Yahoo Finance 'Entitled' young Aussies ditch one major Boomer rule - and I like it
As Gen Z evolves into leaders, they are putting old-style management rule books into the proverbial shredder, writes Lollie Barr.
We love to talk about Gen-Z, but as a teenager pulling ice cream cones in Mr Whippy, I got away with murder. My manager was a twenty-something punk rocker named Janine.
She was the original Gen X ultra-chill boss who was relaxed about everything, including when we came in, when we left, and how much free soft serve we could get down our throats. So, now decades later, it was amusing when Generation Z store manager Theo Hendrie went viral with his "Gen Z managers be like post", which showcased his relaxed management style via a series of texts with his staff.
Like when a staff member messaged him that he'd be ten minutes late for a shift, instead of giving him a gob full, Theo replied: "[Redacted name] isn't in so rescue me as as soon as you can haha ... but no worries!"
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It was as if young Theo invented being overly familiar with your workmates as a young boss. Yet he reckons his management style comes from bucking against how his managers treated him in the past. And who wants to be that guy, bro?
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For Gen Z, bossing hits different
Often belittled as the entitled generation, Gen Z — which is made up of people born between the 1990s and 2010s — has very different expectations about how work should operate than the rest of us, especially because many of them started their working lives during the pandemic.
Hence, they openly advocate for flexibility, relaxed dress codes, a shedding of the "always-on" mentality, a strong focus on mental health, clear communication, and a belief that working life should be imbued with purpose.
They also like working for bosses who share this emotionally intelligent mindset. According to a 2023 Deloitte study, Zoomers consider patience and empathy the most important traits in a boss.
HR & Performance Expert Natasha Hawker, Managing Director of Employee Matters, said there has been a massive shift from previous generations in leadership traits.
"As a Gen X myself, I did as I was told, and I was subservient to authority and would be unlikely to question a manager when I was starting out," she told Yahoo Finance.
"Zoomers are much more likely to ask for exactly what they want and need. I had a client who couldn't believe the 'demands' that Gen Z made in interviews. 'I only want to work 8.30am-4.30pm and I need to leave early on Wednesday for football training,' they would say."
Entitled much? But as Gen Z evolves into leaders, they are putting old-style hierarchical management rule books with no flexibility into the proverbial shredder.
And with the elders of their generation hitting 30 this year, it is happening sooner than you think. The Wall Street Journal reports they were being promoted to management 1.2 times faster in 2023 than they had been in 2019.
But rather than being selfish, self-entitled, lazy brats, maybe the kids are on to something, considering the Microsoft Work Trend Index revealed that 62 per cent of Australian workers reported being burned out at work, compared to the global average of 48 per cent.
Changing the culture
You might think all this pie-in-the-sky thinking is happening because Zoomers never had to live through a recession, when you’d be lucky to have a job, and you may be right.
However, as employees become more value-driven, workplace culture is changing to secure and keep the best employees within their organisation.
"This is already happening. Zoomers are very tolerant of individualism and seek alternative views on forums,” said Hawker.
“They will research an organisation's reputation online before applying for roles. They are more attracted to purpose than businesses only for profit and will actively search out these employers."
Founder and Managing Director Milly Bannister, 27, heads a team of five running the online youth mental charity ALLKND that offers peer-to-peer mental health first aid anywhere in Australia.
Bannister makes relatable, self-deprecating content about being a Gen Z boss/career influencer for her 150,000 followers.
Her 'POV: your boss in Gen Z' video racked up over three million views on Tikitok and Instagram.
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However, she is super serious when it comes to managing differently, and very flexible around hours and where her team works.
“There are many ways you can manage at an employer level to integrate that kind of flexibility to get the most out of your team in terms of their happiness, fulfilment, and success,” said Bannister. “I've seen productivity go up at the same time as flexibility.”
Her management style comes with some quirks, such as slump hours. "That's the time after lunch where we all feel the lethargy kick in,” Bannister said.
“We find that our productivity goes down after lunch, and the team knows I don't do meetings from around 2pm to 4pm.”
For Bannister, the health of her employees comes first and that includes their mental health.
"It's such an oxymoron to expect people to put off their physical and mental health needs to work because their work will not be of good quality, and the employee will not be happy. It's a lose-lose situation," she said.
She is passionate about the kind of boss she wants to be."Work/life balance and social impact are top of my mind," she said.
"I believe employers should also be doing their bit regarding corporate social responsibility by involving their young employees in volunteering days or giving back. My generation expects integrated programs around gender equity, leadership opportunities and preventative mental health conversations."
Hawker agrees that mental health is vital: "One challenge for this generation is that they lay claim to the highest levels of mental illness but also see mental illness without the stigma of previous generations," she said.
"A Zoomer will confidently declare very early on that they suffer from anxiety."
Organisations with a supportive well-being culture with EAP, wellbeing programs, mental health days, and no discrimination will be the most attractive employers."
And ultimately that is what leads to change.
