Is Business Learning the Value of Experience?

By Kevin Meyer

I subscribe to three of the Kiplinger Letter publications - the original Kiplinger Letter, the Kiplinger Tax Letter, and the Kiplinger California Letter.  Each weekly edition is a concise 2-3 page summary of economic, political, policy, and business data, news, events, and forecasts and generally right on target.

The economics section of the July 2nd edition of the Kiplinger Letter discussed the current employment situation, and had the following interesting comment:

Who’s more likely to be laid off these days, a younger worker or an older one? A younger one. The pattern of past recessions is being turned upside down in this downturn. More employers are deciding that they get more bang for their buck with experienced workers, even though their pay may be higher. One reason: Their institutional memory. Another: Their work ethic. Employers say they don’t need to tell oldsters to turn off their iPods, remind them how to dress or to come in on time.

Bang for the buck?  Could that mean... value?  An older pair of hands has more value than a younger pair?  Well, ok, I thought that was what they meant before the "turn off their iPods" comment. 

On that final note, perhaps we're experiencing what every generation has to experience at least once: a downturn creating a recognition that there's also value in working hard... and taking work seriously.  Prosperity isn't handed to you on a silver platter or in a success redistribution check from the government.

Although these days I've started to wonder.

Comments

[Leadership Trainer]

I hope the change in economic situation does create a greater desire to work in the younger generation. I have hired two hard working college students this summer but I know they are the exception rather than the rule. I think $20 bucks on strengths finder test or $100 on a PDP Proscan is money well spent before hiring a young person or any person for that matter. -Buddy

[david foster]

For at least a couple of decades, the general tendency has been to devalue experience-based (tacit) knowledge while exalting formal, theory-based knowledge. Obviously there is an important place for both, but the pendulum has swung too far in one direction. Peter Drucker has some wise thoughts that I excerpt here.

[David Music]

As one of the young people seemingly being cut down I'd like to throw my opinion into the mix. The real difference isn't between experience-based knowledge and theoretical knowledge, the difference is between passive knowledge and active research. Gen Y has been trained to find information when they need it as opposed to having to learn through experience over the years.

I've been very, very lucky to have managers who have understood this and given me the opportunity to prove myself by putting me in numerous sink-or-swim situations to prove myself and my capabilities. Too often the issue is that managers don't know how to relate or manage the production of the younger generations.

As one who listens to music at work, what's wrong with an iPod if it allows them to focus on their work? What's wrong with flexible hours if I put in my time, get my work done at a high quality and ahead of schedule? What's wrong with not being dressed up when no clients will be around and I work at my desk all day? I don't mean this negatively, I simply feel the need to ask the questions because I don't understand why any of this is wrong for Gen Y to expect.