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 mean it’s not relevant, but you’re not wrong.

@DontSetYourselfOnFireToKeepOthersWarm

Me too. 😂

It’s funny how many times posters are throwing around “entitled” and yet by the same breath so many of the managers on this thread complaining that gen Z apparently won’t stay late, and work for free, ultimately for the benefit of their manager.

Who’s really the entitled one in this situation??

@Albiboba this is true. But at the same time they ask for a raise and this and that after a short time like just for doing and still learning their job. It doesn't work like that in companies today. At mine 99pc of grads don't get promoted until they served for two years at least simply because they are an investment, we train them up, it takes time and there isn't really anything they are doing that would warrant a raise after six months with an already good starting salary. As a manager that's what it is. It's not in your hand how much promotion money is being made available and when. Everyone is slaving away for the shareholders.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I hope their attitudes change the workplace completely. After all, the bosses need them as there aren’t enough young people to support the country. So the Zedders will be able to pick and choose who they work for. And they don’t take any shit.

How many of them will work Sundays or bank holidays without extra pay? None l hope.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow this is entirely possible but it will take decades. Gen Z will be moving around more in an effort to not put up with what they perceive as shit. They might hit higher salaries much sooner than millennials did but ultimately I think they will hit a temporary ceiling and will have to lower their expectations and hang in more for longer because there will be more experienced and resilient people out there for another 30 years that apply for the same jobs as them.

“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances.”
-Aristotle, 4th Century BC

To the poster who quoted this...wise words.

Twas ever thus.

Experience is the best teacher...they'll soon learn.

My kids are all much more boundaried than me (I've worked hard to allow them those too) but I think they will all be really good employees.

Generally speaking though, YANBU.

It means they won't be people pleaser and that's great. You can have good boundaries and still not be overly entitled with inflated confidence.

I'd be happy if mine turned up on time. I don't expect anyone to work for free but I do expect a full shift which I don't think is unreasonable. Plus when they are actually there a lot of them give just about the bare minimum and everyone else picks up the slack.

Gen Zers need to realise that work is for work. You go in and work and then go home and you get paid at the end of the month. No they shouldn't work unpaid hours. No they shouldn't work through their unpaid lunch breaks, or even their paid morning and afternoon breaks. But the other hours they are at work, they should work.

Our gen z has come into his own.
It was hard at first, he'd cry in the manager's office whenever he was reminded that turning up 15 minutes late every day was unacceptable.
He'd cry whenever his performance was criticised (which was often, he was very lazy at first)
He was miserable and hated being in the real world. We are a relaxed company. Give and take. (Not the fake give and take that only favours the company either)
He now works hard and seems proud of his performance, he's doing brilliantly!
Still has more time off sick that my entire department, but at least he's starting to fit in properly.

I disagree - I’m gen z. My department has a clear grade structure and staff within it are very gradist, ie anyone regardless of age is expected to follow the hierarchy and power structure. You can’t speak to your manager’s manager for no reason, for example, as they’d angrily tell you your manager should be dealing with this as it’s not in the senior manager’s remit.

also I’m a manager and older yet junior people at work tend to be very set in their ways and resistant to change to the extent that they underperform compared to people that are less static in mindset

I study and work with Gen-Z, and I am a millennial. I go to a very MC Uni but work in a very WC profession, and I think it's more of a class issue than a generation. But I find they're pretty judging on class factors and are ageist - I get called a boomer and ageist comments about being old, and I am in the late 20s, and if I am honest I just remind them that they will be that age, at some point. Referring to class at Uni, I hear a lot "Oh that place isn't very nice because there all dumb people". And I go well I am from that area, if I am honest and I know this sounds petty, but I use their comments to achieve higher marks on my course to make a point, lol. But I think sometimes with some, some have never had to have to work because their parents have paid for everything, and when you try and be realistic with them on things because you're using your years of experience, they can often think you're criticising them and I don't think a lot of them have ever been criticised by their parents and it's a constant daily battle of validation. And it's tiring, I can't wait until I leave uni now.

I find that those who are so invested in their own mental health don't care about anyone else's. They need time off to deal with their own, but apparently those who have to take over their job in their absence are supposed to merrily accept this as a fact of life. Mental health is an overused excuse for anything these days. Everyone gets anxious, everyone gets down - it's not poor mental health, it's just normal.

People taking the piss regarding their mental health are only making it hard for those who have a genuine diagnosed illness.

I kind of get what you're saying. I think are harder to manage........ if you are still managing the way you did in the 70s and 80s!
One thing I will say is difficult to 'stamp out' is over sharing and personal boundaries. I don't want to hear about the lad Mellisa gave a BJ, or tell you how much I weigh or exactly where I live. I do think it's good that they're at ease with all 'levels' so don't feel nervous (or subseriant) when speaking with the MD. They're also not afraid to leave at 5 when they're paid till 5!
I've moved around a lot job wise. I think that helps me reset my attitude. I am about to start a new job. It's in a role I've never worked in and a sector I've never in. I'm determined to go in with a bit of GenZ attitude....with my Gen X life experience. I think I'll be straight forward and a dream to manage....but k said that last time 😉

Some Baby Boomers were born in the 1940s and some in the 1960s. Obviously those at the latter end are going to have a different experience to those at the beginning.

What's wrong with finishing work when your contracted hours are up? Are they paid for any overtime or just expected to suck it up and work for free?

I'm a boomer and that has always been my attitude, along with most of my friends - it's nothing new.

Having said that, it is possible to think of a job as only a job but still treat it as a privilege rather than a right, turn up when supposed to, not take sick leave willy nilly, not to collapse when someone tells you that you are wrong, and not think you know everything on the first day.

This is every generation. I recall this being said when I started work in the 70s about the now derided boomers.

I’m HR and yes gen z make me got massive headache. they talk about mental ilness soo much, anything can shake their mental ilness. They cant take feedback. They want more pay less work. Too much work equal slavery. I’m sorry i’m millennials and i found them really annoying. I’m sure not all of them. But most of the gen z i work with are.

This with bells on

That's a really good point. It's not just gen z, but I find it rude and irritating how much people are on their phones. You're there to work, I personally am finding it quite a problem

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

God forbid people are expected to actually do the job they are employed for. Genuine sickness is one thing, but there are a lot of piss-takers around (in any generation) who treat it as extra annual leave.

I know someone who will stretch out paid sick leave for as long as he can get away with (recently spent six months off with a "bad back" but found plenty of time to improve his golf handicap). No one at work likes him, because they have to take up the slack.