Managing Gen Z

[Amy8]

I’m an experienced senior manager who took some time out to work as a consultant – partly to avoid exactly these kinds of situations!

Something happened last week that’s made me question my management style, which I’ve always thought was fair. The CEO asked me (quite urgently) to get something done. I was in a meeting, so I asked a junior team member to help out. It would’ve been easier to just do it myself, but I genuinely needed the support.

He replied that he needed to check with his line manager first because it wasn’t in his work plan (I manage his manager), and then added that he was logging off shortly for a long weekend which had been pre-agreed.

I stayed polite on Teams and explained that sometimes we have to be reactive to senior requests — but honestly, inside I was thinking, just do it! At his age, I’d have just cracked on.

It’s not the first time I’ve had this kind of pushback — others in the team (same age group) have also been quite firm about working from home and not wanting to come in when asked.

I’m genuinely wondering: is this just how the workplace is now — a generational shift and new boundaries — or is it a bit of a disregard for authority and should I be adapting better ?

Working in corporate as a senior manager, I am seeing this more regularly from the younger generation, they ask for pay raises every 3 months for doing the bare minimum of their job. I’m late 30s and was brought up to go the extra mile to move ahead in life and that’s what I’ve always done. Those that work their exact hours and stick to their exact job description are still good employees, but they will never be promoted to manager and senior roles.

I'm beginning to think that 75% of this thread is russian and north korean and chinese bots / agitators who are seeking the destruction of the west through normalizing work to rule, laziness, disobedience and misogyny (always say no to the female bosses first).

So, let me guess, you've not read the thread? At all.

Yes, this often happens on threads. People who are looking to make anything into a personal attack on the OP. People who have picked up on one word and fixate on it. And people who project their own experiences, you always get a fair slug of them. Given how many lazy people there are, it is not surprising thats represented here.

I have noticed that shift in attitude - where people are minded to say no immediately rather than saying yes. You always got some of them, but now it seems to be more prevalent and its not just from people who are lazy and work shy - which is a shame, because it is not doing those people any favours at work. Its great that people have been taught to have good boundaries, to question authority and not unthinkingly follow along, and to make self care a priority. But unfortunately this seems to have led to some unhelpful attitudes at work. Sometimes I may have set aside time to read a paper, or work on a project. But if an urgent patient need comes up (MH not physical health but still can be immediate needs) I have to be flexible and put the teams needs above what I would prefer to do at that time. And people at work also need to understand that not everything is a suggestion or discussion - sometimes it is an order, because that is how work works.

I dont think you did anything wrong at all OP. There is a lot of willful misunderstanding on this thread.

I don't understand - if people think the OP is lying then why do they engage? I can only assume that you are not lying, and I am responding on the basis that you are telling the truth. And if you are lying no harm done, the arguments are played out for others to learn from on the assumption you are honest.

This was a complex MDT meeting with several specialities involved. I’m a doctor, and he wasn’t providing the critical information we needed —
just making excuses. He was also working from home, which made it harder to get clarity. In the end, I had to leave the meeting to source the data myself because there’d been no planning or time for proper discussion. It’s frustrating, especially when you’re trying to keep things moving safely and effectively.

i know it should be managed better, but it’s extremely hard with the way things are with systems and cutbacks

I have had ‘requests’ like this a lot. My manager has told us to refer anything like this to him, regardless of who is asking. We’re all busy, we’re all working on tasks that might be just as urgent as you think yours are. As our direct manager he has a responsibility to the organisation to make sure the work gets done but he also has a responsibility to protect his staff. I certainly wouldn’t be immediately dropping everything I’m working on or changing prearranged plans just because someone else higher in the organisation told me they wanted me to. And I’m in my 40s!

Then if you did this within the NHS you'd better be prepared to accept that attitude might cost people their lives. But hey, you do you.

I’m GenX and used to half kill myself with 70-80 hour weeks with absolutely no thanks or comment other than “you can’t be putting that many hours on your timesheet” so fair play to the lad.

YANBU, it’s hard managing the entitled generation. I can’t wait to stop working so I don’t have to put up with it any more.

Good for him, when I was young I was keen and hard working, went the extra mile thinking it was not only helpful for the team but helpful for me to be seen as a pro active worker. Guess what? It made bugger all difference so as I got older I worked hard but kept to my hours and job description. Work to live, don't live to work, do a good job of course but remember when you leave you will soon be forgotten

Not NHS. I’m speaking about my industry. There’s business and there is life or death. Hopefully most people would be able to tell the difference. Have a lovely day.

I’m genuinely wondering: is this just how the workplace is now — a generational shift and new boundaries — or is it a bit of a disregard for authority and should I be adapting better ?

I am Gen X and if it would impact either my own priorities or private time I would have challenged your request too. I have been taught since I started work in the late 80s in any job I have worked in we work to business priorities not people priorities. Your "disregard for authority" comment makes you sound like a dinosaur which should be extinct in the modern workplace.

You should respect him checking in with his manager over his priorities and questioning his commitment vs pre planned private arrangements is outrageous.

no one

I'm Gen X and I never "half killed" myself. I would, if I was at work and sensed someone really needed me to drop what I was doing and step up, do so. Partly because it's work and that's what you do but also selfishly because it's good for my own reputation and career.

I have recently returned to the office after many years of self employment and I am shocked at some of the younger staff. Out the door at 3pm on the dot wit a "seeya", eating lunch at their desks, absolutely no effort to integrate ie sitting with others at lunch, seemingly struggling with a very short to-do list and using chatGPT without editing for everything.... I know it's partly me and being of a different generation (and there are lazy team members at every age) but I just don't see the drive.

To be fair, OP, you said earlier in the thread that this is employee was a “good performer,” then changed to arguing he was average at best, then to implying his line manager must have been covering up how inadequate he was and giving him falsely positive reviews. Don’t let strangers on the internet wind you up, because trying to defend your viewpoint by becoming increasingly negative about this employee then starts to come across as rather high handed and arrogant. I sympathise with you having to communicate on Teams rather than in person, as it is easier to misinterpret requests when not made in person, but I suspect he did react to what he perceived to be the “tone” of your request, and maybe his direct manager apparently rating him more highly than you do is a symptom of the fact you could work a bit on how you communicate with people lower down the food chain.

So a completely different circumstance compared to someone asked to do their literal job for 15 minutes during work hours?

It also makes much more sense to be rude to your boss in a better labour market (eg then) and less rude when times are tougher (eg now)

Millennial, Type A, perfectionist here. Climbed the career ladder by working too hard, earn well, suffer from burnout, mild anxiety and people pleasing. I manage a lot of Gen Z now - they’ll be 90% of the workplace soon enough - and I admire their ability to place boundaries, protect their well being and prioritise. What if we really pushed it and normalised that a ‘job’ should fit into a working day, overtime really means overstretched, we might even create a world where work life balance comes first. Maybe that would result in a happier, more productive team anyway.

TLDR: @Amy8 wrote a scenario, got criticised then wrote a load of updates which hugely changed the whole scenario to one where they came across better and then other person came across worse.

Given his lack of exposure to me - it mattered how he handled himself, so I can’t help but form a judgement.

Yeah in that case it's a not glorious generational boundaries, it's being obstructive to getting a job done.

That’s an opinion
the original scenario hasn’t changed at all

I manage a lot of Gen Z now - they’ll be 90% of the workplace soon enough

90 per cent "soon enough"? Really? Gen Z have only just moved into positions of influence in many cases so I think they are going to have to toe the line for at least a couple more decades...!

That should say Gen X in positions of influence of course.

The problem is in your change of judgement during the course of this thread. It doesn’t come across well that he has gone from being a good performer in your eyes (due to other people’s judgements of him, namely people who know him better than you do) to an inadequate performer, simply because you are arguing about it with strangers on the internet.