Deandre Brown
Deandre Brown
Companies like Amazon, Apple, and BlackRock are putting their foot down with remote employees in a mass mandate for them to return to the office. This will likely mean that workers of all ages will be in the same physical space together for the first time, which can spell out some challenges for leaders aiming to create healthy workplace cultures for all.
This is particularly concerning for a large number of Gen Z workers who’ve had the bulk of their college and early job experiences shaped virtually due to the pandemic. Understandably, this has affected their professional progress.
Per data reported by Inc., 60% of employers have admitted to firing Gen Z employees they’ve hired this year, which opens a larger conversation about widening generational gaps between the young adults and their youngish counterparts, millennials, who are likely to be their immediate supervisors. Some employers have claimed that Gen Z workers are unprofessional and lack communication skills.
Despite these strong claims, Deandre Brown—a content creator and consultant that advises corporate clients on how to engage with Gen Z audiences—says the rift isn’t one-sided.
“I think the onus is on both the employer and the young workers to come to a reasonable solution,” he says.
Deandre Brown
Deandre Brown
“I have mixed emotions about this topic,” Brown continues. Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, he worked with Citi as a banking analyst. After noticing some challenges that his peers faced while climbing the corporate ladder, he began sharing professional tips in humorous videos on TikTok and Instagram. A short while later he amassed thousands of followers, speaking to the need for relatable work advice that targets early careerists.
“I like to think of Generation Z being placed in two categories—those who really don’t care about work, are lazy and don’t put in an effort, which is something you see throughout any generation, by the way. But then you also see a large percentage who do care about work and progression within their company. The breakdown within this latter group is they are putting themselves first because their values differ from older work-first generations, mainly millennials.’”
To his point, ironically, much like their younger counterparts, in the early aughts millennials were once pegged as lazy and uncooperative a decade ago by older generations. But data suggests they are actually one of the hardest working generations. A recent report from Team Stage says that more than a quarter of them work two or more jobs and 73% are working more than 40 hours per week.
“I think that companies need to be more honest about not wanting to work with Gen Z because they demand more of them, including more diversity, fair pay and better work/life balance opportunities,” Brown says. “Instead of being willing to work with us and understand the next generation, some companies are completely writing us off and saying, ‘Well, you all aren’t ready to work, so we’re just not going to deal with this.’”
Andrew McCaskill, a career expert with LinkedIn suggests that managers have to realize the harsh realities their young new hires have been facing and build an infrastructure to support them.
Andrew McCaskill
Andrew McCaskill
“Gen Z has spent a significant portion of their job preparation years in a COVID-Bizzarro World reality,” McCaskill says. “So, we need to give them grace, clear direction, expectations and real on-boarding support. As long as the skills are there, it’s worth the investment to help them adjust to culture.”
Kristina Wilson, founder of talent acquisition consultancy KW Careers says bridging the generational gaps usually begins with companies taking the time to ask the right questions.
Kristina Wilson
Kristina Wilson
“Workplace leaders really have to be interested and invested in understanding what motivates certain generations: where work/life balance begins, and what productivity looks like for them,” she explains. “Oftentimes Gen Z is labeled as being very entitled to a Baby Boomer or a Gen Xer. But I don’t label it as such. I think that they come into the workplace with way more awareness and firmer boundaries that aim to protect their mental health capacity, diversity, et cetera. While this is admirable, I do understand how this can translate as challenging for employers if the work isn’t getting done. There needs to be a happy medium, but it takes extreme awareness on both sides.”
McCaskill agrees.
“New professionals have to participate in their own rescue on this one, as well,” he says. “This is one of the most competitive job markets in a decade, and they have to take professional advice from people who have succeeded at work—as opposed to people who have succeeded at talking about work on social media. Gen Z is being targeted on social media platforms with a lot of really bad career advice. The long-standing rules of workplace norms still hold true in almost every environment. New professionals should build a network of advisors who are personally rooting for them to win—mentors, former bosses or professors, people in their chosen profession. Most of the people telling you not to wear a suit for an interview or to close your laptop at 5PM on the dot—don’t make money from working a job like the one you have. They make money from saying provocative things for clicks and likes.”
With that, the three experts offered some advice for millennial leaders who are managing young workers.
Help them gain self-awareness
“Have a conversation with Gen Z workers about the critical need to be aware of their body language, communication skills, tactics and approaches—have some diversity within that,” Wilson says.
Support them in acclimating to workplace norms
“Incorporating an onboarding buddy to help them understand the office norms can be incredibly helpful,” McCaskill suggests. “Managers also owe it Gen Z workers to be clear about what’s expected. Unspoken expectations are often unmet expectations. Now is the time to actually state the obvious.”
Create space for them to feel heard
Research suggests that Gen Z workers have very strong values that spill into the workplace, and they want to feel heard.
“We need to actually listen and hear them because if they don’t feel this, they’ll disengage or walk away from the job altogether,” Brown says. “Reserving opportunities for the team members to discuss their concerns, workplace desires and grievances without shaming them is critically important. Setting up regular 1:1 check-ins is a way to do that. It goes a long way, and honestly, it will signal to them that you truly care about co-existing.”
