Top researchers at universities and businesses that study the future of work say Generation Z requires a lot of mental health support, they have strong feelings about company values and they’re not shy about their work likes and dislikes. They are a lot, this group of 16- to 26-year-olds who make up 15% of the population. They will make up 30% of the workforce by 2030, which means future managers should be interested in learning more about this new breed of rebel talent. Mostly, what you read though, are complaints. Get to know what’s in their heads, how you unique their point of view is and why, and managers will see what’s going right.
THE BIG IDEA
The Generation Z workers I spoke with felt like trailblazers—still finding their footing, for sure—but managing in uncertain times. Often using uncommon solutions to solve their issues—crisis text lines, peer support groups and taking internet friends offline to organize for a cause. Managers are skeptical of their talent and motivation. But the researchers and doctors who work with and study them say they have a lot of hope about Generation Z as employees and future innovators. Research shows that this generation’s openness about their mental health and their openness to getting support is a game changer. We may have to wait for a few more years, but younger Generation Z’s coming into the workplace will be better equipped to deal with stress and conflict. Here’s a look at where we are now and what managers can hope for in the future.
KEY FACTS
Gen Z Isn’t Meeting Expectations
In 2022, 49% of managers in a ResumeBuilder.com survey said it was difficult to work with Gen Z. The plurality said they wanted to work with Millennials because they think Gen Z lacks technological skills, effort, and motivation. The 1,000 managers surveyed had fired a Gen Z worker less than one week after their start date. A top reason they fired Gen Z was because they were too easily offended.
Gen Z Is Demanding Equity and Working Hard For It
Gen Z employees were more likely (65%) to value a diverse workforce and 68% said that they also approved of an employer who values diversity, equity and inclusion. Some indicated that work is a way of breaking down political and biased systems, according to Tallo.
Despite their reputation as slackers, many are hard workers who are deeply worried about their financial future. That’s one reason they’re demanding to leave work early or come in late. Research shows more than one third of Gen Z is working a full time job and a side hustle.
Gen Z Has Already Changed the Way We See The World
Statistically, they’re not a huge generation. But they have an outsize influence and voice and their mental health awareness and training may change the work world forever. “This generation is curious and open-minded. They are interested in emotional wellbeing, community awareness, understanding of differences and action, reports the JED Foundation. JED offers a mental health resource center and through school partnerships and training, “we are equipping teens and young adults with the tools they need to help their peers,” says JED chief medical officer Laura Erickson-Schroth. There is strong evidence of systemic change, including positive change in students mental and suicide prevention, she added. The problem right now is that money and mental health “are in a pitched battle for balance,” according to an EY report.
This generation is literally battling for their rights in the multiverse, according to a JED Foundation report titled, Can The Metaverse Be Good For Youth Mental Health? It gives a clear eyed view of just how much time young people must spend now and in the future protecting their psychologically safety and defending their rights to privacy.
They Are Not Interested In Climbing The Ladder
Generation Z is also non-linear and non-conformist, say experts. They don’t buy into the ‘climb the ladder’ metaphor Gen X and older generations did. In fact, a single-minded obsession with career seems more like a form of addiction. It’s workaholism. Mental health experts say with so much uncertainty in the world, it’s not surprising Generation Z is zigging and zagging through life. That’s the new normal.
Older generations may question their motivation or ask, why can’t they wait their turn? When a pandemic slices through your teens and 20s, you prefer not to wait, many Gen Z employees told me. Searching and digging for the right job—one with purpose—has replaced climbing ladders, according to author Bruce Feiler, who wrote The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World.
KEY BACKGROUND
Your frustrations as a manager of a Gen Z who seems to have an attitude, be conflict avoidant or not communicate well are all valid. But it’s good to know the why behind the behavior. Young people are taking in a lot of information and hoping to do something good with it, whether that’s to prevent future bias or help people affected by environmental disasters. Our job as managers is to understand how real and confusing this world seems right now, and offer support, says Dr. Erickson-Schroth.
The best way to create a new culture is to offer both flexibility and rules in equal measure, writes author Melissa Daimler in ReCulturing. People want guardrails and tools to manage the tension. That takes more managerial skill and time than ever because there is work is so disjointed. There are virtual, hybrid, remote, on-site, one-on-one and team situations to manage. That’s why it’s crucial that a company’s handbook and practices evolve to fit the times, explains Daimler. You have to keep up with the trailblazers, who do almost everything differently than today’s executives did back in their day.
CRUCIAL POINTS
“This younger generation has figured out ways to communicate, connect, build relationships, and take advantage of friendships and relationships online and offline. They are collaborators,” says Dr. Erickson-Schroth. “They want to speak their truth and also to feel safe, a pretty admirable combination.” I second that emotion.
Maybe if a young employee felt more appreciated at work, that phone they have in their pocket, buzzing with notifications, would matter less. If you can’t imagine that to be true, ask yourself this: On your first job, what did you do when you were bored? How did you feel when your employer said you’d done a job wrong and had to redo it on your own time? Your answer probably depends on how much you liked your boss, or how much you could count on your peers to have your back, not on what generation you are.
Instead of standing across from someone younger than you and wondering, how could they act this way? Maybe the question is: how can I turn this negative in to a positive? Is that so hard? one Gen Z worker I interviewed asked. It shouldn’t be.
Another interviewee remarked that he thinks people need to collaborate across fields and departments to find better solutions to help their employees. He told me all this while managing a lockdown on campus and the scheduling classes during his first week back on campus as a junior majoring in neuroscience at University of North Carolina. “I am excited about bringing together the world of business and brain science. I can’t see how anyone in business would find that boring. It’s the future.”
Hyper-focusing on the negative is keeping us from some of the joy we might be able to experience together at work. That’s Tal Ben-Shahar’s theory. Ben-Shahar teaches at Harvard’s Griffin School of Arts and Sciences and created the first online academy for training business professionals on happiness. On a practical level, where can you start? Create places where people feel comfortable. “Even small groups where a person feels supported and their interests and talents are encouraged are likely to be open about their feelings and find meaning,” says Dr. Erickson-Shroth. Every generation wants different things from work, but every generation also wants to feel cared about and respected.
Learn more about Tal Ben-Shahar (Forbes).
Get ideas to use work in a world increasingly focused on the strengths of all kinds of minds on my website (blog).
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