Think Gen Z has too much to say? That's what makes them good managers

Gen Z talent has finally started climbing the corporate ladder. And while older generations have expressed concern about their ability to lead, a new survey says otherwise.     

Eighty-one percent of direct reports under Gen Z managers agreed that the youngest generation is good at giving useful feedback on how their workforce is performing, according to HR company Culture Amp. The responses rated Gen Z managers more favorably than their millennial and even Gen X counterparts, with 59% saying Gen Z takes more action than managers ages 35 and up. 

"We hear these sorts of beliefs about Gen Z not being able to communicate effectively, given the fact that they grew up with technology and that their transitions to work or school became remote with the pandemic," says Sana Lall-Trail, senior data journalist at Culture Amp. "But we're not finding that this is having an impact on their ability to deliver feedback. In fact, we're seeing this be more of a strength and an area of opportunity." 

Read more: 98% of Gen Z is burned out. How can employers respond?

In a 2023 study by Resume Builder, 74% of managers and leaders said Gen Z was more difficult to work with than previous generations, with 36% attributing this to a lack of communication skills. However, Culture Amp found that one of the top five drivers of engagement for Gen Z managers was having "open and honest two-way communication" at their organizations. The same could not be said for managers in other age groups, where transparent communication did not show up in their top 15 drivers of engagement.

Resume Builder's study also found that 37% of managers and leaders felt that Gen Z workers lack motivation. Culture Amp's report mirrored that finding among Gen Z managers, but found that Gen Z workers in general are the most highly motivated of any generation in the workplace. According to Lall-Trail, employers should take that as a signal that their in-house professional development training is failing Gen Z staff who are elevated to manager roles — and they should take action to shift that trend. 

Read more: Employers are inflating job titles to quench Gen Z's thirst for promotion

"Gen Z managers have two key top drivers for motivation: One was related to whether or not leaders at their company demonstrate that people are important to company success," she says. "The second is around company confidence. We found that folks who said that their company was in a position to succeed over the next three years were more likely to feel motivated in their managerial roles." 

To address both drivers, leadership can create communication channels via Slack or other communication platforms to share birthdays, special events, or introduce a talent newsletter that highlights individuals'  contributions. This gives employees the chance to both see and interact with leaders, as well as receive broader recognition.  Employers can also include employees on earning calls and have executives share their mission and vision for the company. 

"As Gen Z moves up the ranks in leadership, they will start to really enact the behaviors that they're looking for from their own managers and from their own leaders," Lall-Trail says. "So it's important for current leaders to be as transparent as possible and explain the broader purpose of the work they're doing now."