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Alex Atherton

@alex.atherton

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They did everything right. The grades, the degree, the debt, the hundreds of applications. Then the first job wasn't what they thought it would be.

I spent 25 years in inner-city London schools, more than half as a headteacher. The most recent students worked the hardest and got the rawest deal at the end of it.

My TEDx talk is about what their managers get wrong, and what the good ones do instead.

Watch it. Send it to them. Better still, send it to their boss.

Then tell me under the video: what's the one thing you wish their first manager had done differently?

Link in bio.

#GenZ #FirstJob #Parenting #Leadership #TEDx by @alex.atherton

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6 days ago

OUT TODAY!!

The Snowflake Myth is NOW available as an audiobook.

Amazon, Audible, Spotify, Apple - wherever you get your audiobooks..

More on my website www.alexatherton.com/snowflake-myth by @alex.atherton

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10 months ago

PRE-ORDERS of The Snowflake Myth are about to close in a few hours...

Then it's all about Monday 29th September!!!

I finally saw a paperback copy yesterday.

Do I look happy?

I THINK POSSIBLY.

____________________________________

The Snowflake Myth dismantles negative stereotypes about Gen Z.

It provides highly practical strategies for recruiting, retaining and developing young professionals.

For leaders, managers, folks in HR/L&D and parents.

Out Monday 29th September! by @alex.atherton

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a year ago

No two groups are the same and the responses are different all over the country.

And that's the beauty of being a Vistage speaker.

You get to test your messages, evidence and solutions all over the place.

But wherever I am the variety of responses within the room is always greater than between rooms. That's because the sectors are different, as are the sizes of the organisations, their history and so on.

Those subtleties really matter because delivering the same generic session in the same generic way won't do.

And what a splendid bunch of folks they were.

Two groups together, a fair number of guests along with the members and a really great space to work in. As ever. a Chair who wants nothing more than the best experience for those present.

So thank you very much Andrew Marsh for the kind invitation, and also for taking this photo.

And thanks to everyone else I met - including Alison Dunn whose podcast This is The North I will be appearing on very soon. Thanks also to Neel Chalwa for also looking after me in the hotel the night before. by @alex.atherton

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a day ago

Looking forward to talking at the FM Technology Forum next Thursday at Canary Wharf.

Always a pleasure to get an invitation from Forum Events!

Thank you Matthew Fisher of Scamp Speakers for setting up this collaboration once again.

#FEFMTechForum by @alex.atherton

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2 days ago

It was great to join Celine Crawford on the second episode of her podcast, Stay Conversations, empowered by Fertifa .

We got into the myths I hear most often about Gen Z at work (lazy being top of the list), why so many young professionals are already running something of their own on the side, and why I think employers need to go further in making expectations explicit rather than assuming they're obvious.

It's a conversation close to what I wrote about in my book and one I think every manager navigating a multi-generational team will get something from.

The lazy comment is similar to one that was made to me just before the podcast was recorded.

'Volume everywhere - calibre nowhere - that's today's job market!'

Employers keep telling me that the quality of graduate applicants has nose-dived

Céline said she had heard something similar.

It is a familar complaint is familiar. What people miss is what has actually changed on the other side of the desk.

The barriers to starting a business have vanished.

Over half of UK Gen Z now run their own business or generate side income.

The most driven, commercially sharp 22-year-olds do not need to apply to a generic graduate scheme.

They can build their own venture and win their own client base. They only reach out to older generations when they need a lawyer or an accountant.

If your job specs and careers page still look like 2018, you will not stop their scroll.

You are just hiring whoever is left over. No wonder your quality is dropping.

But there's more in the episode - thank you for having me on Céline!

Link in first comment by @alex.atherton

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3 days ago

This word 'expert' 🙄🔫

I winced when Michael Gove (remember him?) said he'd had enough of them.

But I do know the word is overused.

So why do I use it?

Simple really, because people type it into Google. Because ultimately I need to be found.

I was all in favour of this Gen Z professional saying he was really cynical about turning up to an event where there would be this guy who called himself 'an expert'. I would be the same, perhaps less politely.

So when he said something nice at the end it did mean a lot.

I won't name him, and the chances are he won't see it anyway - but thank you. by @alex.atherton

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4 days ago

Sounds simple doesn't it?

Emily knows.

You need to MENTOR them.

Don't treat them as though they already have two or three years of experience.

Listen as she talks through what she says to managers with responsibility for those in their first proper job. by @alex.atherton

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7 days ago

Same Job but 100x the debt.
The Young professional paradox.

Alex Atherton takes to the red dot to discuss how todays young professionals have their degree, but a hundred times the debt.

They have the same job, but end up having to have side hustles till midnight.

Is this the future?

And what about their work-life balance obsession?

Alex's full TEDx talk will be out soon, follow us to find out when it goes live.

#YoungProfessionals #GenerationalDifferences #FutureOfWork #CareerAdvice #AlexAtherton #WorkLifeBalance #Ambition #EconomicChallenges #TEDxNorthernQuarter by @alex.atherton

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9 days ago

Educators have said this for decades.

It doesn't work now.

"You need to get the best possible grades because that's what will get you a job."

And trust me I said this many times.

But if employers no longer want CVs it isn't true.

Some do still of course. But the CV is dying and for good reason.

And even those who do ask for it may not bother looking at it.

To be honest, a lot of me is cheering at this.

The CV was built for a world of linear careers and it rewards whoever had the best help at home writing it.

Or it rewards the best prompts because large language models are putting the final nails in the coffin for many employers.

Part of me winces too because confidence is not evenly handed out to 22 year olds. The one with a parent in HR might be fine. The first in the family to apply for a graduate scheme may not be and those standardised exams need to count for something.

But what will not be tenable in the future is putting absolutely everything into the marginal gain of the next grade up at the expense of everything else.

Those who concentrate on their studies every night and every weekend at the expense of broadening themselves as a human being will not be in a stronger position.

England's school system remains far too orientated around the needs of adults, not kids.

It's about Ofsted outcomes and grades and not employable, rounded humans living successful lives ten years after they've left.

Both can co-exist for sure.

But with nearly 1M NEET they clearly aren't.

I'm not blaming schools for that, there's various dynamics at play.

It wasn't schools' fault that the post-COVID investment didn't happen.

It's not their fault that the culture of inspection is as it is. Or the insane number of hours their students spend in exams or preparing for them.

But I am looking at those in charge of the whole system.

The new Secretary of State for Education wants another look at the inspection framework. That's a start at least.

Milburn's final report will drop soon.

The response will need to lead to a better education system for young people than is the case now. by @alex.atherton

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10 days ago

What experience do you need as a young person to get a job?

No better person to ask than someone who is

a. having these conversations every day as a recruiter
b. phenomenally passionate about young professionals

I'm talking about Emily Akanimoh whom I had the pleasure of talking to recently.

She is quite the superstar on TikTok, giving advice and offering all her experience every day.

Here's one snippet - more to follow. by @alex.atherton

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12 days ago

Ain't this amazing?

I sat behind Paolo Feroleto and watched him draw other people's TEDx talks.

I came on for the penultimate talk of the day and here's mine.

Always interesting to see what anyone makes of what you have to say, but this is the first time in visual form.

Thank you Paolo!

What stands out to you? by @alex.atherton

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14 days ago