ARTICLE BY: Karla Samwell
“Respect” – a word that over time seems to have taken on a different meaning, either that or the meaning has been forgotten completely.
In my role as Head of Admin at Oakwood Solicitors, I am a huge advocate of the Apprenticeship Scheme and over the last few years have taken on and helped quite a few young people gain employment in a world they would have otherwise been cut off from.
The ages of candidates range from 16 up to 21, and what has worryingly become quite a trend is the absolute lack of respect. I don’t just mean respect for your elders, I mean general respect for everything. Are we breeding a culture of materialistic youngsters who think if something breaks it is okay because you can just get a new one? Are any teenagers taught about respect anymore?
I question this because every day I try to instill a work ethic into my apprentices. I try to get them to think about the bigger picture, about the people and the world around them and the consequences of their own actions.
There is a mindset in the teenagers of today that they are entitled to everything.They are not taught that you have to work for things in life and it makes me question why this is? I was always brought up to work hard for the things that I want, and this is something that I have always taught my own children.
Is it a generation thing?
I have a teenage daughter, and yes I know teenagers are supposed to push the boundaries and go through their rebellious phases, but I would never have questioned my own parents the way my daughter questions me. It makes you wonder what is being taught in schools recently.
Like school, each workplace has a set of rules that you must adhere to: you must be ready to start work at a specific time; you must wear work appropriate clothes; you must be mindful of your colleagues. What seems be to forgotten is that every action has a consequence. Therefore if you decide to be late to work frequently, or if you constantly bend or break the rules then there are consequences to your actions that will often lead to disciplinary procedures being taken against you.
Some employers are more lenient than others and you may think its not fair, but those rules are there for a reason – they are there to help the business flow, to aid continuity in client care, and to ensure the workload is fair between everyone.
Before you start moaning that your boss is picking on you for always being late, or for looking scruffy and you feel like you are being bullied, ask yourself – am I always late? Do I look the best that I can? It is easy to point the finger of blame at anyone but yourself but often the only way to encourage a positive outcome is to change yourself.
After asking yourself these questions, you still feel that you are being bullied by your employer, then please contact our expert team who will be able to help.
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