By Jacob Morgan
One of the ways that I practice horizon scanning is by constantly having conversations with leaders around the world.
I’m currently working on a new employee experience book set to release late 2025, for which I’m interviewing more than 100 Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) from some of the world’s top companies.
A recurring theme that has emerged in these interviews is the challenge of managing multiple generations in the workplace. More specifically, integrating Generation Z into their workforces
Gen Z are those people born between 1995 and 2009. They’re expected to make up more than 30% of the workforce by 2030. Gen Alpha will be next and they will enter the workforce in the late 2020s and early 2030s (the oldest of this upcoming generation are today’s 14-year-olds).
This discussion around multiple generations at work isn't a new one. I explored similar themes in my book, The Future of Work, published in 2014. But now, the question that dominates discussions is: “How should we, as organizations, adapt to Gen Z?”
But this question itself may be misguided. It assumes that we should adapt to Gen Z in the first place, a premise I challenge. In fact, attempting to mold our organizations to cater specifically to the needs and preferences of Gen Z could be detrimental in the long run.
Gen Z is a unique outlier for many reasons which are outlined in several books including The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier, and several others. If you read any of these books or take a look at some of the recent research on Gen Z you will see that some of the findings are quite alarming.
Consider some of the following statistics in which Gen Z scored higher than every single other generation:
59% of Gen Z respondents reported feeling overwhelmed by challenging situations at work (Center for Generational Kinetics).
44% of Gen Z employees expressed difficulty handling constructive criticism (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2023)
70% of Gen Zers have asked their parents to help them find a job, 16% say their parents submitted job applications for them, 10% had their parents actually write their resume and most shockingly, 25% of Gen Zers say they brought their parents along with them on job interviews. (Resumetemplates.com)
39% of hiring managers believed Gen Z lacked adequate communication and teamwork skills compared to prior generations at similar career stages. (SHRM)
49% of employers report that Gen Z employees struggle with teamwork and collaboration skills. (SHRM)
43% of Gen Z employees report feeling unprepared for leadership roles. (Deloitte)
58% of Gen Z employees report being stressed or anxious at work. (McKinsey)
More than 50% of 800 employers thought Gen Zers were unprepared for the workforce and displayed unprofessional behavior during job interviews. (Intelligent.com)
The list goes on and on. It’s no wonder an article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) called Gen Z “The Loneliest, Least Resilient Demographic Alive.”
But why is this the case? There are several reasons.
Screen Time: First, this is the only generation so far which has grown up with screens such as smartphones, tablets, and computers from a very young age. Screens also means social media. According to Haidt, “The latest numbers are that U.S. teenagers spend an average of 9 hours a day on screens. This includes 5 hours on social media, plus 4 hours of schoolwork and other screen time.”
As a result, they have less face-to-face interaction than any other generation, which means a degradation in social skills specifically around emotional intelligence, communication, confidence, collaboration, conflict resolution, and resiliency. Being raised with technology has also contributed to high levels of anxiety, stress, loneliness, and depression.
Safetyism: As younger kids, this was a generation was also hit with a huge spike in safetyism, meaning they were protected physically from anything that could hurt them such as “unsafe” playgrounds and they were also protected emotionally from disagreeable ideas and information which we see in the workplace today.
Dr. Peter Cappelli, a professor at the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania) pointed out, “The idea behind psychological safety is that we should not fear ridicule or being put down in contexts where we are trying to learn or be creative. It was never meant to suggest that there should be no consequences for poor performance or not following the rules, nor was there much evidence that it was helpful in more routine jobs where creativity and learning is not a central activity.”
Haidt expands on this by adding, “If we protect young people from experiencing anything that might cause them discomfort, we deprive them of the skills they need to navigate the complexities of adult life, including the workplace." Unfortunately, this is exactly how Gen Z was raised and it’s exactly how organizations around the world are treating Gen Z.
Pandemic Trauma: The Covid-19 pandemic forced us all to stay locked in our homes for several years, most profoundly impacting Gen Z. Countless Gen Z students experienced massive disruption in their education that resulted in learning loss (including social skills), specifically around areas requiring hands-on learning, collaboration, teamwork, and problem solving. Gen Z also struggled the most with mental health and loneliness as they weren’t allowed to see friends or go outside during such a crucial development stage in their lives.
UNPREPARED FOR THE WORKFORCE
This generation was hit hardest by several forces at the same time that simply put, left them unprepared for the workforce or for life in general.
From an organizational and cultural perspective, why would you want to adapt your organization for this kind of employee?
Doing so would mean creating an organization where resiliency is not rewarded, avoiding conflicting ideas and critical discussions, stifling innovation, fostering a sense of entitlement with employees expecting undue accommodations, diluting your organizational culture, leading to a loss of identity and cohesion, reducing accountability, and the list goes on. It also means that your organization becomes the new parent to the new children who work there.
What’s the solution?
Organizations need to think of themselves as builders of “future ready employees and leaders” instead of as parents and should consider the following:
Promote Competence and Resilience: Invest in training that emphasizes skills development, perseverance, and the ability to face and overcome challenges. Teach employees that failure is not the end but rather a stepping-stone toward growth and innovation.
Foster Critical Thinking and Innovation: Encourage open dialogues where differing viewpoints are welcomed and debated respectfully. Psychological safety should not mean living in a bubble; it means feeling secure enough to express ideas, challenge norms, and engage in meaningful discourse, not avoiding being offended.
Develop Leadership Skills: Provide opportunities for Gen Z employees to learn what great leadership looks like, both within your organization and beyond. Encourage them to lead by example, take on challenges, and make decisions that align with the organization’s values and mission. When I wrote my book, The Future Leader, I found that most employees get into their first leadership position at some point in their mid 20’s but don’t get formal leadership training until their mid 30’s or early 40’s, which means they are leading for a decade or more without actually being taught how to do so!
Instill Core Values and Purpose: Make your company’s values explicit and show how they manifest in everyday actions and decisions. Help employees understand the importance of aligning personal purpose with organizational goals, which fosters engagement and commitment. Not every employee is going to be a good fit at your company and that’s okay.
Prepare for a Challenging Future: Remind all employees, not just Gen Z, that both life and work are inherently tough. Success often requires toughness, grit, sacrifice, and a willingness to navigate through discomfort and adversity. This type of messaging used to be okay and in fact encouraged. Today, in many organizations, it’s become taboo.
I have two kids, a daughter who is 8 and a son who is 4. When they go through tough times, I remind them that experiencing challenges is an important part of life and that they will experience many more challenges in their lives. Being able to learn from them, deal with them, and overcome them, is crucial for personal and professional success.
Generation Z has faced challenges beyond their control, making them an outlier generation that, by many measures, may not yet be fully prepared for the demands of work and life. But this also presents a unique and powerful opportunity for organizations to shape and build the workforce of the future. The question we must ask ourselves is: What kind of workforce do we want to create?
By investing in things such as resilience, critical thinking, leadership development, competence, and emotional intelligence, we have the chance to not only empower Gen Z but to elevate all generations to become stronger, more capable employees and leaders. This is our opportunity to build organizations that are not just ready for the future but are actively creating it.
Leaders must embrace this challenge with optimism and determination, knowing that the workforce we shape today will define the world of tomorrow.
Jacob Morgan is the best-selling author of five books that focus on leadership, the future of work, and employee experience. He’s also a professionally trained futurist (University of Houston), speaker, and founder of Future of Work Leaders, a global community of the world’s top CHROs. He’s the host of the Future Ready Leadership Podcast and his work has been endorsed by the CEOs of Mastercard, Best Buy, Unilever, Hyatt, The Home Depot, and many others. You can learn more about Jacob by visiting TheFutureOrganization.com.
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