&gt; Get them engaged, get them to set their own team goals (with your guidance) and get them to agree to the goals.<p>And how many times am I supposed to let them order the wrong thing (at company expense) because they won&#x27;t <i>PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE AND CALL SOMEBODY</i>?  I&#x27;ve been mentoring  interns and co-ops in engineering for almost 25 years and this set of 20-somethings is just like any other--except with respect to their absolute avoidance of using the bloody phone.<p>Making a genuine mistake is acceptable.  Talk to the rep, order some stuff and see if it works.  If it doesn&#x27;t, no big deal.  With the rep in the loop, it&#x27;ll take one or two iterations, and you&#x27;ll get what you need.  After the third time I asked: &quot;Did you call the rep?&quot;  &quot;No.&quot;  &quot;Do it.&quot;  After the fourth time: &quot;Call the rep.&quot;.  &quot;Okay.&quot;  &quot;No, <i>NOW</i>.  While I&#x27;m standing here.  On conference.&quot;  &lt;rolls eyes&gt;  After 10 minutes of talking to the rep, he&#x27;s got an order for the right stuff, the rep comped it, and sent it overnight.<p>The worst part--even after examples like this--THEY STILL WON&#x27;T PICK UP THE PHONE.  It&#x27;s absolutely infuriating.  This isn&#x27;t just one person getting old and complaining.  It also isn&#x27;t just <i>my</i> observation--I have heard the same complaint from different people from ages 35 to 55.<p>I&#x27;ve reached a point where I almost don&#x27;t want to hire anybody in their 20&#x27;s.