Getting Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care about Your Bottom Line (Paperback)

by Eric Chester (Author) "The young boy's first ever job was washing dishes at a mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant a few blocks from his home..." (more)
Key Phrases: youngest employees, oldest customers, Getting Them, Cold Stone, Eddie Bauer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Buy, read, and absorb this book." -- Midwest Book Review – June

"…he’s dead-on accurate about what makes teens work…this little gem can save an inept boss" -- Food Industry News – June –

Product Description
"Businesses need to stop focusing on 'paradigm shifts' and 'strategic initiatives' and realize that none of that makes any sense if your front-line employees don't 'give a damn.'" —Rhoda Olsen, President, Great Clips, Inc.

 

Transform the Your Bored, Uncaring "Generation Why" Young Workforce into a Powerhouse of Performers and Innovators

 

According to the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs, by 2012 there will be a shortage of more than two million front-line service workers in retail sales, customer service, and food preparation. Only a fraction of the restless Generation Y workers who typically fill these positions stay with their employer longer than a year!  Dubbed "kidployees," these 16- to 24-year-olds share an entirely different set of values, expectations, and skills that must be reckoned with if you're among the millions of business owners and managers in America.  

 

In Getting Them to Give a Damn, nationally recognized Generation Y expert Eric Chester shows readers how to hire, train, manage, and motivate a workforce that won't blindly conform to traditional standards and time-honored company policies and standards. Chester reveals the management techniques that leading-edge employers are using to get these quirky, book-smart, and streetwise kidployees to contribute in innovative and entrepreneurial ways.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Business (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419504584
• ISBN-13: 978-1419504587
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #87,824 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much-Needed Book, Right on Target, May 3, 2005

By	Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you are a business owner employing people between the ages of 16 and 24, buy, read, absorb, and apply this book. If you are a manager or supervisor in any kind of company where you are responsible for employees between the ages of 16 and 24, buy, read, absorb, and apply this book. If you are the confused parent of one or more children between the ages of 16 and 24, buy, read, absorb, and apply this book. If you are an educator of students between the ages of 16 and 24, buy, read, absorb, and apply this book. Are we communicating here?

OK, your first reaction is the profanity in the book title. Live with it! You will find the word a few places in the text, but it's there to make a point. Yes, the writing is punchy, direct, and pushes the envelope of your thinking. However, so do the attitudes and behavior of your young people. We older folks (let's say that term refers to all us gray beards over 35) need to wake up and smell the differences between today's young workers and their counterparts in previous generations. They are different, and must be managed differently. Learn how and succeed. Ignore the lessons of this book and continue to pour profits down the drain by recruiting, training, recruiting, training, recruiting, training, ad nauseum.

Eric Chester is respected as the leading authority on this age group, assuming that anyone can be an expert on kidployees. As a consultant and author in the workforce field, I'm very comfortable telling you that the man is right-on in his writing as he is in his speaking. He'll grab you at the beginning of the book and hold your attention with anecdotes (some from his own life) and lessons learned. In page after page, Chester presents knowledge, insight, techniques, and advice that-if heeded-can substantially strengthen a manager's effectiveness.

In the first of five well-organized sections of the book, you'll gain valuable perspectives about the 16-24 year olds (Generation Why), noting how and why they're different...and how the difference can be a powerful asset for your company. Subsequent sections address how to attract, keep, and connect with this important employee group. The last section offers important insight into some employers who get it right...why and how. An index supplements the text, enabling you to go back to particular sections for refresher readings.

You will be amazed at how much the author has packed into this comfortably-sized book.
After you're finished with your first reading, you'll probably be inspired to buy copies for other managers in your organization. Wait. I take that back. That inspiration will come to you before you've finished with the book. It hit me somewhere about half through the pages.

Warning: if your competitor uses this book and you do not, you are in big trouble!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must' for any member of the 'next generation employer', October 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Eric Chester's Getting Them To Give A Damn: How To Get Your Front Line To Care About Your Bottom Line provides an excellent key to turning uncaring employees into performers and innovators. The latest generation shares a new set of values and won't blindly conform to company policy - but they can be motivated, and 'Generation Y expect' author Eric Chester shows how. From recruiting the best new employees to using different types of training to make them loyal, this is a 'must' for any member of the 'next generation employer'.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must' for any member of the 'next generation employer', October 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Eric Chester's Getting Them To Give A Damn: How To Get Your Front Line To Care About Your Bottom Line provides an excellent key to turning uncaring employees into performers and innovators. The latest generation shares a new set of values and won't blindly conform to company policy - but they can be motivated, and 'Generation Y expect' author Eric Chester shows how. From recruiting the best new employees to using different types of training to make them loyal, this is a 'must' for any member of the 'next generation employer'.