Gen Z – Are They Really Any Different?

Happy April 1^st!

Spring is firmly here; the sun is shining, and we have the summer ahead!

This month's newsletter is going to look at whether Gen Z is really any different to other generations.

Whether the answer is yes or no, it's hard to walk into a room and not hear a strong opinion on this subject. I walk into those rooms every week and the initial responses generally fall into the following buckets:

No – Every generation thinks the younger generation is work shy and not up to the challenge of life OR I’ve got Gen Z team members and they’re great.

OR

Yes – It's a nightmare they are lazy; they don’t listen, they question everything. They leave early and take as much time off as possible. I invest time in training them and they just quit without warning. I’m considering not hiring graduates anymore and just hiring experienced people instead.

In short, most conversations either ignore the clear problem that exists, or writes off an entire generation. My argument is that both these perspectives have some truth in them but to get to the reality we need to combine both perspectives, plus another:

The Gen Z “issue” is in part a reflection of the older generations failing to adapt to a radically different world and a world that continues to change at an accelerated pace.

Within this context there is a lot we can learn and gain from Gen Z.

So, back to the question, is Gen Z different?

There are two answers we need to appreciate to be successful as leaders:

No – They have the same raw potential as any other generation and are best equipped to adapt to the volatile and fast changing world we live in.

AND

Yes - Their life context is radically different and the effect of that is to create perspectives and behaviours very different to those of older generations, and here’s why:

• Covid. The oldest member of Gen Z was 23 when Covid hit. 2 years of your life stripped out and replaced with isolation and negativity has an effect. Two years in your late teens and early twenties are some of the most critical developmental years of your adult life. Your first time away from home, your first serious relationship, learning to drive, parties, mistakes, embarrassment, lessons learnt. All infinitely more vivid, deep and impactful than 2 years in your 30’s, 40’s or 50’s.
• Financial Crisis. For the elder members of Gen Z, one of their first moments of awareness of the world was the news reporting the collapse of the banking system, combined with images of people queuing in the streets to take money out of collapsing financial organisations. Unemployment doubled, and in the UK, growth has never recovered to pre-crisis levels.
• Never seen a boom period. The last UK boom was from the end of the early 90’s recession up to the 2008 financial crisis. Gen Z have never seen or felt a boom period, they have only ever been aware of recession and stagnation.
• No belief in owning a house, children unaffordable. Most of Gen Z does not believe they will own a house. Many also do not think they can afford a family. (This point is much more complicated, tied up with careers, dating, finance etc. However, the outcome is fewer long-term relationships, fewer children and a large increase in people unhappy with their relationship/parental status.)
• Dehumanising their life experience (dating apps/ AI interviews). Almost all dating is now initiated online, leaving both sexes, in general, frustrated and unsatisfied. AI based interviews are becoming increasingly common, and there are many young people who have faced a lot of rejection whilst sitting on their laptop in a bedroom with zero human interaction.
• Distraction and misinformation. In a remarkably rapid period, we have moved from a limited number of information sources that required deliberate choice on our part, to unending sources of information and interaction much of which are designed to draw us in, thus building subconscious habits as opposed to deliberate choice.

This has created a big distraction issue for all generations, one that arguably Gen Z is better at dealing with! However, it also comes with a lack of clarity as to what is real and what isn’t; this rightly makes Gen Z more cynical and more open to questioning the validity of what they are told. Not a bad thing, but a big change for those managing younger people. (Anyone else had the hilarious experience of watching a grandparent pull up a news story on their phone only for a young Gen Z’er to roll their eyes and quickly demonstrate why this is ‘click bait’ and quite clearly nonsense...)

• Working from home. Flexibility and autonomy are two concepts which in the right setting will help all humans to thrive. BUT... in our first years in work we grow, we develop, based on the community around us, the friends, the role models, the coaches. Having a team of 40-year-olds working from home may well be a brilliant strategy for a successful team and happy individuals. Do the same with a team of 20 years olds and they are not getting the support and investment they need and deserve to thrive.
• Limited social / work norms to anchor them. We have rightly opened up our workplaces, making them more diverse, welcoming and inclusive. Add to this the structural changes we have adapted post covid and for those coming into the workplace this leaves a lot of unanswered questions. 25 years ago, you could go into a dozen workplaces as a graduate and broadly speaking the way you would be treated and how you would be expected to behave would be similar. That is no longer true, and instead of working harder to set expectations and coach younger employees as to how to thrive in the context they find themselves in we instead hear the older generations moaning that Gen Z don't know how to behave in the workplace...

And finally, from the Gen Z perspective the systems around them don’t work. Socially, politically, economically they have not witnessed success, they just see problems, all of which of course are run by the older generations. Why, therefore, would they believe you when you tell them to get their head down, work hard and they’ll do well.

What evidence do they have to suggest that will work for them?

For all these reasons, amongst others, Gen Z is different. They have a very different perspective on the world, what works and what doesn’t.

As leaders we are here to achieve results, to make an impact and move things forward. To do that, we need to appreciate where Gen Z came from, acknowledge that they have a point, and not just assume they are a problem that needs to change.

How we go about helping them and our teams thrive is for other newsletters, or you can set up one of my workshops for your team. Either way I will pass on everything I have learnt and am training others to achieve in these newsletters.

I'm always happy to chat, so do get in touch if you want to discuss anything in regards leadership development and Gen Z in particular.

Have a successful April!