Managing millennials (and Gen Z)
The Bottom Line
BBC
4.6 • 606 Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Younger workers want unlimited holiday, refuse to give up remote working, and are constantly looking for their next job, or so the cliché goes. Millennials and those even younger (Generation Z) do typically have different attitudes to work than their older colleagues, but what are they really, and how are they changing workplaces? Is it all about finishing early on Fridays, finding a company with a strong ethical stance, or looking for the quickest possible route to success? And to what extent have the pandemic and remote working changed the relationship between employees and employers, especially for those new to the world of work? As these younger workers make up an ever-growing proportion of staff at UK firms, Evan Davis and guests ask what’s the best way to manage and get the best out of them.
GUESTS
Grace Beverley, founder and CEO of TALA and SHREDDY; Helen Marshall, chief learning officer at Thrive; Gary Ashworth, chairman of InterQuest Group, Albany Beck and Positive Healthcare. Thanks also to Cruz Corral @champagnecruz
Produced in partnership with The Open University.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Simon Tulett Editor: China Collins Sound: Graham Puddifoot and James Beard Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Hello, welcome. At the bottom line, we've become fans on Instagram of someone called Champagne Cruise, CRUZ Cruise. |
| 0:14.0 | He produces endless comedy about the differences between boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Gen Z working from home. |
| 0:21.8 | Like this little video involving a surprise email from management. |
| 0:25.0 | First, the boomer. |
| 0:26.2 | Email. Let's see what it says. |
| 0:28.2 | Starting next week, return to the office. Gee, whiskers. |
| 0:32.8 | Hey, honey, I'm going to need you to start meal prepping my lunch ASAP. |
| 0:36.6 | Ooh, can't wait to have a conversation with Cheryl by the water cooler. |
| 0:39.8 | Then, of course, follows Gen X. |
| 0:42.2 | I just got used to working from home in my normal clothes. |
| 0:46.4 | I'm very happy right now, but I will try to make it in. |
| 0:50.8 | No, no, no, no, no. |
| 0:52.3 | Next, you get the appalled millennial. |
| 0:54.8 | No, this can't be real. Okay, I'm going on LinkedIn right now. I knew this was going to happen. |
| 1:01.5 | And lastly, Gen Z posts to his TikTok followers. |
| 1:05.3 | Come along with me today to quit my job. They are forcing us back into the office for absolutely no reason. |
| 1:11.8 | And the sketch ends with an empty chair. Gen Z has quit. Champagne Cruz, |
| 1:16.5 | real name Cruz Corral, plays to the stereotypes of the different cohorts in the workforce. |
| 1:22.0 | But those stereotypes really do abound. You don't have to go far to find older bosses lamenting the sense of entitlement |
| 1:28.9 | or lack of drive among younger employees. And you don't have to go far to find younger employees |
| 1:34.6 | berating their older bosses whose management style was carved out of an ancient era, virtually in which |
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