This week at work I was given the task of training someone on a client that I have been working since the day I started. I enjoy working for this client as they fill my day with something to do. Sadly, this client is being handed over to someone else on my team. My manager advised me to sit with this person to show them how to label and list items for reporting even though everything I do is written in detailed instructions (by me). I enjoy training and my manager likes the way I train (her words). However, after “trying” to train this person, I am no longer willing to train another Gen Zer. Nope! Not gonna happen!
From the moment I sat down to assist in showing her how to label the report, I got an attitude. She rolled her eyes before I even sat down. As I’m showing her what needs to be done, I also provided tips on how to use excel to make the task easier. She snapped at me and said, “Just let me do it my way.” Fine, no problem. I continue to train, and she begins to behave as if she is bored. She sighs. She “ugh’s”. She “hurumph’s”. She is visibly and audibly annoyed. I don’t know if it is the training that annoys her, having to learn something new, or if she is simply annoyed by me. Either way, she was rude and disrespectful of someone trying to assist. I give one more instruction and she blurts out that she’ll figure it out later because now she doesn’t feel well. I said OKAY and I walked away.
Now let’s move forward to Friday. Friday, I was given the task of reviewing her reports to make sure everything was labelled accurately. I noticed that she deleted rows on the report. There is absolutely no need to remove these rows as deleting them just takes up time and makes the report look very cluttered. I advised that there is no need to delete these rows and just leave them in. Before I could even finish my sentence, she, once again, snapped at me saying, “this is just how I do it, OKAY?” Her voice dripping with attitude and disrespect. I asked, “Why are you speaking to me that way?” Her response, “I just don’t need all your advice on how to do something. Telling me how to use a tool in excel is not needed. I will do it my own way.” Now, the old me would have snapped back. However, recently I have been working on controlling what or how I speak to others to not offend (all that Gen Z junk). So, instead of speaking back to this individual, I raised my hand as if to concede, and I walked away. At this point, I took the issue to my managers.
I hate being the one that reports issues with a co-worker. I do everything I can to avoid “ratting out” a team member. However, when I am publicly disrespected after that person has been told to listen to my advice, I will not stand by and let that person speak down to me. And this is for all people – not just Gen Zers. But here is what I have been seeing – Gen Z has no work ethic. They take zero responsibility for their behavior. They feel entitled to more money with less work. They expect raises based on how long they have been in a position instead of raises based on hard work and skill. They do not take advice from anyone, even management. They act as the victim when they do not complete a project on time or are made to do something outside of their scope of work. I overheard two of my team members talk about how they hope to be promoted to team lead. But my question is – how can they be promoted when they never show initiative or motivation within their current position? What happened to working hard? I work hard because I know it can pay off in the end. My managers will see my work endeavors long before they see the work of someone that put zero effort into that work.
This situation that I was in made me ask myself, “Are all gen Zers this bad, or am I just this old?” After doing some research I have concluded that the answer is both – generation Z has zero work ethic, and I am too old to accept that this is the way the world is headed. This also makes me want to research other countries to see if they are having the same issues with their generation Z age group or is the US just special to be raising entitled, bratty children? But that answer is for another blog at another time. Right now, I need to focus on how to work with Gen Zers so that I do not land myself in jail for physical assault. I am disheartened by the way generation Z is treating the prior generations. But part of me is also blaming our generations for not teaching our children the meaning of hard work and why it is important. It seems that Gen Z wants to reap the rewards before the work has even started. If this is the direction our future is going, then I fear for our future. This is what we get for handing out participation trophies instead of teaching them what it means to work hard and earn it!!
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