The team I manage are Millennials and Gen Z (I’m a slightly older Xer, born a couple of weeks before Kurt Cobain).
Here is a problem some folks might not have considered that doesn’t really have anything to do with the “nature” of the younger generations. I fight very hard for flexible hours, better compensation, scheduling flexibility, etc. I do not tell my folks how to do something, I leave that to them, and they’ll generally find a better way than the way I initially imagined. Someone needs a day off or to come in/leave at a different time or to WFH, I never ask why.
And generally our CEO has given me what I want, and I can give my people what they want. Admittedly, this is in part due to the nature of what my team does and the visible quality of our work (not IT, btw). So far so good.
The problem is other managers. Other Xers and a couple of Boomers. They see my department getting all this stuff, and they start getting paranoid their departments (or other companies; we are a conglomerate) will start demanding the same. And they do not understand WFH, worse they are afraid of it. Likewise with all the QoL and work/life balance stuff. And if their people found out about the raises my people got, oh boy would that be a problem for the other managers.
That’s often where the real fight inside companies is, between managers vying with each to determine which way the company will go, or to, at least, to keep their part of it a nice ecosystem to work in. Fear of change is a big factor.
The team I manage are Millennials and Gen Z (I’m a slightly older Xer, born a couple of weeks before Kurt Cobain).
Here is a problem some folks might not have considered that doesn’t really have anything to do with the “nature” of the younger generations. I fight very hard for flexible hours, better compensation, scheduling flexibility, etc. I do not tell my folks how to do something, I leave that to them, and they’ll generally find a better way than the way I initially imagined. Someone needs a day off or to come in/leave at a different time or to WFH, I never ask why.
And generally our CEO has given me what I want, and I can give my people what they want. Admittedly, this is in part due to the nature of what my team does and the visible quality of our work (not IT, btw). So far so good.
The problem is other managers. Other Xers and a couple of Boomers. They see my department getting all this stuff, and they start getting paranoid their departments (or other companies; we are a conglomerate) will start demanding the same. And they do not understand WFH, worse they are afraid of it. Likewise with all the QoL and work/life balance stuff. And if their people found out about the raises my people got, oh boy would that be a problem for the other managers.
That’s often where the real fight inside companies is, between managers vying with each to determine which way the company will go, or to, at least, to keep their part of it a nice ecosystem to work in. Fear of change is a big factor.