Apparently you can't just tell someone to do something anymore. You have to wrap it in praise and compliments or they think you're attacking them. I'm not yelling, I'm just asking you to work. When did that become a problem?
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@17a They are - not that OT will hire them. It'd be offshored first. OT offers fresher salaries yet had no true fresher roles.
The only way you're actively hiring for gen z is if AI does become a popped bubble. Because then we're admitting we need a longterm investment. I believe IBM is already taking that route. If layoffs reverse course - potential hires gain power again and that'll likely hit 45-30 before those younger. Your window for gen Z who aren't negatively affected by covid are running dry or were picked up by someone else already. You done missed the optimal diamond in the rough time; now the gems are plucked and a lot of the others may not have the work experience our hiring managers will accept. Now it will be a bit more of a gamble. If we ever do need a strategy like that we will absolutely be honest about our experiences here OT discord or not. And those other gen Z will have an honesty a lot of older folks are not ready for.
@OP the 20 and early thirty something’s will get kicked into gear over the next few years. Corporate boards won’t tolerate this and I thing the teenagers today are seeing this and will be a lot stronger, open to criticism and needing constant praise and awards for simply doing their job. Culture always swings like a pendulum.
@176 the email last month claims that being in the office supports "engagement, connection, and faster decisions", but your reality is just taking Teams calls from a cubicle, the "forced pleasantries" feel less like a benefit and more like a tax on your time.
As us "older folks" retire or move out of management roles, if OpenText new managers insist on "forced morale" over "flexible output" we will likely see a "brain drain."
The people above me are still operating on the "Managerial Look," where seeing a "butt in a seat" is the only way they know how to measure value.
Starting next week we’ll be performing "Professionalism as a Costume." We wear the costume (show up to the office), speak the lines (mention "Enterprise AI" and "Customer Value"), but you don't let the "morale" requirements touch our actual life.
Just a few more years for me till retirement, hope to stay here till I can collect social security and then can watch all this unfold without skin in the game. Can’t wait.
@175 X here. You're entirely correct. Fu-k the suits and their BS 'teambuilding activities'!
@126 To which the people above you said "f*ck that" and now it's going to be 5 again. Very modern, OT - but I guess it's semi accurate if everyone else does it.
I would actually prefer to see/interact less but my team's management would be actively OFFENDED by a suggestion like that. Part of gen z wants to do the job and go home. That's it. No parties, no forced pleasantries - your morale means nothing to us. If it's not forced decent ones can look into change/improvements on our own. For my team even older ones agree: our meetings/calls are Teams, we used a physical meeting room a whole 3 times max, and we dont need to take a forced lunch for a party.
Thank you for seemingly having more grace than some of the other managers/directors here but, vast majority of them are just NOT ready for us. Mine included. God(s) save em when older folks are harder to recruit.
Here are some suggestions from my Gen Z employees:
Regarding RTO: Then let's modernize by keeping the 4-day week. And collaboration is on Team not in a meeting room.
And what is water cooler talk? I bring my water from home.
@hc literally.
Dude was given:
The reasonable fix-all communication solution of just f*cking talking to them unless it crosses your employee's boundaries.
The admittedly still viable 'if I hate you I will not want your praise' method
And still arent happy. Dude just wants to complain at that point and the Boomer Brand is warranted. Which ig is fine, that is a right I support but, that doesn't exactly get you flowers at your funeral or a guest at the hospital/home.
Both boomers and gen X are starting to become a more finite resource - unless you're retiring soon it's going to become a managerial adapt-or-die situation. If we fumble AI (or it becomes a full bubble) the next internal growth option could be a gen z correction. That or more off-shoring making an older manager redundant anyway.
Boomer boss
Haha OP sounds like a boomer who got called on the carpet for being a glassbowl to their team/colleagues. Seen it many times. Do you also stand on your porch yelling at the kids to stay offa your lawn?
It became a problem when HR provided guidance on accommodating such foolishness.
@a6 alternative solution:
Hire someone likely to eventually hate you. Or chronically fail the ones you have. Let me cook.
If you disappoint them enough, your praise is dirt. Meaningless. They will not give a F*CK about your compliments at that point.
A certified hater that will still do the job but wants you to vanish outside of what you need or they need you for. I'd argue a formal hater could also provide counterpoints to things and be more thorough than a local brown-noser.
Problem solved :)
(As long as you as a person are big enough to take not being essentially worshipped with grace. Most managers fail at that part.)
When corporations decided to degrade the employee experience and active disengagement emerged as the way to tip the scales back the other direction.
Who the fu-k cares about working hard for the bloated executive suite, who view us with contempt on a charitable day?
So the new workforce is the problem despite OT not having any pure, 100% fresher entry level jobs. Sure.
Needing affirmation isn't a new thing - yes younger people may be more honest about it but that typically means there's not much in their lives. Should you have to correct that - no not necessarily. But unless it's flat out an ego thing, nearly everyone has a desire for affirmation. The degree is just different. There's not a good quick fix for that. If the employee seems receptive, see if you can find out why they seem to need a lot of praise.
If you've earned a discussion the two of you may be able to reconcile how you communicate a bit and go from there. Or point them to resources if it's more out of work.