Have We Failed to Prepare Gen Z Properly for the Workforce?

Have We Failed to Prepare Gen Z Properly for the Workforce?  NYU Professor Tessa West tackles this question in today's Wall Street Journal.  She argues that many recent college graduates do not have the social skills required to communicate clearly, manage conflict, and respond well to constructive feedback. She argues that they lack these skills for three main reasons:

1. West points out that a substantially lower percentage of younger workers have experienced a romantic relationship. Therefore, they have not developed the social competencies that are cultivated through these types of complex relationships. Those competencies (such as how to express emotions and deal with conflict) often are critical for effective workplace interactions.

2. Online education has harmed their ability to collaborate effectively on in-person teams.

3. The heavy reliance on digital communication (texts and instant messages) have made them unprepared to handle high-stakes interactions such as key presentations and in-person meetings, as well as unplanned moments of engagement with their managers.

West has some helpful suggestions for improving the ability of younger workers to navigate the workforce. I particularly liked her thoughts about creating a "culture of asking." Here's an excerpt:

Create a culture of asking. Anxiety leads us to retreat, rather than asking how to approach situations. There will be many times when new employees are unsure of whether the criticism they faced was normal or toxic, if they should approach the team first or their boss over an interpersonal conflict, and what “casual Friday” really means. Leaders should showcase asking. Start with established employees doing it—asking for clarity over jargon in a meeting is a good place to start. People should feel comfortable asking, “Was this feedback negative from the boss? I can’t tell.” They will build social connections while learning the landscape.

CEOs: We Want Coaching, But We Don't Receive it.

Stanford has collaborated with the Miles Group to release its 2013 Executive Coaching Survey.   The findings are quite interesting.  According to the Stanford website, the report indicates that, "Nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive coaching or leadership advice from outside consultants or coaches, and almost half of senior executives are not receiving any either."  However, it seems that almost every CEO responded that they welcomed outside coaching and advice, and they thought it was worthwhile.   Huh?  So, you think having an external sounding board would be a good thing... what exactly is stopping you?  Is the board prohibiting you from reaching out to get this outside advice and counsel?  Can you not afford it?   It seems that the CEOs are telling us what they think we want to hear, but when asked about actual practice at their firms, they reveal the truth - many of them are not reaching out to make sure that they receive the kind of feedback, advice, and external input that could be very helpful. 

Now interestingly, most of the CEOs who do receive coaching made this happen on their own; they were not forced to do so by their boards.  Thus, some CEOs do see the benefit, and they have reached out to find coaching that can help them. 

In what areas did the CEOs indicate that they need the most help?  Conflict management ranks very high for them.  Since I do a ton of work in this area, I was quite pleased to see that executives value this competency.   I would hope, though, that they recognize that sometimes the key challenge for CEOs is the lack of conflict in key decision-making processes; too often people do not raise dissenting voices in the presence of a powerful chief executive.

Finally, the survey responses indicated that boards of directors are very concerned about talent development practices within firms.  They want their CEOs focused on developing future leaders, and putting good succession plans in place.  That's good news, as we see too many companies left searching externally for a CEO when a sudden need emerges because they have not put a good talent development and executive succession process in place.