You’re the Boss Blog: Debating the Merits of Hiring Great Recession Graduates

The Next Level

Avoiding the pitfalls of fast growth.

Intrigued. Inspired. Insulted. I summoned all three feelings as I glanced through the responses to my last post, “Why I Like to Hire Great Recession Graduates.” In the post, I talked about how many recent graduates — tempered by the tough economy they have experienced — are making excellent employees in fast-growth companies where a hunger to work and a will to win override the need for entitlements, praise and corner offices. In fact, I suggested, these recent graduates have adjusted to the new reality much better than some of their parents.

While my opinion has not changed, I will say this – I could hear my associates cackling and laughing as some of the angry comments came my way. No doubt the commenters said some things that my associates have long thought and always wanted to say, so they did some good for all of us.

Now, before my detractors get too carried away in delight, I want to stress a couple of things. First, I am an entrepreneur who loves a fast-growth culture where no whining is allowed, period. And as you will see below, I will offer in response a solution that can perhaps get us all to a higher level of thinking, which is my goal as a blogger.

I also want to say that while I was not insulted by the zingers that questioned my intellect and even my humanity, I was insulted for a different reason. Many entrepreneurs called and sent e-mails to say that they would have liked to back me up in the comment section — but they feared that predatory lawyers might make life difficult for them in the future. Now, that is an insult – when the people who should be protecting our right to free speech are stifling it. But perhaps that is a post for another day.

As an entrepreneur educator, I was intrigued by the stark difference in the response that came my way on Twitter and in the blog’s comment section. I got my clock cleaned in the comment section, but on Twitter I discovered that the communication gap is even greater than I suggested in my post. While the response to my post, by my informal calculation, was 90 percent negative among Times commenters, it was 80 percent positive on Twitter. What does that tell us?

Millennials are using social media for news, so it is not just social and it is not just business, as I wrote. It is a way of life for recent graduates. I would say that this generational communication divide is the widest it has been since Elvis and rock ‘n’ roll replaced Lawrence Welk and the waltz. With the Great Recession graduates getting their news on Twitter and Facebook feeds, they are very close to putting down print newspapers and magazines for good. The “cool” factor is playing big here.

As I was going down my office elevator last week, a millennial told me, “I read your blog — you rock.” I must confess at the moment I was feeling some trepidation from all of the negative comments on the blog, so I tried to suggest that she express that positive reaction with a comment of her own. She gave me kind of an OMG frown and said, “I will retweet it.” Here is what I learned from that response: a retweet with a one-liner is the new letter to the editor. Just as rock went from Elvis Presley to Alice Cooper, we may be heading for the three-second commercial. I could beg the millennials to read The New York Times on Sunday and tell them how wonderful I think it is, but it would not do any good. The times, they are a-changing.

After my elevator conversation left me feeling more like Lawrence Welk than Elvis, I was soon inspired by Karthik Selvaraj, who lives in India and graduated from Carnegie Mellon last December. Mr. Selvaraj, who had come to my post through social media powerhouse LinkedIn, sent an e-mail to say that he wanted to bring this new breed of entrepreneurship to India. Yes, while I cringed when I read many of the comments, I smiled when I saw the Twitter cheers, and I was overjoyed to see that my intended message was received by many around the world.

My proposed solution is to ask all of us to be more entrepreneurial — at all levels of a company. Yes, I could have been more reverent about the job plight of many who have struggled the last few years, but I don’t see my job as being Mr. Rogers where I tell everyone in the neighborhood how wonderful they are. My goal is to provoke thought on how entrepreneurial companies can get to the next level.

Here is the deal: the old stuff doesn’t work any more. And that’s why I want to hire people who are trying and creating new things. But I want to stress again — I am not the Grinch looking to steal cheap labor. In today’s environment, everyone is measured on our added value to the enterprise. I think the Great Recession graduates will do better than their parents on every economic level over the next 10 years because they are willing to take more risks on the front end. And for that, for being more entrepreneurial, they will be — and should be — rewarded for taking that additional risk, with both raises and equity.

Again, I am talking here about fast-growth enterprises. I’m not talking about small businesses or corporate America. There is always a place for wisdom and knowledge. But there is also a place for fresh ideas — especially when you are trying to get to the next level. Can you imagine if there had been Twitter at Woodstock?

Cliff Oxford is the founder of the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. You can follow him on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/debating-the-merits-of-hiring-great-recession-graduates/?partner=rss&emc=rss