Overly sensitive employees/apprentices

[OhGoodnessItsSoExhausting]

Ok, so I pride myself on being a strengths focussed supervisor. I always want to mentor and help my employees and apprentices as much as possible. But the last two apprentices (all apprentices in this role are graduates if that's relevant) have been soooooo sensitive and just plain.annoying!

I can't give any feedback because they 'know it already.' I can't say anything right because apparently I know nothing about transgender issues or decolonisation of the workplace and I need to hear them 'educate' me on it all and lend me books because they (20 years younger with zero experience in this role) know how to resolve ingrained, inherent systemic racism and prejudice and clearly if they were in my role they'd have solved all the problems in society which impact the role, already.

They are always 'curious about X...' and 'wondering about y...' instead of just speaking in normal language

They are driving me insane!!!

They can't manage their workload (even though I'm so worried about upsetting them I give them half what I've given to previous apprentices). Apparently it's important to be 'boundaried' and assertive with your needs. (Yes,.I know that, but I'm just asking you to do your job - you are paid more for these apprenticeships than many of the more senior staff in the organisation).

They are so bloody self absorbed and self riteous. I find them so patronising.

Is this entitlement, condescending attitude and use of fluffy language a generation thing? Or (please tell me), I've just had a bad run of two extremely annoying apprentices!!? (who I found out today are friends! So I guess they feed off each other discussing how amazing and riteous they are and how everyone else in the organisation is incompetent.)

Grrr..

Thanks for sharing the video. It was funny and enlightening!

This thread is interesting in its juxtaposition with one yesterday, regarding how current undergraduates are struggling to complete courses, asking for extensions, adjustments and so on. Are we encouraging a generation that really has so little resilience? From reading some of the posts on here, it’s apparent that the real world will be very difficult for them.

Seems totally bizarre that you don’t get to interview them!

I think she means senior in age, as in badly paid admin staff etc, who could probably do a far better job. Why recruit graduates exclusively if more experienced older team members could do a better job and would welcome the pay increase? Can you suggest to management that you recruit from inside the team?

That's not more than senior staff though

I really think you should be treating them as you would normally. Give them enough work to be getting on with, so they don't have spare time to talk crap.

While I haven’t found that all recent graduates are like this, there’s definitely a fair few who are in my workplace.

Every work conversation somehow gets turned into one on equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. And yes this is important, but not in every single conversation.

Plus they often have this odd tendency to always look for the links and ‘synergies’ between pieces of work, or links between different teams in the organisation. Which of course is fine in a sense but it seems to take precedence over them actually knowing their own areas of work and progressing with these. Which to me would be the logical starting point - and then once you’re more familiar with your work, the organisation, specialist areas etc, then look for the links. Maybe university teaching today is all about stressing the links and synergies.

@slightlysnippy thank you for that video. I have been feeling depressed recently, for the first time in years, low confidence etc. It's reminded me that I'm not living the life I want to live abd the life I feel my children deserve either. It's been quite affirming. Thank you.

And then, if you persist with this pair they will come calling wanting, and expecting, a (glowing) reference at some point.

You are supposed to manage/train/mentor them aren't you? then do that.

It is your role to tell them what to do and to keep them focused on the tasks.

Reading your post you come across as rather judgemental.

Managers need to be able to manage people of all ages and backgrounds and not spend their time complaining.

They lack knowledge and understanding of the workplace but you also seem to lack knowledge and understanding of how to lead and train people...

Our last departmental intern spent her entire tenure harassing my EA for an hour of my time every day to discuss synergies and strategies.

I had to point out that would be 10x the amount of 1:1 I have with most of my direct reports she responded that I should be more willing to learn from her.

I used to supervise and mentor students in clinical placement in the NHS and honestly I would not have tolerated the bullshit. We had a framework for the placement detailing what students should know/be competent in at various stages of their training and at various stages of their placement. Some of our students were entering the profession via mature student pathways and had children so we were very mindful of work life balance but the same learning and development objectives applied to all, and the same competency assessments. Yes we did have students who found they were unable to cope with the requirements of the placement for whatever reason and yes we would approach this with sympathy but if they didn't achieve the required level of learning and experience then we would not pass them. We were also very clear that their reason for being there was professional development and not to politicise the work space or to evangelise to anybody....not about veganism, politics, gender issues or anything else. It was particularly important for our students to learn this as its one of the key aspects of the profession, also the role is patient facing and the NHS makes no division in how they treat people regardless of race colour creed and so on. Students HAVE to learn to keep their opinions to themselves while in the workplace. OP maybe autres temps require autres moeurs and what worked with more driven students won't work with these? maybe plainer speaking might be beneficial to all parties?

Sorry, haven't rtft. Do you give feedback to the University on the placements?
It does rather sound as if the course they are doing is not preparing them for the realities of the workplace.
Also, do you have a probationary period for the students or is it a fixed block of time?

I think @Ravenpuff93 makes some good points. It is hard for Gen Z to reach adult milestones because they are so expensive to reach these days. Buying a house, even paying for driving lessons and a test which is way more complex and challenging than it was a few decades ago, costs so much that a graduate starting salary barely covers it.

I put 30k salary into the take home pay calculator yesterday after reading this and similar threads. If DS were to start on 30k, once tax, NI and student loan repayments are taken off, his take hme pay is £440. Given that a London rental room is around £220-250 and utilities are rising by 65% this year alone - what would he be expected to live onfor food, clothes, travel and having an actual life? And that is a very respectable starting salary.

Actually, @JuniorPenny, it can be spelt focused or focussed. Both are correct. The latter is an older version still in circulation, so to speak.

proto-knowledge.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-wrong-with-young-people-today.html?m=1

Whining about the younger generation isn’t new.

Also I have had the pleasure of working with lots of graduates this year and while there a few like you mention the vast majority are bright, switched on so more work than the ‘lifers’ who are happy to coast along and go home at 4. We do pay an excellent salary though.

It might also help m that my area is practical, and anybody moaning instead of doing work would be questioned by several stakeholders, chasing for work 😏

Just to say, renting a double room in London at the moment is more like £700pcm. It has changed so much.
@godmum56 I totally agree about the NHS structure, my experience has been similar in that there is a very clear career progression and we are left in no doubt as to why people hold senior clinical positions. I think in the corporate world these things are less clear and it sometimes leads to confusion or people undervaluing or misunderstanding all the skills and responsibilities of their boss.

I managed a young guy years ago who thought he was all that. Had to explain to him he wasn't getting a promotion or pay rise as he was crap at his current job. He really didn't understand how crap he was despite my telling him. I think it's just youth. The race and trans stuff is obviously more modern. No trans stuff when I left uni for sure!

I think say exactly that to them. It's great she's mindful of her work/life balance, but these places are competitive and highly paid for a reason. And its industry specific work and not solely about meeting 'her needs'.

If she's finding it emotionally draining, she needs to stick to the topic at hand rather than trying to educate you. That would be a good start.

It's really interesting. This is the third thread I've seen on this topic in the last few days - there was one the other day with entitled job applicants, another with university students who need constant extensions on work due to anxiety... and now this!

Watching with interest!

@Ravenpuff93 yup I think you are right but they will continue to do so unless taught different! Surely that is part of any "real life" placement?

I meant per week! DS is currently looking and the only places they can find that aren't covered in black mould with sticky carpets and sagging mattresses cost at least £800 a month per person. He could probably get cheaper in Zone three but then there's commuting costs on top. He likes to walk everywhere.

We've had good and bad apprentices and although the bad weren't quite as bad as yours, they can certainly be challenging!

The "bad" ones definitely seem to think they're doing you a favour by being their apprentice. We've found that they normally have it knocked out of them when they start failing exams because, you know, they are actually quite a lot harder than their GCSE or A Levels, so it usually shocks them in to getting on with things.

Our bad ones seem to expect everything to be done for them and have no gumption to do anything themselves. Our latest apprentice interviewed well and is a lovely guy, but the first enquiry about the job came from his dad!

On the flip side, the good ones we've had have been excellent and have seen the apprenticeship system for what it is - an excellent way to get in to a professional industry and a stepping stone towards an even higher qualification.

We've always given treated them the same as any other staff. The only difference is they get time off to go to college during the work day, rather than in their own time, like I had to when I was studying.

I was quite pleased one day when, as they were talking to their college mentors, they were really happy that they were doing "proper" work, as they'd assumed that as apprentices, we'd just have them doing the filing and answering telephones all day!

@OhGoodnessItsSoExhausting I'd consider re-visiting your recruitment systems to see if you can see a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff before they start.

@goldfinchonthelawn ah sorry I misread! London is virtually impossible to rent in now. Good luck to him!
@godmum56 yes definitely the job of management to let people know expectations rather than giving them less work. I have often heard my (IT job) boyfriend bemoan his managers and assert he could do better and it winds me right up because they clearly have more training/experience! Whereas I know what I need to do if I want to move upwards, as the NHS structure and expectations are clearer.

Hehehe well depending on what sort of ‘IT’ (a lot of people misuse the term) job it is , he may very well be right. The sector is notorious for non-technical people managing techies. Or people who have let their technical knowledge lapse, and force their teams to maintain legacy systems because they’re scared of change/wary of ‘newfangled’ things.

Drives me nuts