The Surprising Findings About Gen Z and Millennials’ Strengths and Weaknesses at Work

There’s no shortage of stereotypes about each generation. Millennials are lazy, Baby Boomers are stuck in their ways, Gen Z doesn’t want to work. We’ve even previously explored generational differences in a study on what drives happiness at work for each generation. 

While some stereotypes are myths, it isn’t surprising that different generations have different values and strengths. 

Cangrade measures and uses data about soft skills, competencies, motivations, and traits to predict employee success and retention, so companies can better hire, manage, and develop their employees. Recently, we decided to conduct a study to learn more about the soft skills driving job applicants today to help companies better understand, and manage, their talent.

About the study

In this study, you will find a list of the three strongest and weakest competencies for Gen Z and Millennials at work. Each competency will include what this competency entails and commentary. I will then outline the themes that tie these competencies together to provide valuable insight for those of us who hire, manage, and develop talent from these generations.

In this study, we measured the strongest and the weakest professional competencies in over 100,000 jobseekers, across different US industries, from our proprietary data. The demographics of Cangrade’s users are strongly skewed towards younger generations (i.e. Millennials and Gen Z) due to the types of jobs our customers hire for. Older generations (Gen X and Boomers) have a much smaller presence in our data. Therefore, the data we reviewed best reflects Millenials and Gen Z’s competencies at work.

Here are the findings.

Top Strengths of Millennials and Gen Z at Work

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is our awareness of both our own and others’ inner states, our understanding of how emotions are impacted by outside factors, and our ability to manage emotions to create a healthy and productive working environment.

This is perhaps the least surprising of all findings. Younger generations have been raised with much more attention to their emotional needs, and it has paid off. Now we have a generation of people that are much better at understanding their own emotions and the emotions of others. They are better at empathizing and understanding the other side. This is extremely welcome news for a society that desperately needs these skills.

Stress Management

Stress Management involves behaviors and mindsets that allow you to maintain focus and avoid experiencing negative or counterproductive emotions, even under stressful conditions.

There is certainly a high correlation between Emotional Intelligence and Stress Management skills. The latter is most likely an effect of the prior, but not only. Younger generations developed a coping mechanism against stress due to its presence in their lives from their early years. Millennials and Gen Z will certainly make good use of it at work. 

Facilitating Change

Facilitating Change is the enactment of behaviors that support innovation and the adoption of organizational changes that will improve an organization’s effectiveness or efficiency. These behaviors involve not only personal innovation opportunities but also encouraging others to drive and accept innovation.

Younger people are often criticized for not taking the initiative, not doing enough to change the status quo. The data says that they are fully capable and willing to do that. So maybe the problem is that older generations do not trust them to do so.

Top Weaknesses of Millennials and Gen Z at Work

Adaptability

Adaptability is the tendency to change one’s behavior and communication style in response to different people and situations, to be open to new ways of doing things, and to approach variety and change with a positive attitude and a fresh outlook.

The opposite of Adaptability is Authenticity. Being low on Adaptability (high on Authenticity) is not an exclusively negative quality. But it’s a double-edged sword. Unlike their older counterparts, Millennials and Gen-Z are not easily molded into corporate cultures and don’t turn into different people at work. They bring their authentic selves to the office. Of course, in some situations, adjusting your presentation and communication style is advisable. 

Focus

Focus is one’s skill at directing and maintaining attention on the tasks that are most important, meaningful, and beneficial.

Here is an unequivocally problematic low level of a critical competency. It’s difficult to accomplish anything, no matter how good your intentions and capabilities, if you can not single-handedly focus on the task at hand. It’s easy to blame social media and the attention economy for this (justifiably so), but organizations must invest in training their employees on this critical skill whenever they identify an insufficient level of it.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking is the process of evaluating information, situations, and assumptions to ensure sound judgment and appropriate responses. 

From all the findings, I’m most surprised and disheartened by this one. Not only are we living in an increasingly complex world with an abundance of information, but the rise of AI creates a whole new class of challenges. Critical Thinking is the only thing that stands between truth and fiction. There is no question that the low level of this skill in younger generations is a huge problem, not only for each of them individually but also for the organizations they are a part of and for society as a whole. This is alarming. 

Themes and Conclusion

So what can we tell about the younger generation of Americans as a whole from this study? 

1. Gen Z and Millennials are the best at being who they are at work, and they have a lot to offer. They are uniquely prepared to deal with the challenges of our time and ready to take charge. We should not be afraid to trust them to do it.
2. In a world where more and more technical and mundane tasks are automated by AI, human work is going to increasingly involve dealing with people-related tasks. Nobody is better equipped for this type of work than these younger generations.
3. Even though it’s likely that the demand for the type of jobs requiring focused work will go down, it’s premature to talk about the end of focused work. Unsurprisingly, younger generations have quite a low level of Focus on average, but I’m not concerned that we will run out of professionals able to do focused work. For employers, the important part is identifying when this skill is needed and paying special attention to it knowing that its availability is rather scarce. 
4. The most sobering insight. Emotional Intelligence is extremely valuable, but it’s not a replacement for General Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is not the right skill for helping us correctly evaluate facts and events. Critical Thinking is. Without an accurate evaluation of reality, no organization or society can function. Millennials and Gen Z scoring low on this vital skill is very worrisome news. We have to use every opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of Critical Thinking and take measures to improve it. The question of how to do it deserves dedicated attention, but here are some high-level ideas:
   • Promote a culture of inquiry
   • Provide continuous learning opportunities
   • Encourage diverse perspectives
   • Implement regular feedback and peer reviews
   • Foster an environment of trust and respect

These findings are a generalization of these two generations. In no way, is this an accurate description of any individual member of these generations, nor a team of individuals. Any organization interested in improving the abilities of its teams and individuals, keeping up with the fast-moving requirements of the market and the society, needs to invest in gaining these insights about their own talent.

Discover how Cangrade can help you discover what drives your talent. Request a demo today.