Is Gen Z The Worst Generation To Work With?

I was recently reading an article that discussed a survey about managers' thoughts on Gen Z.

The article claims that Managers find Gen Z to be the most difficult generation to work with.

But is this really the case?

Or do the stats show something else?

The Stats About Gen Z

These are the stats that were found in a survey of 1,344 managers and business leaders.

➼ 74% find Gen Z harder to work with than other generations

➼ 49% found Gen Z difficult to work with ALL or MOST of the time

➼ 39% found Gen Z had a lack of technological skills

➼ 37% found Gen Z had a lack of motivation

➼ 37% found managers disappointed with Gen Z's work performance

➼ 36% found Gen Z had poor communication skills

➼ 35% found Gen Z was easily offended

➼ 65% said they fire Gen Z more than other generations

➼ 12% said they had to fire a Gen Zer less than one week after starting

The survey also included some further explanations about the problems with Gen Z.

Some respondents talked about how Gen Z is exhausting due to a lack of discipline.

Others said that Gen Z openly challenges authority, saying they are smarter and more capable than you to your face.

When you take all of this into account, it seems like perhaps Gen Z might be awful.

However, I'm NOT personally convinced.

This is what the stats are showing me.

What The Stats Are REALLY Showing

What I see in the stats is a COMPLETE lack of leadership ability.

Most of the "problems" are things Leaders should be creating in their teams, not expecting employees to "bring" with them.

A Leader's role is to figure out how to get their team to work together.

A Leader's role is to figure out how to turn difficult situations into successes.

A Leader's role is to create goals and buy-in on their teams which make employees WANT to be motivated to achieve.

If 1 in 3 "Leaders" are finding that ANY employee group lacks skills, motivation, and communication skills, and is being offended - the truth is, that is a LARGE number of Leaders that are failing in their basic responsibilities.

What this tells me is that Gen Z isn't the problem, current Leaders are the problem.

Leaders are not teaching the skills needed to succeed in a job, not giving their teams reasons to be motivated in the work they do, aren't teaching their teams the proper way their teams communicate, and don't understand who they are working with (hence, offending them constantly).

On top of this, current leaders, instead of trying to become better themselves, simply fire the employee they are unable to adapt to.

Since Leaders aren't learning how to work with Gen Z, they are sweeping their own ineffectiveness under the rug by getting rid of "their" problem.

In fact, these are the EXACT same things "Leaders" were saying about Millennials.

What I am seeing isn't that Gen Z is "terrible".

What I am seeing is that "Leadership" hasn't improved in over a decade.

Instead of facing up to their failures, awful Leaders continue to pass the blame onto others.

What I See In Gen Z

This has been my experience with Gen Z.

They have seen how broken the world is.

They have watched leaders constantly FAIL everyone around them in EVERY aspect of life.

They have watched corrupt organizations do terrible things with their power and hurt a lot of people in the process.

They are tired of how Leaders fail to improve.

They don't want to be in environments that are filled with burnt-out individuals with no purpose.

They won't be quiet about it.

They want to improve the world and aren't afraid to speak up when they aren't seeing it happen.

They are confident in their abilities and aren't afraid to tell you when you are lacking in yours.

Are there areas that Gen Z could improve in? Absolutely!

However, if they don't see you improving, they won't hesitate to call you out on your hypocrisy.

Gen Z seeks autonomy unlike any previous generation, and WANT to be given meaningful work.

They will also seek the easiest and most efficient way to get work done, regardless of how things are "normally" done.

They are looking to innovate and improve on the broken things that they see, and are actually open to talking about how to fix them!

Gen Z has also been one of the largest groups of individuals who have decided that if they see you refusing to change, they will simply go out and do it themselves against you.

In fact, many are actually doing that right now, beating outdated systems and leaders as technologies are improving.

Gen Z could use some work on improving their EQ, and seek to cooperate first before battling.

Many of them lack wisdom and are idealists, as is common in the youth.

That isn't anything new - we saw the same things in the 70's Hippie movement, the 80's Punk movement, and the Tech Revolution with Millenials.

However, with the RIGHT Leadership, Gen Z has the potential to explode organizations to new heights.

What Leaders Need To Take Away

If you are a Leader right now, don't buy into the "propaganda" about how "bad" Gen Z is.

What you need to realize is that most Leaders are STRUGGLING with the future and what it will bring, and have been for over a decade. Gen Z isn't a problem - Gen Z is the largest OPPORTUNITY available to Leaders!

As a Leader, if YOU figure out how to SEIZE the opportunity that is Gen Z, you will have a MASSIVE leg up against ALL competition in the next decade!

However, this will require YOU to adapt!

The truth is, it ISN'T hard to work with Gen Z!

When you figure out how to work WITH Gen Z, you will find them to be exceptionally loyal and hard-working.

They are the future, and they will change it with or without you.

If you learn how to work with Gen Z then you will be a part of the future.

Are you willing to change in order to become Legendary?