What We Teach About Work
I Learned It From You
We teach the next generation how to work, whether we mean to or not.
Cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon… If you know the Harry Chapin song, you know how this goes: Kids watch their parents, learn from them, and often repeat the same patterns. Sometimes for better, other times for worse.
Work is no different.
For decades, younger employees have looked at their overworked, overwhelmed bosses and thought, “That doesn’t seem like a great deal.” And now Gen Z is saying it out loud.
More than half (52%) of Gen Z employees report to recruitment company Robert Walters that they’d rather not be middle managers—according to a survey of 2,000 white-collar workers, 800 of which were Gen Zers. Taking note of burned out and unprepared managers, as well as the current state of white-collar work, Gen Zers are setting their sights on bigger dreams than becoming bosses.
Sound familiar? It should.
My generation of Millennials had the same hesitations about middle management, and for good reason. We watched Gen X and Boomers work late, take calls on vacation, and wear burnout like a badge of honor (then be first out the org when bad times came). Then we entered the workforce and were expected to do the same.
When we pushed back, we were called lazy. Now Gen Z is pushing back, and the cycle continues.
But here’s the thing: Every generation should want the next to be smarter about work than they were. If Gen Z rejects stress without support, if they question whether middle management is worth it, that’s not entitlement — it’s progress.
So instead of dismissing them, maybe we should listen. Maybe we should ask: What needs to change so that leadership isn’t just more stress for a slightly bigger paycheck?
The goal shouldn’t be to convince Gen Z to accept burnout. It should be to build something better — so that when it’s their turn to lead, they actually want to.
Meets Expectations? Not This Rating System
Five-point rating systems have some advantages, but they can also be problematic and discriminatory, at least in some cases.
A new study in Nature shows how even seemingly neutral rating systems — like customer reviews or performance scores — can reinforce bias. When people rate others, their judgments are shaped by existing stereotypes, whether they realize it or not. Over time, those small biases compound in ratings, creating systemic disadvantages like pay discrepancies and lost opportunities.
A better way, especially for shorter interactions like a customer survey, is to use a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating. For longer interactions like in employment, there are some potential trade offs like a lack of granularity that comes over a period of time.
It’s easy to focus on obvious discrimination — blatant bias and bad actors are clear-cut cases. But the real challenge is recognizing how built-in systems, like the way we evaluate performance, quietly tilt the playing field.
It’s difficult to coach and train bias out of people. If fairness matters, we can’t just look at individual decisions. We have to rethink the structures that shape them. Good food for thought for all the performance management junkies.
QUICK HITS FROM AROUND THE WEB
This Former HR Tech Exec Thinks Companies Are Losing Sight of Hiring Top Talent. She Wants to Help. via HR Brew
Majority of Employee Referrals Made During Work Hours via SHRM
How A Smart Watch May Lead To Unintended Concerns For Employers via California Labor & Employment Law Blog
U.S. Workers Are More Worried Than Hopeful About Future AI Use in the Workplace via Pew Research Center
ChatGPT vs Deepseek – Which Is a Better Sourcing Tool? via ERE
Democracy Dies, First, in the Workplace via In These Times
How Generative AI Is Pushing the Boundaries of User Interfaces via Reworked
Apple to Push for Free Speech Tests in Labor Case at Fifth Cir. via Bloomberg Law
Is the Workplace Less Friendly? Employees Say They Care Less About Having ‘Work Besties.’ via HR Dive
How Musk’s Efforts To Reduce the Federal Workforce Compare to Efforts in the 1990s via NPR
Cybersecurity Still Matters
Getting hacked is bad. Getting hacked and losing your job? That’s brutal.
A Disney employee just learned this the hard way after a hacker stole their passwords and work data, uncovered potential violations, and ultimately led to them being fired. The former employee is suing Disney, claiming he never accessed racy material on his work device.
Companies love to tell employees to “be careful” with security, but let’s be honest — individual vigilance only goes so far. If one mistake can cost someone their livelihood and a whole lot of sensitive data, maybe the real issue isn’t just user error, but how we design security in the first place.
Also, if your password is still password123 and you’re still downloading random stuff on the internet, consider this your sign to change your ways.
That’s it for this week!