Q: I own and run a small company where I have a history of difficulty getting product. My food company requires some fresh product and some I can store. I hire young people to communicate the system to our clients. They are not the sharpest tacks in the box because they are not comfortable telling clients we are currently having to wait for product, even though they know we know we will receive the product in the near future.

Some of these new customer-relations employees think I want them to lie to the clients. I do not. I want them to develop the verbal skills to talk to the clients. They are supposed to build confidence through knowing we always receive the product. How else would I stay in business for 30 years? It seems the new young people don't understand schmoozing clients, and I don't know how to explain it to them. I don't know if they are intelligent enough to understand what it means to build confidence and to trust the system. We use fresh ingredients for some things and can store other products. It upsets the employees not knowing a date as to when products will be delivered. Am I hiring employees below their skill level or does this inability to talk to clients run through the younger generation?

I hire inexperienced young people because they are not worth much when they have no work experience or verbal sophistication. I teach my new employees from scratch how to talk to clients, how to explain the benefit of using fresh ingredients and that keeping things fresh means we will not have everything all the time. They look at this as lying, which it is not. Through my many years in business, I think this concept should be common sense. Should be, I say. If certain ingredients must be fresh, that means we cannot stock up on them. The only thing I can deduce is that today's young adults are slower intellectually than the generation before them. I hate to think that, but I can't think of what else would cause this inability to connect the dots. These concepts are not difficult to understand, so you can see my concern for the future.

A: Generalizations can be counterproductive, as blanket statements are often not accurate. If you teach the JIT (just-in-time) inventory system to your new employees, they should be able to explain it to the clients. Your company's lengthy history should be enough of an explanation, so they understand the supply shortage is always present but also always temporary.

If you insist on hiring minimum-wage employees with nothing but a high school diploma, then you are limiting your company, at least in this capacity, to perhaps a lower level of understanding. It's understandable these young and inexperienced employees might be nervous explaining the JIT inventory system to adults. It takes a certain confidence level for anyone to be able to speak to adults. Imagine their naivete and fear in speaking to clients. This type of communication is a big deal to them. Though it is old news for you, you may have lost touch with the current "uneducated" young adults of today.

Email career and life coach: Lindsey@LindseyNovak.com. Ms. Novak responds to all emails. For more information, visit www.lindseynovak.com and for past columns, see www.creators.com/features/At-Work-Lindsey-Novak.

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