“Kids
These
“Kids
These
Preparing
AtDays!”
Days!”
Risk Youth for
Workplace
Success
Dr. Steve Parese
Danbury, NC
06/23/11
Part 1
Soft Skills
What soft skills do
employers demand?
Why do some young
people fail to use them?
06/23/11
Part 2
Cognitive Conflicts
Why are so many youth
unable to fit in with the
workplace culture?
06/23/11
Part 3
Successful
Interventions
How can we help youth adapt to
the workplace?
06/23/11
Let’s Play
Teen
Let’s
Lingo!
06/23/11
Teen Lingo
1. “BAKED” =
Stoned
“His eyes are all messed up, man… I
think he got baked last period!”
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Teen Lingo
2. “CHEDDAR” =
Money
“She hit it big on the slots last night!
She got phat CHEDDAR now!”
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Teen Lingo
3. “FLOSSIN” =
Showing off
wealth
“That fool got a new ride… now he be
FLOSSIN’ all the time!”
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Teen Lingo
4. “GEL” =
Get along with
“Me and her… we really GEL, y’know?”
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Teen Lingo
5. “GRILL” =
Your smile or
mouth
“Shut up or I’ll bust you in your
GRILL.”
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Teen Lingo
6. “KRUNK” =
Wild &
exhilarating
“That party tonight is supposed to be
totally KRUNK, man!”
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Teen Lingo
7. “NINE” =
9mm pistol
“I got my NINE tonight… nobody’s
gonna mess with me!”
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Teen Lingo
8. “PUNKED” =
Stolen
“Ronnie’s car got PUNKED last night,
and he’s is kirkin’ out!”
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Teen Lingo
9. “PIMPIN” =
Trying to pick
up girls
“Look at him over there PIMPIN’ on
Tessa. Isn’t he goin’ with Jamie?”
06/23/11
Teen Lingo
10. “SPRUNG” =
Obsessed with
“It’s sad. Vanessa is so SPRUNG on
Todd, she’d do anything…”
06/23/11
Part 1
Soft Skills
What soft skills do
employers demand?
06/23/11
Defining
“soft skills”
Workplace Soft Skills:
“The personal and
interpersonal skills
needed to successfully
adjust to the SOCIAL
environment of the
workplace.”
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Team Activity
Work with your partner to brainstorm
5 SOFT SKILLS
NEEDED TO SUCCEED AT WORK.
E.g., Time management
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Work-related
“soft skills”
Self-control skills:
√ Handling stress
√ Managing anger
√ Controlling body language
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Work-related
“soft skills”
Communication skills:
√ Listening effectively
√ Expressing a complaint
√ Dealing with criticism
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Work-related
“soft skills”
Social skills:
√ Interrupting a conversation
√ Joining social activities
√ Empathizing with others
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Work-related
“soft skills”
Problem solving skills:
√ Prioritizing problems
√ Avoiding assumptions
√ Predicting outcomes
06/23/11
KEY POINT #1
06/23/11
Workplace success requires
not only strong vocational
skills, but mastery of a range
of social skills as well.
Many at-risk youth have
serious difficulties with these
vital skills.
Part 2
Cognitive Conflicts
Why are so many young
people unable to fit in with the
workplace culture?
06/23/11
Why do so many
youth fail to use
important soft skills?
SKILL DEFICIT
MOTIVATION DEFICIT
COGNITIVE
INCOMPATIBILITY
06/23/11
Sweeeeeet!
Imagine you are a
teenager who’s been
hired at a clothing
shop (Abercrombie &
Fitch) in the mall.
06/23/11
Would you mind hanging
up these new dresses for
me, please?
How about running down to
Starbucks and grabbing me
a latte on your next break…
I need you to pick up my
son from daycare and
spend an hour at the park
with him…
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@#$% this!!
Enough is enough!
You’ve reached
“COGNITIVE
INCOMPATIBILITY!”
06/23/11
What beliefs drive
youth behavior in
their PERSONAL LIVES?
06/23/11
Personal Beliefs Survey
In our personal lives, we use our personal beliefs to
judge the appropriateness of our actions.
1. Life should be fun!
2. Family comes first.
3. It’s okay to take a break when
you’ve worked hard.
06/23/11
Personal Beliefs Survey
In our personal lives, we use our personal beliefs to
judge the appropriateness of our actions.
4. Friends should help each other
out with problems.
5. Personal appearance is a personal
decision.
6. No one has the right to boss you
around.
06/23/11
Thomas’
Home Situation
Thomas has a fight
with his parents when
they criticize his choice
of clothes.
06/23/11
Thomas’
Home Situation
“Pull your pants up!
Change that shirt! Take
out that earring! WHY
CAN’T YOU GUYS JUST LET
ME DRESS MYSELF?”
5. Personal appearance is a
personal decision.
06/23/11
Lori’s
Home Situation
One night. Lori decides to
have a few drinks with her
friends and stays out past
her 11PM curfew.
When she gets home, her
aunt is furious with her, but
Lori blows her off.
06/23/11
Lori’s
Home Situation
“It’s MY life. I’m old
enough to make up my
own mind about what I
can and can’t do!”
6. No one has the right
to boss you around.
06/23/11
What beliefs drive
employers’
expectations of
behavior in our
WORK LIVES?
What are their “UNSPOKEN RULES?”
06/23/11
“UNSPOKEN RULES”
You hire a babysitter for the
evening to watch your two
young children.
What expectations are so “common sense”
you wouldn’t bother to state them out loud?
06/23/11
Unspoken Rules of Work
At work, employers use unspoken professional
expectations to judge our actions.
a. Work comes first. Don’t let home
issues get in the way.
b. Do what you are asked to do, even if
you don’t want to.
c. Do your best to fit in. Don’t act or
06/23/11 dress TOO different.
Unspoken Rules of Work
At work, employers use unspoken professional
expectations to judge our actions.
d. Always stay busy, or at least LOOK
busy!
e. Work is work. Don’t expect it to be fun.
f. Stay out of other people’s problems.
06/23/11
Conflicting Rules of
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL
LIVES often conflict with employers’
UNSPOKEN RULES.
Compare the lists on pages 4 and 5 to find
the opposing rules.
06/23/11
Conflicting Rules of
1
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
Life should be
fun!
06/23/11
Work is work.
Don’t expect it to
always be fun.
Conflicting Rules of
2
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
Family comes
first.
06/23/11
Work comes
first. Don’t let
personal issues
get in the way.
Conflicting Rules of
3
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
It’s okay to
take a break
when you’ve
worked hard.
06/23/11
Always stay
busy, or at least
LOOK busy!
Conflicting Rules of
4
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
Friends should
help each
other out with
problems.
06/23/11
Stay out of other
people’s
problems.
Conflicting Rules of
5
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
Personal
appearance is
a personal
decision.
06/23/11
Do your best to
fit in. Don’t act or
dress too
different.
Conflicting Rules of
6
Home versus Work
The rules which guide our PERSONAL LIVES often
conflict with employers’ UNSPOKEN RULES.
No one has the Do what you are
right to boss you asked to do,
around.
even if you don’t
want to.
06/23/11
KEY POINT #2
06/23/11
Most employers have
unspoken expectations which
they seldom explain directly to
new employees.
These often conflict with the
beliefs young workers use in
their personal social lives.
Part 3
Successful
Interventions
How can we help youth adapt to
the workplace culture?
06/23/11
COGNITIVEBEHAVIORAL
INTERVENTIONS
CBI focuses on promoting positive self-change by developing:
1. Awareness of the thinking and beliefs which drive
one’s unproductive behavior (cognitive); and
2. Stronger interpersonal and intrapersonal skills for
managing difficult situations (behavioral).
06/23/11
Stephen Covey, author of “Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People”:
“Seek first to UNDERSTAND,
Then to be UNDERSTOOD.”
06/23/11
Cognitive psychologists call this:
CODE SWITCHING
06/23/11
You’re an All-Star
defensive end on your
high school football
team.
TACKLE HIM !
TACKLE HIM!!
TACKLE HIM!!!
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The basketball coach
approaches you and
says, “I need you on
my team!”
TACKLE HIM!
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Players learn to
“CODE-SWITCH”
from football to
basketball.
Youth must learn to
“CODE-SWITCH,”
from home beliefs to
workplace expectations.
06/23/11
Two CBI Strategies
When youth are behaving
unprofessionally at work because
of strong underlying personal
beliefs, consequences alone are
often not enough.
A combination of cognitive coaching and direct
instruction in social cognitive skills is often a more
effective strategy.
06/23/11
Strategy 1:
Cognitive Coaching
Indirectly teach workplace attitudes
and skills by coaching students
through problems.
06/23/11
Workplace Conflict #1
After his release from
juvenile detention, Thomas
found a job in maintenance
at a major hotel chain.
He had a disagreement with
his supervisor when asked to
remove some of his facial
jewelry and cover up his
tattoos.
06/23/11
Thomas’
Point of View
“Why can’t I wear a nose
ring? Why do I have to
cover my ink? What does
that have to do with
cutting the grass?”
5. Personal appearance
is a personal decision.
06/23/11
Supervisor’s
Point of View
“He’s a good worker but he
doesn’t understand about
company image. All those
tattoos and piercings scare
some of our guests, and in
our business, you have to
keep up a certain image.”
C. Do your best to fit in.
06/23/11
Seek first to understand:
“So the way YOU saw it, it
shouldn’t matter how you
look, as long as you do your
job and no one complains?”
“Exactly!”
Then to be understood:
“Let’s try to figure out why
your supervisor didn’t see it
the same way. What possible
reasons could he have for
objecting to your nose ring?”
06/23/11
Workplace Conflict #2
To impress the judge at her
next court appearance, Lori
got a job as a checker in a
supermarket.
During a slow moment, her
boss asked her to clean up a
spill in the back, but she
ignored him.
06/23/11
Lori’s
Point of View
“I’m a clerk, not a janitor!
He should get a janitor to
do stuff like that. Why do I
always have to do what HE
says?”
6. No one has the
right to boss you
around.
06/23/11
Supervisor’s
Point of View
“If she’s standing there doing
nothing, I’m going to ask her
to help out. She’s always
bending the rules, like they
don’t apply to her.”
B. Do what you are
asked to do, even if
you don’t want to.
06/23/11
Seek first to understand:
“So from your perspective,
being your boss doesn’t give
him the right to TELL you
what to do.”
“Yeah, I guess…”
Then to be understood:
06/23/11
“But technically, he DOES
have that right, Lori. Unless
he’s asking you to do
something illegal or
unethical…”
Strategy 2:
Cognitive Skills Instr’n
Directly teach workplace attitudes
and soft skills by providing
classroom-based instruction.
06/23/11
Strategy 2:
Cognitive Skills Instr’n
√ Self-Awareness & Self-Control
√ Expressing a Complaint
√ Dealing with Criticism
√ Logical Problem Solving
06/23/11
KEY POINT #3
Youth have a natural
tendency to use PERSONAL
beliefs when judging their
WORK behavior.
06/23/11
We must help them develop
both cognitive AWARENESS
and new interpersonal
“Beginning to
Work It Out”
For youth and young
adults at risk of dropout, underemployment,
incarceration, etc.
06/23/11
THANK
YOU!
Dr. Steve Parese
SBP Consulting, Inc.
Web: WorkinItOut.com
Email: SBParese@aol.com
06/23/11