The prejudices against Generation Z employees (born between 1997 and 2012) are already well known. Laziness, vanity and high standards are part of it. Anja Lüthy, professor of business administration at Brandenburg University of Technology, examined what the world of work is like from the perspective of Generation Z and discovered something surprising.
“[Das Studienergebnis] “This shows that the clichés about representatives of Generation Z are quite outdated,” Lüthy tells “Business Insider.” “Prejudices against Generation Z have bothered me for a long time!”
The media examines and distorts young workers as if they were participants in a television casting. That's exactly why he turned the tables and asked 235 randomly selected Gen Zers what they really wanted from their boss.
Generation Z wants to give their managers regular feedback on their behavior
As the survey showed, 77 percent of respondents wanted to “give both positive and negative feedback” to their superiors regularly. This should give you the opportunity to strengthen your skills step by step.
What would such an improvement look like? 91 percent of respondents considered it “very important or important” that their boss “behaves respectfully.”
“For Generation Z, respect means talking to their superiors on equal terms,” says Lüthy, “even if they are in their early 20s and the manager is in their 60s.”
In addition, 59 percent believe that the boss must periodically demonstrate “professional competence.” 55 percent of respondents also expected demonstrable “reliability” from their boss.
Generation Z does not want to be controlled
However, when it comes to their own work, Generation Z relies more on “trust” than “control,” Lüthy tells “Business Insider.” The survey showed that 85 percent of respondents considered it “very important or important” that “their bosses gave them their complete trust.”
Specifically, this means that they don't want anyone to control their work. “Control is the opposite of trust,” says Lüthy. Therefore, a corporate culture that is based on “hierarchy, pressure or fear” “is no longer sustainable at all.” The new generation does not want to work in “that climate.”
However, that doesn't mean that Generation Z is lazy or vain. On the contrary, the survey shows that she is ambitious and willing to learn. 59 percent of respondents expected their boss to provide them with detailed feedback on their work performance “weekly or every two weeks.”
The new generation operates in a completely different labor market than the boomers.
Businessman Yaël Meier, 23, also believes that prejudices about Generation Z are wrong. It's not that boomers don't want work-life balance, flat hierarchies, and face-to-face conversations with their boss.
Rather, the number of young employees has declined to such an extent that Generation Z has completely different bargaining power with their employers than Boomers did. That's why Generation Z dares to say what Boomers have always thought.