Gen Z - Key Characteristics no.5 - Apprehensive
This is part of a series of blogs on Generation Z. Over the course of these blogs and through the talk I have put together I explain:
how and why Generation Z is different, naming seven key characteristics
the challenges this presents for leaders and organisations
the actions not only to overcome those challenges but ensure future prosperity.
Gen Z is the most important generational shift yet. Their experiences and outlook are not understood well enough by those who have come before them. Generation Z has huge, as yet mostly untapped, potential to meet the challenges of today.
A broad topic
I had a few options of what to call this particular characteristic, including a lack of social confidence, diffidence, being risk averse, guarded and so on. ‘Apprehensive’ was chosen with the (unfinished) impact of the pandemic in mind. This is not to say it is worthy of covering more than one characteristic; it is just not so easy to pin down.
The issues go beyond the pandemic. As was the case with economic circumstances Covid amplified issues which were already present. Depending on the age and the individual concerned it did so considerably.
The Prince’s Trust has a new fund-raising scheme called The Class of Covid. Its recently published research shows how the confidence of this generation has gone through the floor. For example
37% felt ‘able to talk to senior people at work’ before the pandemic, now down to 21%.
68% said ‘work was what they expected’ before, now fallen to 49%.
40% ‘lacked the confidence to make up their own minds’ before, now up to 60%
A summary of these and other key findings is here.
These are not small shifts, but the figures from prior to the pandemic do not reveal a position of strength either. What are the reasons for this?
24/7 Reputation Management
A very significant factor is that Generation Z had to deal with 24/7 reputation management from a very young age. This is particularly true for the older half, many of whom ended up with the earliest smartphones as the ‘must have gadget’. These were filled with social media data from apps which turned out to have unfathomable power, and in some short-lived cases highly questionable morals.
All of this was beyond the imagination of many parents and teachers who were not able to guide children through the pitfalls they experienced simultaneously, and often afterwards. No wonder Gen Zers may take a little more time to build trust.
I remember my eyes popping at a training session less than ten years ago at the sheer range of platforms, many of which have now disappeared and did not present as having good intentions or positive outcomes. By this time I was running my second large secondary school. The fear of an unwanted image or forgotten comment going viral and generating ridicule on a huge scale was very real. Other fears were far more sinister and dangerous. Happy slaps may have felt like a particular problem at the time, but it turned out only to be the start and a relatively innocent issue in retrospect.
Social Media Impact
Much has been written about social media, and I am not going to claim any particular expertise here. There is clear evidence that Gen Z is not the selfie generation. Surveys show that narcissism is down, thinking of yourself as above average is down, life satisfaction is down. A recent survey showed that ‘only 52% of 19-21 years olds in the USA are happy’.
These are all reasons why the Generation Z cameras have been the ones turned off on the call. On top of that they are data protection conscious and also very aware of their digital imprint. This includes future implications from significant others and employers, both of whom may carry out their own background checks...
Gen Z has not just lived life through a screen, but through screens. They see more images of themselves and each other on camera, or through their icon images on social media than anyone else. The Truman Show was released six years before Facebook, and it is hard to look back at a film about an individual under the constant scrutiny of others in quite the same way now.
More recent social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp, give the user much more control over what others get to see. Facetime and its equivalents are popular for calls with friends and family, and often more so than the old fashioned telephone call. For the friends you have that you will never meet, which may be a significant proportion, it’s pretty important to know what they look like somehow (not least to be confident they are who they say they are). If digital communication is all you have, it may as well be as personal as possible.
Return to the office
One reason Gen Z has been keener to return to the office is that it provides the kind of face to face interaction they want, and the soft skills many recognise they badly need to progress their careers. The cohort of Gen Zs who started their first adult jobs as Covid-19 hit found themselves with work, but no workplace. Many found themselves with neither soon afterwards.
Working from home is far less advantageous where there is no designated room to work in. All those teachers sitting on a bed with a laptop delivering to thirty students. Living, working and sleeping in the same four walls day after day is not healthy.
The cumulative effect is significant. There are fewer physical workplaces and fewer romantic relationships too. Although there may be some crossover between those two issues, there is a lot of separation too. The whole process of initiating a romantic relationship is so much more loaded now if it is expected to be accompanied by a ‘status update’, and to an extent this applies to friendships too.
Fear of Missing Out
It is now very difficult to avoid ex-friends and ex-partners on social media but it is also very easy to be cut out of a conversation. The active WhatsApp group you are not in, which turned out to be a subgroup of the main group of friends is just one example. FOMO exists because there is so much more to miss out on. Beyond this lie the bittersweet digital reminders you get of friends or relationships you used to have. Automated, unwanted nostalgia is not an issue Gen X had to deal with in their twenties.
There might be a rise in online dating, although I’m told it isn’t accompanied by everyone telling the truth, but it hasn’t meant a rise in romantic relationships. The pressure to display the relationship, and maintain that display, is not conducive to those relationships existing in the first place.
The sheer metrics of it all are frightening, not least the number of times phones are checked every day. After it gets to three figures I suspect the researchers stop counting. For a not so fiction account of this world I strongly recommend Dave Eggers’ recent dystopian novels The Circle and The Every. The number of posts, likes, impressions, views, comments are all tracked. Depending on how much you want to get into it so are steps, sleep quality, number of friends and so on. None of this is new to us, but it was Gen Z who grew up with this in those formative and vulnerable years where character is shaped.
Confidence
Intellectual self-confidence is strong (two thirds in one survey judged they were higher than average), and much stronger than social confidence (half). The perceived firepower is there to be used, if levels of confidence could be high enough to access it.
Confidence levels are not helped by a world which has become more risk averse, not least because so much of it has been designed out of it through human designed algorithms. Someone identified and managed out the risk so others did not have to. Yet despite that wars, a pandemic and financial crises continue to happen.
This brings me to the topic which comes up over and over again by the leaders I work with, mental health. This is also at the root of the snowflake trope.
The outcomes of a 2019 survey of high school age students by The Economist are below. I find this pretty shocking, not least because it is the year before the pandemic. Small wonder happiness is an issue amongst this generation. ‘Anxiety and depression’ is not only a major issue for the majority, but also an issue for almost everyone else.
Significance of mental health
On the basis of the focus groups I have had with Gen Z young professionals I advise every manager at every level to take mental health seriously, be seen to do so and engage with the workforce along the way. It is an absolute red line for every Gen Zer I have spoken to in the course of putting this content together. Not taking it seriously will only lead to keeping the revolving door moving and unfortunate comments left on Glass Door and other platforms.
I will finish this one by saying that one reason Gen Z is so adamant about the significance of mental health is because they see members of the older generation not talking about it (including in their families) and suffering as a result. The evidence backs them up. In 2021 across all ages and generations in the workplace.
1 in 4 British workers missed a full week of work in the previous year due to mental health.
71% of UK workers say that their company did increase the focus on mental health in Covid…
…but only 25% say that focus remained
Over a third of British workers sought therapy in the previous year
87% of CEOs say it is easy to access mental health benefits…
…compared to just 66% of employees.
There is a big gap which needs filling, not least for organisational and national productivity.
Gen Z’s childhoods and early adult lives have been far from straightforward and all of this has significant implications for the workplace. So what to do?
This series has seven key characteristics and five challenges, each with their own suggested actions. Practical solutions to all of this are coming.
If you would like to know sooner and discuss how I could help your organisation, I would love to hear from you.
Other blogs:
Click for the first blog summarising who Gen Z are and why they are different.
And then for the Key Characteristics:
no.1 - Well-Behaved
no.2 - Prudent
no.3 - Pragmatic
no.4 - Diligent
no.5 - Apprehensive
no.6 - Diverse
no.7 - Patience
Accompanying videos are all here and also on YouTube
Click on the link to book Alex to speak at your event about Generation Z.
