As Published in Business 2 Business, March 2009

Trophy Kids: What goes around comes around!

By Ira S Wolfe, Success Performance Solutions

On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set the NBA single-game scoring record by tallying 100 points.  This achievement has been proclaimed as one of the greatest achievements in sports history.  But nearly 47 years later, a Texas high school girl’s basketball team, after winning the game by a score of 100-0, had a case of blowout remorse. Officials from The Covenant School said they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

Welcome to the age of the “trophy kids.”

Welcome to a world where four generations view the world, neither right nor wrong, good nor bad. Just differently!

For the record, born between 1980 and 2001, these “trophy kids,” also known as Millennials or Generation Y, have been coddled by their parents and nurtured with a strong sense of entitlement.  Now entering the workforce, this generation’s attitude towards life creates a stark contrast to the make-do-with-what-you–have attitude of the WW II generation and the winner-takes-all ambition of the Baby Boomers. The workplace has become an interesting psychodrama featuring the workplace attitudes of the Millennials and employers' efforts to manage these demanding rookies.

As evidenced by the harsh reaction to the 100-0 score, winning isn’t everything anymore. That’s not to say these Millennials don’t have ambition. In fact, their ambitions may even be far greater than any previous generation – they just don’t see the path to achievement as littered with bodies that they need to step over on the way to their life goals. For previous generations who grew up and worked in a world where there was only one winner and all others were losers, this “trophy kid” generation is a tough mindset to swallow. 

How did these kids get this way? For many Millennials, few "accomplishments" didn't rate some type of acknowledgement. In games, it was common for everyone to receive a trophy — win or lose – thus the name “trophy kids.” We shifted the lesson taught from “second place is the first place for losers” to “everyone who plays is a winner.”

This generational tension is a bit ironic. For starters, you can blame it on the very people doing the loudest complaining - doting parents, teachers and coaches. After all, the grumbling baby boomer managers are the same indulgent parents who produced the millennial generation after starting families late in life or vowing not to make the same mistake twice with children from second and third marriages.

And it’s not just boomers who are the hovering adults. Generation X latch-key kids, now raising their own families, have ditched the key and are showing up at every school event, soccer game and even parent-teacher conference.  Stay-at-home Moms and Dads see their kids off to school and meet them at day’s end.  No more are kids expected to fend for themselves while both parents plug away at work.  And if it’s not Mom or Dad doing the doting, it’s Grandma or Grandpa.  

At school, teachers accentuate the positive. Kids no longer fear the bad report card – teachers do. This generation was treated so delicately that many schoolteachers stopped grading papers and tests in harsh-looking red ink to avoid bruising the child’s precious self-esteem. Managers in turn must now tread lightly when making even the most benign critique. Fast forward to the workplace, some managers have seen Millennials break down in tears after a negative performance review and even quit their jobs. Or worse, the phone rings and it’s the employee’s parent on the other end demanding to know exactly what was said and why.

(Read more about these “hovering” helicopter parents at

http://www.super-solutions.com/helicopterparents_boomerangkids.asp.)

As these youngsters finish school and go looking for work, job recruiters are noticing they are bringing a sense of entitlement with them. They are after-all what they’ve been told all their lives – the most talented, tech-savvy generation ever. These younger workers demand to be treated like colleagues as opposed to subordinates and expect access to all levels of management. They expect ready access to senior executives, even the CEO, to share their brilliant ideas –not tomorrow, not next week but today, right now. Remember this is the generation that gets and reports news instantaneously by texting and “tweeting.”  Patience is not seen as a virtue.

What's more frustrating to older managers, businesses that do accommodate the demands of the young worker shouldn't expect loyalty in return.  If a job doesn't prove fulfilling, Millennials will forsake it in a flash. In a recent Michigan State/MonsterTrak study, about two-thirds of the millennials said they would likely "surf" from one job to the next. If they don’t like a job, they see no stigma in leaving. In fact, most plan to jump from job to job in quest of the next interesting thing, just as they surf from one Web site to another. Besides, if things don’t work out, most Millennials have their parents to fall back on.

In a freewheeling economy with plenty of opportunities for employment and advancement, the Millennial approach to job hunting might not be a problem. But with the financial crisis spinning out of control, members of the millennial generation may find the business world cares less about their needs and more about the bottom line.

And that means they may have to ease up in their demands and become more willing to accept roles as subordinates. Millennials will have to temper their expectations as they seek employment during this deep economic slump. But don’t expect this attitude adjustment to be permanent. Their sense of entitlement is an ingrained trait that will resurface as soon as the economy rebounds.

Ron Alsop, author of a new book titled “Trophy Kids,” cautions managers that their companies have plenty to gain in making accommodations for younger workers. He makes the valid point that these young workers are people "bred for achievement, and most will work hard if the task is engaging and promises a tangible payoff." 

Older adults however might argue with Alsop. They criticize the high-maintenance rookies for demanding too much too soon. The traditional wait-your-turn career ladder is collapsing and becoming as much as an office anachronism as is the
typewriter.

Although members of all previous generations consider the next generation as spoiled, Millennials feel an unusually strong sense of entitlement. Alsop shares one story about a consultant who was coaching a group of college students for job interviews. “She asked them how they believe employers view them. She gave them a clue, telling them that the word she was looking for begins with the letter "e." One young man shouted out, "excellent." Other students chimed in with "enthusiastic" and "energetic." Not even close. The correct answer, she said, is "entitled." "Huh?" the students responded, surprised and even hurt to think that managers are offended by their highfalutin opinions of themselves.”

For their part, Millennials believe they can be picky, with talent shortages looming as baby boomers retire. These workplace nomads don't see any stigma in listing three jobs in a single year or having gaps on their resumes. They are quite confident about landing yet another job, even if it will take longer in this dismal economy. In the meantime, they needn't worry about their next paycheck because they simply move back home where Mom-and-Dad-helicopter-parents will hover over their pride and joy trophy kids.

The Millennial generations are truly "trophy kids.” The Millennials were lavishly praised and often received trophies when they excelled, and sometimes when they didn't, to avoid damaging their self-esteem.  They are also the newest employees entering the workforce.  They will change the way organizations hire, manage and retain employees.

About the author

As president of Success Performance Solutions, Ira S Wolfe helps organizations find and hire the right employees and identify high-potential leaders. He speaks nationwide on hiring, workforce trends, managing the generations in a presentation titled Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization.