Picture this. You are a manager at a legacy company that has stood the test of time but faces stiff competition from new agile start-ups.
Under you is a team of muti-generational employees: Generation X, baby boomers, millennials, and Generation Z.
One day, one of the youngest employees comes in late to work. It was raining. When you ask her to explain her lateness, she retorts, “Unlike my colleagues, I don’t have a car!”
You are taken aback and ask her, “Do you expect your boss to provide one for you? It’s not their job.”
You ask the young lady to apologise, but her response, “I don’t feel like it,” floors you. Welcome to the dilemma of managing the cocktail of different employee attitudes and expectations at the workplace that ultimately impact productivity.
Shamim Matovu, a social anthropologist, says most legacy organisations are caught up in a transformational tug-of-war.
The older generations are set in their ways, characterised by a rigid framework, and the younger ones don’t want to be tied down to any framework.
Oftentimes, the millennials and Gen Z workers are vilified for failing to toe the line. Yet any company that has adequately worked out its growth strategy knows that the young employees are crucial to its future.
The question then, Ms Matavu says, is how to remove the ‘stumbling age block’. The challenge, she points out, isn’t merely about installing a coffee machine or providing flexible hours, as most organisations do to appeal to young workers. It’s about a fundamental shift in workplace dynamics and values.
“If you look at the distribution of our leadership, mostly you will find Gen X and baby boomers. When dealing with millennials and Gen Z, they think these people are so entitled. No, we are not. We were just raised in a different era and like different things,” she explains.
She emphasises that a change in workplace mindset is imperative, especially as Generation Alpha is also warming up to enter the professional arena, and they look set to have different values altogether.
For now, differentiating between millennials and Gen Z managers can be confusing, with little to tell them apart besides their ages.
However, the one value they hold dear is a purpose, and they have no qualms about challenging the status quo to have their way.
“Whereas in the past employees had to adjust to fit the workplaces, now workplaces must adjust to fit the different personalities,” says Ms Matovu.
Entitlement vs knowing their rights
Indeed, a perception of entitlement is associated with millennials and Gen Z. However, Ms Matovu notes that this isn’t solely rooted in these generations’ attitudes but also reflects employers not fully grasping the unique perspectives and backgrounds of these newer entrants into the workforce.
For instance, in the case mentioned above of the young female worker who cites a lack of a car for her lateness to work and is unapologetic, Ms Matovu says the root cause could be as simple as a rude remark made by the boss.
“Being a boss is not a gate pass for disrespect,” Ms Matovu explains.
Tura Buhenzire, a behavioural psychologist, says that while behaviour is taught when someone is between the ages of 0-7, one big mistake parents and employers make is assuming that their children and employees are extensions of them.
“No, they are an entity of their own. For instance, when choosing a course to pursue, my mother filled in papers for me to study law. I did behavioural psychology, and she looked at me as if I had lost my mind,” recalls Ms Buhenzire.
The parent mindset
Mirroring this to the workplace, she notes that the parent mindset makes employers or even colleagues degrade those of a different generation.
For instance, older millennials feel that inexperience is inadequacy when it is not.
“We see the younger generation as lazy, slow rookies because we have been through so much. We think we know much more, and maybe we do, but they also know their own things.
It’s the same way you look at your parents’ business and know you can do it differently, but there is no safe environment to air that out, so you wait for your turn.”
Ms Buhenzire further notes that Gen Z is big on inclusivity and authenticity and is more flexible than millennials, who have a higher sense of community.
Their authenticity is explicit and specific, like the different organs in one’s body and their functions.
Joseph Ajal, a human resource consultant, notes that an employer can maximize the potential of the different generations by interacting with them from the point of knowledge.
“Assign them respect and honour. Do not refer to them as my son or daughter. It is condescending.”
Since longevity in a company is never the goal of millennials and Gen Z, Mr Ajal says that when you extract the most from them, even if they serve you for two or three years, they deserve a long service award.
This is because they are impatient and love instant gratification.
Their attention span is short. However, while it lasts, allow them to freely express themselves. Talk with them, listen to their thoughts, and acknowledge plus address their opinions.
