How to Manage and Motivate Teen Employeees

By Rieva Lesonsky

I love working with young people—they’re inspiring and energizing. But when you’re a small business owner, they can also be frustrating and challenging to work with.

In summertime, many small businesses turn to teenage employees to staff up for busy seasons. Other small businesses, such as fast food restaurants, rely on teen workers all year round. How can you get the most out of teen workers, capitalizing on their enthusiasm and energy? The Los Angeles Times recently took a look at the challenges of managing and motivating today’s teens.

Some issues related to teens are age-old—they don’t always have the best judgment, since they’re still maturing. They may not be physically capable of jobs that older workers could do, such as lifting or moving heavy items. They can sometimes be “flaky,” especially in summer when the lure of the beach or mall may outweigh the commitment to their shift at your shop.

However, the Times also notes some new changes in today’s generation of teens:

They’re digital. Instead of using paper-based schedules posted on an office wall, some companies cited in the story use online scheduling so teens can see their shifts at a glance 24/7. One company even created an online forum where workers could swap shifts.

They question authority–just not necessarily in the way my (baby boomer) generation did. Today’s teens want to know the “why” behind everything, instead of just being told what to do. Explain how their job fits into the overall picture and the reasons for following certain steps or completing certain procedures, and you’re more likely to get compliance.

It’s also important to know the regulations affecting hiring teens. These may include things like total number of hours worked in a day, hours worked in a week, type of work performed and more. Regulations can vary from industry to industry and state to state, so start with your industry trade association and your state labor department to verify what rules apply to your business.

One area it’s important to be aware of, the Times notes, is sexual harassment. Teens may not have the judgment to know what kind of behavior is inappropriate—whether on their part, or on the part of older supervisors or even customers. Make sure you educate your staff about sexual harassment and that they feel comfortable coming to you or their immediate supervisor with any concerns.

From being around teens as an aunt and a friend, the one piece of advice I have for any entrepreneur trying to manage teens is this: Treat them with respect and listen to their ideas. You never know when you might learn something that can improve not only your relationship with teen employees, but your whole business as well.

Image by Flickr user Son of Groucho (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Small Business, small business, Workforce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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