Recent research suggests that the majority of Gen-Z, those born after 1997, have little intention of going into management. Sure, they would love to call the shots from the board but they have seen too much of what happens to middle managers. Whether you call them savvy or cynical, Gen-Z seem happy to stay as doers, only hoping to earn more money doing the same. Given that 85% of people view managers as key to their happiness at work, it seems at odds that they don’t want to step up. Today, we review why middle management is no longer attractive to young people and what to do about it.
Middle management
As a very simple explanation, middle management is managing people and, for the most part, doing a job at the same time. These are neither the main doers nor the ones calling the shots on the big decisions. Some suggest that they are the most unpopular in an organisation, taking flak from staff and senior directors. With 82% of managers having no formal training or coaching, most are ‘accidental’ anyway. We also know that 53% of people cite their manager as the main reason that they leave a job. Furthermore, workplace research suggests that 82% of management hires are a mistake. So, it seems that we hire and promote the wrong people then fail to give them the training and support needed. Hmm, is it any wonder that Gen-Z are turned off by the concept?
For many, middle management is a chance to lead others and stamp your mark on a team. It is also viewed as a ‘stepping stone’ to senior management and beyond. Some see this as a short-term necessity to progress while others view it as a game of survival until your time comes. Either way, it means that a few want to move through quickly and others will become immovable objects. To take a different perspective, 49% of managers claim that it is ‘difficult’ to work with Gen-Z. Finally, a software company found that 38% of Gen-Z aspired to become managers in future. Let’s now turn our attention to the role and also the aspirations of Gen-Z.
A modern manager under stress
Burnout, stress and always-on are just three possible descriptions of today’s managers. Long hours, huge responsibility, growing complexity and a plethora of IT platforms to navigate. 9am to 5pm? Good luck with that. Concentrate for 2 hours without interruption? In your dreams. Today’s managers are switched on, connected and available to contact via umpteen methods. If you are in the office, they can call your telephone, pop over to your desk, contact someone nearby to nudge you, email you, instant message you, WhatsApp you, text you, call your mobile, video call you, message through a collaboration tool, raise a ticket and more. Sufficed to say, 10 or more methods of reaching one person is a source of stress and burnout, which is only slightly reduced by home working.
In terms of context, many managers carry forward much of their responsibilities. Yes, many promoted people continue to do the tasks that they did before. Why? Ultimately, this is often because there is not enough resource in the first place and that the person was promoted to retain them. Unfortunately, the step up usually comes with somewhere between 0-10% more pay. There is also little to no training or formal support. However, the victim’s job now includes performance management, administration of people activities, enacting the unexplained decisions from above and extra tasks that the previous manager had to do. To prove the point, around 57% of managers say they learnt the job through trial and error. Also, the same proportion regretted the jump where pay was part of the motivation.
Gen-Z in the workplace
Gen-Z are not necessarily reluctant to stretch themselves or put in the hours. No, that would be a broad-brush slight on a demographic. However, they have three key differences to other demographic groups:
- Digital natives – Highly tech-savvy and connected, they communicate more frequently, share more content, are comfortable with video, collaboration tools, hybrid and remote work.
- Learned from Millennials – Ultimately, the previous point has allowed Gen-Z to peer inside the opaque job of management, via both interaction and social media posts.
- Individualism – Perhaps more than any generation before them, bringing your ‘whole self’ to work and curating your ‘brand’ is more important to Gen-Z.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it means that Gen-Z has higher expectations of work. They don’t want to be shackled to a desk in a grey office within feet of a micro-managing boss. They also realise that technology means that they don’t have to commute, at great time and financial cost, to sit in open-plan hot-desking zones. Additionally, Millennials are perhaps not selling the experience to those coming after them. After all, only 14% of Millennials view work as most important to them. The new joiners can see the burned out in this always-on and ‘wired’ generation for what they are – overworked and stressed for little extra pay. Finally, within the multitude of pressures on managers, they must let people ‘be themselves’ whilst conforming to corporate culture.
Unlocking talent and making management attractive
Here at Think Beyond, our insight services help leaders to understand and enhance the employee experience. Similarly, our planning services support the redesign of your organisation to align people and capabilities. We also offer change services to help organisations to create more attractive jobs, removing non-value-add activities. In summary, we can help rejuvenate management to make it more attractive. Don’t leave your management layer swirling in chaos.
So, if you would like to find out more, simply email us or use our form to ask us to arrange a chat. Alternatively, why not call our offices to speak to a human being.
Finally, why not check out a related article about the curse of finding the right managers.