What Can Charity Leaders Learn From Their 20-Something Employees?

Robert Egger, founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, sat down earlier this week for an hour-and-a-half conversation with 15 of his employees who haven’t yet turned 30.

The meeting was spurred in part by a discussion on a Give and Take post responding to author Dan Pallotta’s assertion that charities need to pay their employees better.

Mr. Egger says on his blog he was struck by how many young people complained in the Chronicle discussion about their poor salaries and lack of influence.

But he was not too worried he would hear similar complaints among his employees: DC Central Kitchen, Mr. Egger says, has worked hard to ensure that the gap between lower- and upper-level employees doesn’t get too large. Nevertheless, he says he learned a lot:

• The young people he met with were “busting with new ideas,” says Mr. Egger. “To be dismissed without a real read is insulting.”

• A $30,000 salary isn’t what it used to be. “No matter how little I made when I was 24,” he says, “it’s just not the same in 2009.”

• Young people’s student-loan debt makes low salaries even less realistic.

• Many of the young workers Mr. Egger spoke to saw their career advancement blocked, in part, by older workers. They are wondering what options for lateral movement there might be instead, he says.

• “They respect process up to the point that it stifles their ability to kick some ass,” Mr. Egger says. People in middle-management “are stuck between our organization’s need for process/outcome measurements and the energy, idealism, and impatience of our newest team members.”

• Believe the hype: This generation really is committed to service, says Mr. Egger. “They need a solid wage, but of equal value is a job where they really feel they have contributed. Never underestimate the power of this drive, but do not overestimate how long they will work if they are not in the process of divining the shared path.”

Do you agree with Mr. Egger?