Recently I was watching the evening news and was surprised to hear some statistics on cell phone texting.

The average adult sends just 10 text messages per day, but teenagers aged 14-17 send about 3,000 per month. One sixteen-year-old sent about 4,000 per month.

Child Psychologist David Swanson says, “The problem here is they’re missing the verbal training we need later in life, such as a job interview, talking with a friend and consoling friends.”

So, we have a problem…our entire pool of entry-level employees for the next five years can’t communicate verbally. And you think customer service is bad now? Just wait. Yet another burden on our companies…that is, teaching entry-level employees how to communicate.

The technologist says that’s easy. Simply put a Teleprompter in front of them and have them read from the screen.

Have you ever talked to someone that’s doing that? Here’s one that I ran into the other day, “Hello, I would be most happy to make your service call a satisfying experience, may I initiate a trouble ticket on your behalf?”

Hey, can I explain my problem before you start reading your screen? Teleprompters do not work.

We need real plans for training our entry-level employees with real education.  It will take time, energy and money.

Best prepare now, there’s an entire generation waiting for you.