Getting Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care about Your Bottom Line

by Eric Chester

""Businesses need to stop focusing on 'paradigm shifts' and 'strategic initiatives' and realize that none of that makes any sense if your front-line employees don't 'give a damn.'"" —Rhoda Olsen, President, Great Clips, Inc.

 

Transform the Your Bored, Uncaring ""Generation Why"" Young Workforce into a Powerhouse of Performers and Innovators

 

According to the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs, by 2012 there will be a shortage of more than two million front-line service workers in retail sales, customer service, and food preparation. Only a fraction of the restless Generation Y workers who typically fill these positions stay with their employer longer than a year!  Dubbed ""kidployees,"" these 16- to 24-year-olds share an entirely different set of values, expectations, and skills that must be reckoned with if you're among the millions of business owners and managers in America.  

 

In Getting Them to Give a Damn, nationally recognized Generation Y expert Eric Chester shows readers how to hire, train, manage, and motivate a workforce that won't blindly conform to traditional standards and time-honored company policies and standards. Chester reveals the management techniques that leading-edge employers are using to get these quirky, book-smart, and streetwise kidployees to contribute in innovative and entrepreneurial ways.

Genres: Leadership

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

No one has a better understanding of the emerging workforce than Eric Chester. He is the premier expert on school-to-work transition and developing the core work ethic of teens and young adults. As an in-the-trenches professional, Eric has personally addressed more than two million high school and college students, authored nine books for teens, and has kept dialed-in to the mindset of this burgeoning generation.

Described by his audiences as “riveting,” “mesmerizing,” “electrifying,” Eric’s speaking style is compelling, thought provoking, and—most importantly—behavior-altering. He connects easily with his audiences through humor and anecdotes that he customizes for each client.

Having addressed more than 2000 audiences from a plethora of industries over the past 20 years, Eric’s Reviving Work Ethic programs are fluid, teeming with information and strategies, and impeccably aligned with innovative multimedia technology that visually reinforces tools, concepts and solutions. Whether your event requires a 60- to 90-minute keynote, a half-day workshop, or a full-day seminar, Eric will fully engage your group. They will, in turn, walk away highly motivated to implement his actionable ideas in their organizations to develop work ethic.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book on managing Generation "Why" (the current late teens/twentysomethings who are likely starting their first jobs.) It goes into how the current working generation is different than those before, and consequently why successful managers must use different tactics than those they have been accustomed to in order to get their front line to "buy in." I was impressed with how much respect the author has for young people and appreciated the anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book that show that even he wasn't the perfect worker. This humanity made me value his ideas much more than if he had come from a place of perfection.