Internet corners that discuss the world of work have been iced-coffee’d to death lately. The debate about whether job candidates can show up with an icy beverage in hand has exploded on Instagram and TikTok, but also Facebook and LinkedIn. Generation Zers have shared their opinion on the coffee incident, as have millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers.
But more than being a conversation in the pop culture zeitgeist, this discussion has illuminated, yet again, the cultural divide between generations. Research firm The Conversation published insights on Friday about how Gen Z communicates in the workplace — so disparate from previous generations that older workers have to “decode” their language.
Noting the effect of COVID-19 lockdown, remote work and even faces being obscured by masks, Boston University facilitator and researcher Jeff LeBlanc wrote, “The result isn’t necessarily that Gen Z employees communicate better or worse with their bosses and colleagues than previous generations did. I argue that they have simply learned to do so in a very different environment.”
Taking a granular look at phone and video call etiquette, business leaders at telecommunications provider TollFreeForwarding.com released a report last week stating that “younger workers are bringing casual digital habits into professional calls that make them look less competent without realizing it,” per a press release.
“For a generation that grew up communicating through screens, adapting those everyday digital habits to a professional environment isn’t always as intuitive as you might expect,” Jason O’Brien, the firm’s chief operating officer, said in a Sept. 22 statement.
Further complicating this learning curve for Gen Z is artificial intelligence.
“We can now produce polished emails, summarize meetings and generate information faster than ever. But more communication does not guarantee more understanding,” LeBlanc said. He added that workplace norms have often been seen as common sense, but that “Gen Z is learning theirs in a very different world.”
