Gen Z communication styles

[grumpygenx]

You can tell from my username where I am going with this.

I absolutely despair with some of Gen Z correspondence styles in formal settings.

starting formal email correspondence with ‘Hi there , my name is ….

or signing off formal letters with ‘best wishes’ …

one reason why we need to be in office more supporting the younger generation. What did they learn in school about letter writing !!!

And the world kept spinning....
As a Gen Z dentist, are these seriously the type of things that keep you up at night? We were born into a burning world with a collapsing economy and unstable job market and your biggest concern is the way we sign off emails/letters? Respectfully get over yourself.

I teach Gen Z at University. There are one or two that I just don't understand because their use of slang is so extensive. They're all low key this and imma something something that. It's awful. If you cannot make yourself understood then it's bad.

Your examples are at least clear enough but agree, inappropriate tone is quite common. There's a different outlook on respect and there's a lack of politeness. They speak to you as a peer when they shouldn't.

I don’t get you at all OP - what you’re describing is quite normal and I’m nearly 50 and work in a professional role. I probably wouldn’t say “hi there” but I would absolutely introduce myself if I was emailing a new client for the first time. I’d probably use kind regards but I see nothing wrong with best wishes.

Not sure what your job has to do with the topic in hand.

I am middle-aged but don't really have a problem with this.

I amuse myself sometimes by copying Gen Z style in Teams messages where they writeeee like thissss when they want to emphasise somethinggg.

I am early 60s and I certainly don’t think there is a problem here.Its good manners to introduce yourself and signing off with kind regards is pretty standard.

I've had a few emails signed KR. Kind Regards, not the sender's initials.

What job are you in where you still write letters? I’ve been in the workplace an awfully long time and everything has been over email (or teams) for sometime.

I’m certainly not Gen Z and see absolutely no issue with the things you’ve described.

I’m a 44 year old millennial in senior management. Often start emails with “Hi there” or finish “best wishes” - who knew I was so icky and rude.

At least my DD will be proud that I finally know some of her GenZ lingo

Shame on you. Your emails should start "Dear Sirs" (even when writing to a woman) and end "Your most humble and obedient servant."

You're letting your whole generation down!

Why do they add lots of extra letters to words? Are they trying to recreate how they speak, like trying to represent an American/YouTube accent or something? I don’t understand it at all.

Exactly ! Doesn’t inspire confidence does it ?

I thought you were going to say they’re signing their emails off with skibidi rizz or something. Best wishes is positively polite and normal, I can’t get worked up about that!

'one reason why we need to be in office more supporting the younger generation. What did they learn in school about letter writing !!!'

See me after class, OP.

The irony!

I prefer ‘best wishes’ to ‘best regards’, or worse ‘regards’ or dire ‘yours’ (followed by first name). When I first started working you could often tell my generation because many gen Xers didn’t seem to know when to use sincerely/ faithfully correctly. I think it was more the lost generation and boomers who tended to be unequivocally formal. I think email has generally been considered a less formal way to communicate compared to old fashioned pen and paper. Generally if you are using a first name then using ‘sincerely’ would seem very formal, and I can’t remember the last time I saw sir / madam so faithfully is probably pretty much redundant.

I'm millennial and I don't think we were taught about letter writing in school. Letters are obsolete now, if someone's getting sacked they should know before they get a letter in the post about it.

I'm GenX
Have just looked through my Sent box, most of my emails don't have any greeting as they are continuing a conversation but those that do, the last ten are:
Hi name - seven
Good morning name - two
Good morning! - one

Sign-offs a mixture of All the best and Cheers. (Although I know you weren't talking about email sign-offs but letters - I would think absolutely nothing if I got a letter signed Best wishes though).

I deal with people in different countries and strangers when emailing me (assuming Not German) use Hi and best wishes and those thinking I’m German (I also use a German name professionally) use Dear Mrs… basically we are now informal as a rule and that’s the truth of it. Language changes.

Actually, as a secondary English teacher, I can tell you that formal letter-writing is a requirement for all of the GCSE English Language syllabuses on offer, at least in England, and that students are taught how to set them out and the correct salutations and sign-offs. Arguably, teaching emails would be a better preparation for the workplace. However, social media, phone-use, WFH and its associated platforms have all had an impact on communication-styles so the ‘correct’ formats are now seen as very old-fashioned. Young people very rarely see formal letters, even in the workplace and there isn’t a consensus or rigid set of conventions in the same way that there used to be about communicating with colleagues and clients/ service-users/ stakeholders etc.

I don’t really have much of an issue with emails like this and just consider it as evolving. Gen X evolved forward and away from very formal styles that baby boomers and the silent gen had. But my biggest gripe is telephone etiquette, answering the phone without actually saying anything and not introducing themselves when they phone. I talk on the phone at lot in my job and this is where I see the biggest difference and something I am trying to teach my kids!!

“I work in a similar field so much of our correspondence borders on regulatory matters. Hence why I despair 😩 “
Maybe loosen up a bit, your grammar isn’t so hot either. With each generation comes change. FYI, hence why is a tautology. People used to get het up about that but they tend to ignore it now in favour of not being harsh on those that don’t know. Glass houses and all.

Yes. It annoys me hugely too. I also dislike ‘I hope you are well.’ The point about all these stock phrases is, it’s insincere, thoughtless and irritating. It assumes a level of familiarity that is slightly insulting. I even had ‘ I hope you are well’ as the opening gambit in an email from a young woman from HR who was writing to me about arrangements for my role while I was very seriously ill in hospital.

I suppose what she meant was ‘ hope you’re not dead yet.’ Rather like ‘Have a nice day’ . They don’t care a fig whether or not I have a ‘nice day’ . See also the command ‘Enjoy!’ When presented with a plate of food.

Just don’t get me started on ‘reaching out’.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Better check if my DS knows that too! 😅

Quite.

'What did they learn in school about letter writing !!!'

OP was clearly off sick from school on the day question marks were taught, for a start.

I suspect that most of the emails received from these young people are better written than this OP.

But my biggest gripe is telephone etiquette, answering the phone without actually saying anything

Yes, or just 'Hallo', so you have to ask 'Is that Company Name?' or 'Is that John Smith?' Waste of time.