"Old School"

Today Lauren and I did the Gen Y in the workplace debate on CFRB 1010 in Toronto. During the debate the host asked what I thought of the Gen Y demand that if a worker can get their 8 hour day of work completed in 6 hours (or less for that matter), they should be allowed to knock off for the rest of the day. I responded that if the worker can get their work done early that they have just created 2 more hours of value that they can give to their boss. The host responded that this was a very "old school attitude". Upon reflection I suppose that it is an old school attitude, but it's one that I truly believe in. If an employer chooses me to work for them, I want to return the favour by making sure that I put in the best day of work that I can. I don't have the fundamental belief that I am owed a job by society. I believe that I must earn that job daily.

It seems that one of the very fundamental concepts at stake in this question of whether Gen Y should adapt to the workplace or vice versa is whether the individual is owed employment by society. It really seems to me that if you fundamentally believe that you are owed a job, the idea that you owe the employer something back is lost. For example, Lauren and I discussed after the show whether the young entry-level employee morally owes the employer a certain amount of work to cover the costs of training that employee to a productive standard. My view is that the employee should stay long enough to help the employer recoup the costs of training, and ideally even help generate some profit. Lauren took the opposite view saying that if the job isn't making the employee happy; then they don't have any moral responsibility to the employer. Her logic is that the employer is not bound to be loyal to the employee, and therefore the individual should act in their own interest...it's just the cost of doing business. Frankly this position disturbs me. It is so mercenary as to be sociopathic (not that I am saying that Lauren is sociopathic, I think just misguided). It disregards the favour that the employer has done by choosing the individual for the job.

So, I will go on record as being "old school" in my belief that I am not owed a job by society. If an employer chooses to employ me I wish to return the favour by giving them a solid, and when possible, spectacular return on investment.