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Climbing the corporate ladder traditionally meant managing junior teams and leading small divisions before spending big time. However, interim management has lost its appeal, especially in the youngest cohort of employees.
Last year, a survey of 2,000 white-collar experts by recruiter Robert Walters found that 800 respondents were up to the age of 27 on what is known as Gen Z employees, half of whom did not want to be middle managers. did. Almost 70% have rejected jobs such as “high stress, low pay.”
Older executives may label younger workers as lazy or entitled, but in this respect it is not difficult to understand the Z-ers’ views. Long hours, endless firefighting, boring HR management are the usual markers of these roles.
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Young employees work hard for higher wages, greater responsibility and career advancement, but they don’t take the traditional route. Two-thirds of survey respondents said they prefer individual career growth over others’ management.
Previous generations equalized success by crushing ways to raise corporate hierarchies. “The younger people aren’t ready to sacrifice the organization like they used to,” said Lucy Bissett, director of Robert Walters. They are rewriting workplace rules and redefine their ambitions.
But that’s not just Z-Ers’ Z-Ers opposes middle managers. The pandemic has forced many people of all ages to reassess whether the old ways of working make sense. Gen Z employees represent a wider shift, but they just try to speak out their preferences. “They want a work-life balance. They ask if they are happy every day. Can they work freely as they want? And what’s important is that , are they serving their purpose?” Bissett said.
Flattening the corporate structure, greater ability to freelance, and technology-driven autonomy have made alternative career paths more viable. Rather than taking on the role of managers, young workers prioritize building individual expertise and control their schedules.
Of course, the harsher economic situation forces many to line up just like their old counterparts. “Flexibility doesn’t mean guaranteed comfort at all times,” said Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, think tank. But many young employees have probably seen the shortcomings of blind loyalty. They saw their parents burn out, fired, and struggled beyond the economic landscape. There is no promise of rich pensions and job security. There is low trust in leadership and respect for authority, and I don’t think they will protect them by climbing the rank.
Middle managers also have images issues. Instead of guiding and developing talent, these bosses are considered bureaucratic enforcers, owned to the office and performance reviews, and applied people, said Arvinder Dhesi of executive search firm Korn Ferry. Masu. Despite the artificial intelligence agents that come after the middle management task, young candidates are not confident in believing that they can redefine these managers, Dhesi said. As a result, companies have a “extensive strip of undeveloped possibilities.”
If younger employees refuse to step into traditional management roles, businesses will need to rethink the emergence of leadership pipelines. Dhesi said business leaders are not obsessed with creating managers “from central casting” with broader views on what their boss looks like. Instead, businesses should take advantage of boldness and fresh perspectives, rather than viewing younger employees as troubling and destructive.
Gen Z employees also need a better role model. Most managers today are “accidental” leaders, says Ann Frank, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute. They are not equipped to coach, inspire or engage the team. It’s no surprise that some GEN Z workers tuned or “quietly quit.”
If a company wants to step up its younger talent, it needs to strengthen its managers above it. It is a training that allows bosses to become better mentors, issue clearer objectives, have realistic targets, give direct and regular feedback, and allow workers to take responsibility. It partially means. “If the younger employees are more enthusiastic, they may be aiming to become managers,” Franke said.
If a company fails to adapt, the problem is not simply thinning out competent hands along the way, but rather weak leadership across the board.
anjli.raval@ft.com
