Who’s Wearing Long Pants in Your Office? Company Culture and Knickers

Some of you may not know this but young boys at the turn of the last century wore short pants most of the time.  Even in winter they wore short pants but they were called “knickers.”  It was a big deal to get long pants.  

My grandfather’s family was Catholic and you got your long pants when you were Confirmed (around 13.)  Having long pants meant you were grown up.  You were a “man.”  The photo at the right is my father’s family when he was about 11 or 12 – notice – he’s still in knickers.

My grandfather (sporting the big white hat in the photo) – was 5’5” and 120 lbs at most.  He was born in 1895 and by the time he died in 1984 he had seen his world move from horses to space shuttles.  He never got past the 3rd grade.  He ended working to help the family out.  First in the mills in upstate NY and then in a foundry straightening nails (and there’s a whole story there as well.)

Foolin' the Truant Officer

Even though he was only 10 or 11, when my grandfather wasn't working he would go to the local tavern and shoot pool for money.  The owner of the tavern liked to have him there to “entertain” the customers.  A few times while he was in the tavern the Truant Officer stopped by and due to his age – pulled him out and took him home.

According to my grandfather – the owner of the tavern then hung a pair of long pants on a nail in the back by the pool tables.  Now, when my grandfather came to the tavern to shoot pool, he’d first change out of his knickers and into the long pants.  Then, when the Truant Officer would stop by and inquire about my grandfather not being in school, my grandfather would look the Officer in the eye and say – “Don't you see my long pants?” 

‘Nuff said.  He was a grown up.  He had long pants.

Who's A Grown Up?

I was thinking of this story and I asked myself – what does a company do to show that a new hire or recently hired employee has earned their stripes? 

Is it even necessary?

My gut says yes.  There should be a point in time when an employee becomes “fully vested” in the company culture and there should be a celebration.  There should be a point in time where the other “grown ups” in the company recognized that an employee has crossed over from being a “newbie” to being someone that can mentor and guide other newbies.

If you’ve read the book Change or Die (if you haven’t do it now) they talk about how the Delancey Street Project rehabilitates criminals.  One of the key elements is they assign new “immigrants” to a veteran – someone who has been in the newbies’ shoes and that person is responsible for that group.

You “graduate” to that position.  That is the position of “long pants.”

I have no answer to this question.  

I “feel” there should be some way to know when an employee is ready to teach the next generation of employees in an organization.  I don’t want to create an artificial structure to be gamed and schemed – like offices with doors, parking spots or top-end computers.  

But I wonder what would a company can/should do to signal to other employees who the grown ups are – who newbies can look to for guidance and mentoring.

Just thinking out loud.  You got a point of view?  Share it please.

  

Comments

[Drew Hawkins]

Just speaking from the perspective as a relative newbie, I think there should be things done that make it clear that you've moved on from a rookie to veteran. Many people in the company think I've been here longer than I have, which I take as a compliment. However, we are more than likely going to have a new hire within my department in the next few months so I guess I will get my "long pants" when I have to show that individual the ropes on how the company works. That itself will be enough of a rite of passage for me.

[Paul Hebert]

Thanks for commenting Drew.

It's funny that there isn't a concrete way to show when you make that leap. In my day we used to do "client" tours of the facility. I think that when you did one on your own and the "boss" was happy with the result was the day you moved out of knickers.

When you can explain the entire company to a client - and answer their questions in an impromptu situation I think you've earned the right to graduate from from a newbie.

Let me know how it goes with the next newbie...

[Rj_morris]

Paul-Wish you had the answer to this tough question. We talk about this as the difference between onboarding and integration. Integrating a new employee into the organization to the point where she is an accepted, contributing member of the team is a huge challenge, especially given the diversity of teams and differences in manager skill set in this area. I like the visual of getting them to where they get to wear the long pants.

[Paul Hebert]

To me it's just the idea of "earning" into an org versus "getting" into an org. Like any top performing group (talk to Marinse, Delta Force, Airborne, etc.) it is based on what you do. I think there should be something like that in orgs - would make being there more valuable. Just rambling though...