Why the office needs to embrace Gen Z's work attitude

As the return-to-office trend continues, going 'phygital' may meet the demands of both Gens X and Z halfway

- Somak Ghoshal

A couple of months ago, I was conducting a workshop on behavioral skills with a multigenerational workforce at a Delhi-based organization, when the conversation turned to Gen Z and their work ethic. Given the diversity of the cohort in terms of age, tenure and experience, the overall tone of the discussion was respectful, though not without a certain edge.

People counted as Gen Z are, broadly speaking, those born between 1997 and 2012. The stereotype of an employee from this generation in white-collar jobs is someone who puts a premium on mental health over ruthless productivity; prefers to work remotely, or as a digital nomad, instead of going into office five-six days a week to collaborate with their colleagues in person; and is transparent, often to a fault, about their demands and views. Versions of these ideas were aired by the cohort, too—and they were not unique in harboring them.

In my experience of training hundreds of professionals from enterprises across India in the past few years, opinion gets invariably divided in the room about the decorum of Gen Z behavior.

As a Gen X-er with the mindset of a Gen Z, I tend to find the parameters of employee behavior, internalized and perpetuated in the corporate world for decades, disturbing, even absurd.