Stop trying to pit Millennials and Gen Z up against one another
This week the media reported on how Gen Z employees are ‘terrifying’ millennial business leaders with their ‘woke’ demands and approach to the workplace.
As a millennial myself working within an organisation that aims to empower Gen Z and give them a voice to help shape their futures, these headlines quite predictably irritate me. In my opinion, we millennials can learn so much from this generation. They are the first digitally native demographic, they are activists, they are change makers, and they are progressive.
One incident reported said a Gen Z employee (a Social Media Manager) had called their boss at the weekend to ask how they, as a business, we’re planning on supporting the BLM movement. Having worked on social media accounts as part of my job roles over the past five years I totally understand why and how this may have come about. I’m sure it came from a place of caring and in reality, social media is reactive – so I would hardly say this is an outrageous demand given the context of the question.
82% disagree that there is animosity between the two age groups
I wanted to understand more as to whether the rumours around the Gen Z and Millennial animosity stood up and where better to gain clarity on this from a Gen Z perspective than from our Imagen Insights community. A few quick polls with our Gen Z community revealed the following:
The majority of respondents to our quick-fire questions dispelled this myth, with 82% disagreeing that there is animosity between the two age groups, and many provided insight that said they believe a mixed environment at work, age-wise, is more productive, beneficial to a business and provides a greater diversity of thought.
Many reported that they upheld respect for their millennial bosses and the same figure, 82%, said they would conform to their seniors’ decisions in the workplace setting. That being said, a strong majority, 88% reported that they deserve to be at the decision-making table with their seniors.
So perhaps it is less of a disrespect to their bosses, not so much a ‘wokeness’ a word I really dislike when used like this but more an eagerness to help make an impact and the world a better place?