"This new Generation": The Evolution Of The Employee Experience and Generational performance management needs.
Jazmine Williams-McCoy M.A.
Employee Belonging and Engagement Leader, Speaker, and Consultant | Learning and Development Professional | Michigan Chronicle 40 under 40
"It's hard to find employees who are willing to put the company before their own needs.”
I recently heard this comment during a leadership discussion about Gen Z’s work performance. Although it sounds like a particularly bold statement, I wasn’t surprised. After all, it reflects the frustration of leaders across the country who are struggling to manage younger employees in a culture designed for a retiring workforce. We know that ethics and values shift over time, shaping each generation’s views on what work is, and even more importantly what it is not. But despite how quickly the world changes, there is still a disconnect between what employers expect, and what employees want.?
We currently see this shift playing out in the workplace, especially when it comes to performance management. The truth is, performance can’t be managed by annual reviews alone.?Lack of recognition, corporate culture, and work/ life balance also impact the output employees provide. Employees who feel undervalued, stressed, or at odds with the corporate culture are more likely to have performance issues. It's important to remember that both employee experience and diversity impact an employee's ability to succeed.
With the majority of leaders being baby boomers and Gen X, there are 2 very different perspectives shaping workplace culture at the same time. However, the challenge to maintain workplace culture will increase as Gen Z and millennials will make up 60% of the workforce by 2025.?
With this understanding, we can examine the key moments that impacted each generation, which in turn shaped their performance needs and their expectations as employees.
Baby Boomers 1946 – 1964
The term ‘baby boom’ refers to the surge in birth rates following World War 2. Up until recently, baby boomers were the largest generation alive, and made up the majority of the workforce. They were also the first to enter the post-industrial era. Most of our current corporate cultural practices, including how we do performance management, were shaped by their perspectives.?
When baby boomers entered the workforce America was in a state of a counterculture movement from civil rights to anti-war to assassinations. It was a time when fear ran high and the desire for a more peaceful standard of living grew. Baby boomers set out not only to dismantle culture but to reshape it. And they did just that. They built bigger homes, drove faster cars, and provided upward mobility for their children, often on one income and a high school education. If they decided to pursue college, the cost of tuition could be paid by working a part-time job.
The first consumer credit score, introduced in 1989, didn’t exist when most boomers entered the workforce, making it less risky to make financial missteps. In summary, A baby boomer with a high school diploma could secure an entry-level job that covered their basic needs and offered access to advancement in high-level leadership positions.?
??Generation X 1965-1980
?Gen X is often called “the lost generation” because as children, they were often left to take care of themselves. They came of age during times of corporate and social turmoil such as the energy crisis, the Watergate scandal, Rodney King, and the Three Mile Island meltdown. So when they entered the workforce in the late 80s they merged onto the path the baby boomers laid, with some caveats, leaning towards organizations with more flexibility and space for autonomy.
Gen Xers launched their careers with a general distrust of authority, though they still strived for professional advancement. In contrast to baby boomers, Gen X found their advancement to be tied to how quickly they could adopt and learn new technology as tools like Mac computers and laser printers popped up in offices during the 1980s. The introduction of technology added the expectation of increased skills, education, and productivity.
Both Gen X and baby boomers tend to follow traditional career paths, often staying at a company until retirement. They have witnessed “starting in the mailroom could lead you to be CEO” in action. Today, that belief is at odds with the experiences of millennials and Generation Z, creating conflict around leading intergenerational teams and helping employees of all ages reach their career goals.
Keeping all of that in mind,?I want to focus on the youngest generational cohorts in the workplace:? Millennials and Gen Z. Here is what we know so far about how they view work and performance management:
?Millennials/ Gen Y 1981- 1996
The oldest Millennials are around 44 years old, and they make up?a substantial portion of our middle management. Millennials have been accused of ‘failing to launch', leading to the public perception that they are immature. While they experienced increased parental supervision, the introduction of the internet and smartphones, and participation trophies are often named as the culprits, the challenges they face in reaching adulthood milestones are rooted in more profound issues.
Millennials grew up amid global conflicts, gun violence, and rapid technological advancements. They witnessed the evolution of gun violence from a stereotype about the inner city to a national concern about school safety as it impacted the suburbs. They saw some of the fastest technological changes as well as watched the structures and processes the baby boomers put in place collapse.?
Many millennials entered the workforce with unprecedented student debt (other than Gen X) and, simultaneously, ?fewer job opportunities than promised. Most wages simply did not keep up with the cost of living, making it nearly impossible to afford homes or even rent. This left them more educated than past generations, but less financially stable. Millennials found that following the rules did not lead to increased wages or career advancement. As a result, they have a stronger distrust of employers and a jaded view of workplace culture. ??
Outgoing, assertive, and team players, millennials prefer frequent feedback over waiting for annual reviews to gauge their performance. Waiting until one point in the year to provide feedback (especially criticism) can be met with pushback as they believe oversights should be addressed when observed. This aligns with millennials’ strong values of transparency and open communication.?
Millennials value inquiry and partnership, which may frustrate Gen X and baby boomer leaders who may see it as a challenge to authority. For millennials understanding thought processes and goals allows more effective reasoning and decision making. This is even more important to consider when understanding that over 60% of millennials are in leadership positions and looking to learn skills that would prepare them for their next role. They tend to over-prepare as job postings demand more experience and skills for even entry-level positions.
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This is even more true for millennials from diverse backgrounds. Not only are they hypervigilant about constantly changing standards, they are also overcompensating for bias in the hiring process. Lastly, Gen Y wants more than just a reflection of past performance, they seek to jointly make a plan for improvement and development. As jobs offer less pay and fewer benefits, professional development has become an increasingly desirable benefit.??
Gen Z 1996- 2012
I’ve encountered several leaders who believe that their youngest employees are millennials. Imagine their surprise when I disclose that Gen Z makes up the majority of entry-level employees. With the oldest of the Gen Z cohort being 28 if you have direct reports there’s a good chance some of them fall into the Gen Z category.
Similar to millennials, Gen Z has been portrayed as lazy and entitled. A quick Google search reveals countless complaints from managers detailing their frustrations with a 'difficult generation that doesn't want to work'. However, a closer look at Gen Z's lifespan provides evidence that they are merely a product of the society into which they were born.’ According to Pew Research Center,?
"Unlike the millennials—who came of age during the Great Recession—this new generation was in line to inherit a strong economy with record-low unemployment. That has all changed now, as Covid-19 has reshaped the country’s social, political and economic landscape. Instead of looking ahead to a world of opportunities, Gen-Z now peers into an uncertain future."
Job loyalty paid off for older generations, but the same can’t be said for Gen Z. They have learned through experience that the best way to increase their skills and pay is to consistently seek new opportunities. They aren’t waiting for employers to fulfill promises they made during hiring nor are they waiting for fair treatment. Gen Z is currently the most diverse generation in the workforce, a fact that leaders need to consider when rethinking performance management. The conventional performance management tactics tailored for the majority, often characterized by a focus on white, male, heterosexual, and cisgender perspectives, should be replaced with an approach that embraces and understands diverse cultural backgrounds.
So, what needs to change?
To bridge the generational gap in the workforce, leaders must adapt performance management strategies for their audience. Simply put, leaders must learn to connect with employees who have vastly different perspectives. Here’s what millennials and Gen Z said would help them to perform better and stay longer:
Key takeaways
The success of performance management will depend on the crucial ongoing interactions between employees, the company, and its entities. Recognizing the diverse factors that influence individual performance is essential in reimaging a work environment that accommodates these differences.?
Age, although noteworthy, is only one aspect of a person's identity. Other factors such as race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, alongside age, shape preferences and experiences. By integrating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) with employee experience and performance management, you strengthen your ability to build a high performing team. This integration also dismantles the ‘like me’ bias that can hinder effective leadership.?
As senior leadership changes hands from baby boomers to Gen X, clinging to traditional approaches is no longer useful. We have learned that taking the path of least resistance by forcing tradition on incoming generations doesn’t work. Instead, it’s time to envision a new way of operating that caters to the present and future generational diversity within the workplace.?
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