - Youth Entrepreneurship Programs, the Council for Economic Education, www.ncee.net, New York, NY

15. The Unacceptable Behavior: If you need to request a day off, it is not acceptable to have your mother call the boss to request the day off for you. They hired you - not your mother - and a job is a chance for you to show both your employer and your family how responsible you can be for yourself.

Solution: Make phone calls to your boss yourself. When you first start a job, be sure to ask an employer, "How far in advance do you need me to request time off?" Abide by their policy, but if you need a last minute day off, put yourself in their shoes and don't expect the answer to be yes.
Anonymous

16. The Unacceptable Behavior: Listening to your iPod at work. You won't hear your boss or the phone you are being paid to answer if you have plugs in your ears.

Solution: Away with the iPod. Ask your employer if listening to music is acceptable. If not, leave your iPod home. If yes, only listen with one ear so that you can hear your boss when they request your attention.
Stacey Kannenberg, Owner, Cedar Valley Publishing, www.cedarvalleypublishing.com, Freedonia, WI

17. The Unacceptable Behavior: Using company time to check FaceBook, MySpace and IM friends. While at the office, it is important to focus on work. Teens, more than any other prior generation, are excellent at multi-tasking. They can listen to their iPod, watch TV, poke friends on FaceBook and do homework successfully, so they often see nothing wrong with the same thought process at work.

Solution: At work the multi-tasking must be focused on various work-related projects only. And don't be tempted to check Facebook, even "just for a minute".
Stuart Hochwert, Owner, Prime Publishing LLC, www.primep.com, Northbrook, IL

18. The Unacceptable Behavior: NEVER lose sight of the fact that you are working. Doing other activities while you are "on the job" like chatting online or taking out the trash while answering client calls, is unacceptable, even in a very laid back company.

Solution: Put staff on probation for three months and then they get a small raise. After that they could work at home and submit twice-monthly client surveys to gauge performance. As long as an agent's client satisfaction remains high, the employee works from home (and stays employed). My turnover is exceptionally low.
Cynthia Schultz, Foothold Services, www.footholdservices.com, Houston, TX

Conclusion
For some employers, there are decades of age difference between employees. Teens today grew up with vastly different influences than even employers in their late 20s and early 30s. Multiply the differences as the age gap widens, and it is more understandable why some generational discourse about the workplace is necessary. For a "snapshot" of the issues and cultural forces that have shaped the lives of 18-year-olds today, the annual Mindset list put out by Beloit College provides interesting data points.

Employers must also be especially cognizant of applicable teen labor laws for their state, since they vary. The U.S. Department of Labor and the Fair Labor Standards Act is a good place to start for information on wages, hours, and restrictions on types of employment.

Teen employees CAN be a great resource for small business owners, with the understanding that some education on workplace do's and don'ts will be necessary.

© 2010 Elevating Your Business. Maria Marsala helps remarkable women CEOs get a life and future from their business by providing accountability, support and a (gentle) kick in the a** when needed. Quickly learn which areas of your business scream for your immediate attention and which areas deserve a hurrah! Take our Business Checkup today at www.CoachMaria.com

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© 2010 Elevating Your Business. Maria Marsala helps remarkable women CEOs get a life and future from their business by providing accountability, support and a (gentle) kick in the a$$ when needed. Quickly learn which areas of your business scream for your immediate attention and which areas deserve a hurrah! Take our Business Checkup today at www.CoachMaria.com

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