Dive Brief:
- A new survey from APPrise Mobile, a mobile employee communications solution, reveals that a third of managers believe Gen Z will be more difficult to manage than older generations. Gen Z, born between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, is the latest generation to enter the workforce.
- The survey results showed that 26% of respondents think communicating with Gen Z will be difficult compared to older generations; 29% of respondents expect to have problems training them; and 16% also think Gen Z will negatively affect their company culture. Survey respondents said they have no plans to cater to Gen Z.
- Although many managers anticipate difficulty managing this generation, they recognize that they have valuable technical skills: 44% believe that those skills give Gen Z an advantage in the workplace.
Dive Insight:
Managers in the survey said they don’t intend to cater to Gen Z, but as with any group of workers, employers will want to find the best ways to communicate with, manage and engage them. Survey respondents think that the best way to communicate with these tech savvy workers is through smartphones and tablets, which shows consideration for the generation's preferences.
The perceived difficulty in Gen Z may come from experiences with their predecessors, millennials, who received much of the blame for upending how things were "usually" done in the workplace. But any perceived difficulties likely flow both ways. Millennials feel their older generation bosses may be blocking their progress, another recent report showed. And since few (21%) plan to alter their management style in response to the newcomers, trouble could be on the horizon for some.
However, employers should avoid taking a one-size-fits-all approach to recruiting, managing or training any generation. Among young workers, for example, some might like the social atmosphere of the workplace, while others may prefer to work remotely.
