Did you know there are now more members of Gen Z than Baby Boomers in the workforce? For many, though, their careers are not exactly starting out smoothly. According to recent research, only 2% of Generation Z job seekers align with what hiring managers want most—achievement orientation, drive for professional success, and a strong work ethic. Meanwhile, a survey by Intelligent.com found that 75% of companies deemed some or all of their recent graduate hires unsatisfactory, with one in six employers now reluctant to hire Gen Z workers at all.
But here’s what no one’s asking:
What if the problem isn’t Gen Z after all?
What if it’s the way we approach developing younger employees?
Why Are Companies Firing Gen Z Employees?
According to the Intelligent.com survey of nearly 1,000 hiring managers, the top reasons for dissatisfaction with Gen Z hires include:
Lack of motivation or initiative (cited by 50% of leaders)
Poor communication skills
Being unprofessional or unorganized
Inability to handle feedback
Struggling to manage workload
Not understanding workplace norms (from dress code to professional behavior)
You might have your own anecdotal “evidence” about how your younger colleagues are failing to adapt to the workplace. Perhaps you’ve seen the now-viral “Gen Z stare”—a blank, expressionless gaze that older colleagues interpret as disengagement. Or maybe everyone on your team is still talking about the Gen Z job candidate who brought a parent to their interview.
These stories make for great LinkedIn debate fodder. But they mask a more fundamental truth.
The Real Gen Z Workplace Problem
As with all generations, the truth about Gen Z is more nuanced than these emerging stereotypes. While it’s important to understand the values of these young employees, we also have to look at how we’re preparing them for the workplace.
Consider these statistics:
Only 12% of employees say their company does a good job with onboarding.
Nearly one in five employees report receiving poor onboarding or no onboarding at all.
60% of directors, managers, and executives say new college grads aren't prepared for their roles.
Why is this happening? We still tend to assume that young employees will pick up workplace norms, communication styles and leadership skills simply from being around their colleagues every day. Gen Z, however, was shaped by remote learning during the pandemic and entering a largely hybrid workplace. They just haven’t had the same opportunities older generations did for learning by osmosis. In other words, you probably learned the “rules” of your organization by being immersed in your office culture. That system of implicit teaching is much weaker now. But we’re still blaming Gen Z for not automatically intuiting what their employers and colleagues expect.
How to Help Gen Z Employees Succeed
If you’re feeling frustrated with Gen Z employees who seemed so promising when you hired them, helping them turn things around might feel overwhelming at first. But let me reassure you that you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel.”
Through coaching Fortune 500 executives and creating the New Lens ® learning platform, my company has identified the Core Strategies that reliably drive success:
1. Communicate with influence and impact.
2. Build visibility and credibility.
3. Focus on the right work.
4. Navigate politics and organizational dynamics.
5. Build leadership courage and resilience.
6. Strategically stand out.
7. Build a powerful network.
8. Develop a high-performing team.
The good news is these Core Strategies are consistent across generations and through the constant changes in today’s business environment. I recommend centering them in both your onboarding and continuing development programs.
Next, let’s take a closer look at how developing each of the Core Strategies can help Gen Zers thrive and bring their full potential to their roles.
1. Communicate with Influence and Impact
This isn't about stifling Gen Z's authentic communication style. It's about giving them the tools to be authentic and effective.
What to teach:
2. Build Visibility and Credibility
A key lesson for younger employees is that success doesn’t just depend on what they know. It’s also about how they show up with others.
What to teach:
3. Focus on the Right Work
If seasoned leaders are drowning, imagine being 23 years old and trying to figure out what matters most!
What to teach:
4. Navigate Politics and Organizational Dynamics
Some Gen Zers worry that becoming savvy about office politics is fake or manipulative. But navigating workplace relationships is how work actually gets done.
What to teach:
5. Build Leadership Courage and Resilience
Gen Z’s focus on self-care and wellbeing is an asset when it comes to maintain consistent high performance.
What to teach:
6. Strategically stand out
Gen Zers are already comfortable with self-promotion. Their challenge for them now is learning what works in a professional context.
What to teach:
7. Build a Powerful Network
Members of Gen Z love in-person contact. But they’re not fans of networking events or small talk, and more than half have trouble making new connections.
What to teach:
8. Develop a High-Performing Team
Yes, Gen Z employees need leadership development, too—especially in flatter organizations.
What to teach:
Why Getting This Right Is Crucial
Dissatisfaction with Gen Z employees is more than a hiring problem. It’s a red flag about your leadership pipeline. In just a few years, your Gen Z hires will start becoming managers (if they haven’t already). In a decade, they'll be your senior leaders. We can’t afford to write them off.
Instead, it’s time to get deliberate about transforming leadership development for Gen Z. We know the capabilities they need. The next step is building learning into their jobs from Day 1, instead of assuming it will “just happen.”
New Lens is built around the Core Strategies we talked about above. It’s also designed to be scalable, so you can expand development access to more Gen Z employees at the start of their careers. To see New Lens in action, just request a demo. And if you have other questions about tapping into the potential of Gen Z employees, drop me a note.
Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.