We’ve all read the headlines: Recent college graduates are impossible to work with, have no grasp of etiquette, and don’t even know how to dress appropriately for the office. A recent one in the New York Post declared, ‘Snowflakeism’ Gen Z hires are easily offended and not ready for the workplace. But like many catchy tabloid newspaper headlines, the reality is quite a bit more nuanced when you dig a little deeper.
The Post article was based on a survey by Intelligent.com, which found 65 percent of hiring managers believe recent grads are entitled, 63 percent find them easily offended and 55 percent say they lack a work ethic. That sounds like a damning indictment until you recall that in the 1990s, Gen Xers were dismissed as “slackers.” Ironically, those once-lazy slackers are today among the bosses complaining that youngsters lack a work ethic!
Most news articles are focused on how Gen Z needs to be trained to improve their performance, because they don’t know how to socialize, act, or—in a stroke of hyperbole—can’t even use a keyboard.
Every generation struggles to adapt to the dominant office culture (and to touch-type on a keyboard) as they enter the workforce, and most leaders need to regularly adapt their leadership skills because the working culture evolves with each generation. Professional norms change, even as basic human needs for respect and care do not.
As much as we demand that younger generations adapt, we as leaders must also. It starts with seeking to improve your own emotional skills or emotional quotient (EQ). EQ is the powerful combination of empathy for others and self-awareness that enables you to discern how others perceive you.
The fact is, all generations want to feel they and the work they do matters. They want to make sure their contribution is recognized and that we all can learn from each other at work regardless of birth cohort.
And the truth is, if we start from this foundation, even the most advanced interpersonal skills can be learned.
Leaders hoping to get the most out of younger workers should focus on strengthening their own adherence to the following principles: empowering staff with choice, purpose, and focus; having an abundance (or Win-Win) mindset; showing respect for all points of view and people; engaging in creative collaboration; and making time for renewal (professional and personal). Those principles are central to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a framework developed by Dr. Stephen R. Covey that contends that EQ is a central and essential component of success.
Improving EQ Is Good Business
To be sure, Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, does have its differences from other generations. They grew up with smartphones and social media, suffered a global pandemic at a critical moment in their entry into the workforce, and arrived at the office amid a growing push for diversity/inclusion and better work-life balance. They have more visibility than any prior generation into how poor work cultures can create a pervasive sense of futility and even toxicity. They watch and produce trending TikToks on how to counteract managers who would have them take on more work without additional pay or recognition.
What Gen Z wants is hardly controversial. Compared with older generations, they want more career development, more flexible work opportunities, and improved work-life balance, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming work itself, leaders are adjusting what they are seeking in their teams, placing the greatest value on human skills. In fact, the qualities managers most want from employees are integrity, strategic vision, and interpersonal skills, according to FranklinCovey’s research.
FranklinCovey is not alone in noting the value that EQ brings. A recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) study found that feelings of disconnectedness and cynicism at work have spiked post-pandemic and recommended that firms urgently train leaders to improve their EQ skills. This isn’t “fluffy”—it’s good for business execution. “When employees are filled with a high sense of belonging to their organization, this is associated with a 56 percent increase in job performance, as well as a 167 percent increase in their willingness to recommend the company to others,” the study’s authors wrote.
The NIH report recommended training leaders to improve their skills in four areas: cultivating employees’ sense of belonging, making employees feel valued, helping employees understand their identity within the organization, and making sure onboarding new employees boosts their feeling of belonging.
Ditching My Boomer Assumptions
One simple change worth considering is moving from an “I bet” mindset to one of “I wonder.” In other words, stop making assumptions and judging based on stereotypes and instead—difficult as it may be in the moment—seek to be curious and empathetic. I was reminded of this in my Chief People Officer role when a colleague told me, politely but bluntly, that they were being underpaid versus comparable employees. My first reaction as a Baby Boomer was to bet that my younger Gen Z colleague was bypassing her boss to bring this to my attention and thus to focus on her transgression of traditional boundaries. But when I shifted to an “I wonder” mindset, I looked deeper and discovered the employee was an unusually high performer. That led me to realize that she deserved not only a pay raise but, if we didn’t want to risk losing her, also a promotion based on her excellent work and exceptional career prospects.
If, like many leaders, you struggle with these issues, don’t be surprised. The reality is that many of us found ourselves in leadership roles not necessarily because others thought we were going to be great leaders, but because we had been great individual contributors. This being the case, it should come as no surprise that when we are made a manager or promoted to a leadership role, we might benefit from some training aimed at elevating our own leadership skills, especially the emotional ones.
For leaders seeking better interactions with younger workers, including Gen Z, and for those younger professionals seeking to better connect with their boss, two habits serve as a particularly helpful starting point. First, be proactive: Leaders and employees should focus and act on what they can control and influence instead of what they cannot control or influence. And second, seek first to understand, then to be understood. Leaders and staff should seek to influence each other by gaining a deeper understanding of each other’s needs and perspectives.
If we work from a place of strong EQ, I am confident the workplace will evolve in exciting ways as Gen Z makes its mark.
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