To think Gen Z is difficult to manage at work?

[donniedarko89]

I have noticed younger people tend to be more cynical and argumentative, with less work boundaries/respect for hierarchies (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but can come across as presumption/arrogance). This makes it more difficult to manage them at work imo.

Have you noticed any similar behaviours?

I have come across some that are lazy, arrogant, disrespectful, borderline rude. But on the other side of the coin I work with some wonderful young people, a breath of fresh air tbh that bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the team. So it's swings and roundabouts.

I mostly find them lovely, bright and friendly. But the lack of resilience is definitely a theme, and I notice that for a few, it’s clear they have not really heard the word “no” before.

Each generation has its ups and downs, I suppose. Some of the hardest people I ever had to manage were older, clearly hated their jobs, but weren’t prepared to do anything constructive about it. They made it miserable for everyone else too.

I have two young colleagues who bring their anxiety dogs to work with them. Lovely dogs but definitely something I hadn't experienced before in the workplace.

AMEN!

I had a complaint of bullying because I told a Gen Z that my ASD was diagnosed. They had self diagnosed their ADHD (I didn't know this. It came up in conversation as they specifically asked about my symptoms / traits!)

Next thing I know I'm being told by HR that the Gen Z colleague complained about my "formal diagnosis" being "privilege" and that they identified as ASD. Apparently I was "showing off" about my formal diagnosis.....

😳 they asked about my traits. They then use that information to self diagnose and then I get called a bully.

This is really interesting and I totally get what you're saying re this take away being fascinating but also quite obvious once you think about it!

We have a range of ages in our office from mid to late fifties all the way through to early 20's.

We have a complete plain in the arse mid forties person, where everything is a problem, nothing is done well, and they just do not want to be part of the team.

We have 3 early 20's people, one of whom is excellent and a truly nice person. One who has a VERY inflated opinion of themselves and thinks they are utterly irreplaceable and know enough after 6 months to become a senior in their role. The last one is lovely but cannot settle to anything, flits about doing a bit here and there, cries mental health issues at the drop off a hat and discusses her gynae problems with anyone who will listen.

We have literally had to tell the last 2 to wear appropriate clothing, not to take 2 hour lunches, not to pass notes about a colleague between them, to work the hours they are paid for, to accept meeting requests, to not cry in front of clients, not to interrupt meetings, stop gossiping. We've had to deal with them getting upset because they know that there had been a meeting but don't know what it was about...... The list goes on and on. Absolutely no social awareness at all and it's tiring.

All age groups have problem people, but I have never before had to deal with the crap that our two younger members have thrown at us.

Graduates coming my last organisation expect a career path to CEO in 5 years but none of the actual hard work/graft thanks very much. Nope spend those 5 years working on their personal "brand " instead.

But certainly super super confident. On the surface anyway.

My key takeaway, which in hindsight is quite obvious, was that historical events will shape a generation.

For example for Boomers it will be the industrial unrest of the 70s

For older boomers, born from 1945, it's likely to be the Suez crisis and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Plus the memory of rationing, and bomb sites, which were visible into the 1960s.

For younger ones, the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the Prague Spring of 1968. Plus the revolution in pop music from 1963 and the Summer of Love in 1967. I was born ithe middle of the boomer era and those events, which happened when I was a child and in my teens, and which I have clear memories of, shaped me far more than things which happened when I was in my twenties.

Yes. I wanted to say that growing up in the shadow of WWII had a massive effect - the single biggest I would say- on baby boomers. Very few people had much of anything in the years after the war, something that is rarely recognised or acknowledged by those who should often know better. (Corbyn and " two brains" Tory, I'm looking at you both, trying to stir up intergenerational strife for your own political ends).

Younger generations have no idea how much relative affluence they have in the here and now compared to older generations. We didn't notice it at the time, it was perfectly normal and most people were in the same boat, but times were tough for most people. Heating was sparse and food choices were limited and expensive for treats. We walked over a mile to school in the snow in skirts and socks, with shorts and knee socks for the boys. The school toilets in my infant school were outside in the playground with no heating and froze in the winter. Later on you'd lay down your last pound to buy a house and be prepared to sit on orange boxes with no carpets just to do it. It's just how it was, and we were so very lucky compared with our parents' generation, we felt blessed.

I have a few in my team and they are different. I put in a daily catch up first thing for their benefit as they need the support, and that’s when I can make the time to be available, but they struggle to get online in time. They always log off on the dot however busy we are, it genuinely doesn’t seem to occur to them to put in a bit of extra time when needed and that this might be a give and take arrangement. They also have time off sick for the slightest reason and last week one of them sent me a text at 4 in the morning to say he was feeling ill and didn’t bother to contact me the next day. To me they act like teenagers and don’t understand the basic mores of the workplace.

My key takeaway, which in hindsight is quite obvious, was that historical events will shape a generation.

///

This is a very good point

I'm a zillenial in between gen z and millennial.

we face a lot of ageism in the workplace and I've noticed how the youngest are treated is like the oldest.

we just don't take shit and why should we we can't afford anything

♥️♥️♥️love this.

I’m Gen X and absolutely support this. My Millennial ds has been shafted. My Zed Dd is made of different stuff. And good luck to her.

I manage a whole range of ages in my team (no boomers though - I'm the oldest and a Gen X). They each have their own positive and negative points (as, no doubt, do I) which are down to their personalities rather than their age.

I would appreciate others advice for how to manage the piss takers and the ones who are obviously not performing. Is it simply repetition? Or is there something that I'm missing.

I have a few GenZ in my team and one is absolutely amazing and she really has her head screwed on... But the others are really copying everything that's been mentioned here

I’m on the cusp of Gen X and Baby Boom. Ds is Babyboomer. Neither of us remember any of this. My siblings are Boomers.

We had central heating. Walked to school 5 minutes away. I wore trousers to school, as did my sister who was 7 years older than me.We had carpets and sat on sofas.

Your experience is not mine of living in a house with/ being on the edge of the Babyboomers.

I find it all refreshing tbh. It’s what the workplace needs.

Its about time we had a change to punitive sickness policies and corporate bullshit and performance management.

Bring it on. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I hope they bring down stupid office politics and presenteeism. It’s what the workplace needs.

Dan used Sandy for sex. What an idiot. It meant nothing to him and Sandy fell for it. She is too good for him.

Wrong thread 😂

I have had quite a few student nurses at work in the last few years, about half of whom would be Gen Z. Most of my students have been great. I had one who was very hard work, but she was in her mid-thirties. One or two of the Gen Z students were quiet, but it was their very first placement and they were only 18 years old.

It was my experience and that of my siblings across the baby boomer / gen x. No one I know had central heating as a child / damp housing/ families were poor / food choices limited / treats expensive. It was a very different world compared to today.

Who are these people? Is it Love Island?

It was t the experience of my brother born in 53 and my sister in 58. Nor of any of their friends. I remember them all. We weren’t particularly well off. My dad died when l was little. So we had no money.

I think they're the first generation to see through the whole 'hard work is rewarded' lie before they actually hit the job market, so they're just earlier into the disenchantment with working life (and life in general) that hits us all eventually.

Why should they take any shit and not take every opportunity to look after themselves when you look at the hand that older generations have dealt them? I'd be taking regular 'mental health' days too if I were them and I could get away with it.