A majority of Canadian employees want to be able to have “tough conversations” at work, but most don’t feel safe enough communicating heavy content to their managers.
This finding hails from “Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable at Work,” a new report from Achievers Workforce Institute.
As the Boomer and X generations leave the workforce, replacing them is a wave of Gen Z and Millennials, who are determined to blur the boundaries between work and life more than ever.
“Modern employees are completely rewriting the rulebook on employee-employer relationships and expectations,” says Caitlin Nobes, who functions as head of Workforce Research and Content at Achievers Workforce Institute.
Notes recalls the former standard: an unspoken rule that left work at work and home at home.
“But now, younger generations are urging their employers to make space for the uncomfortable, take a stance, and acknowledge and meet their multifaceted needs,” she says.
We know that young Canadian talent are all-aboard the hybrid-working train. But there are other corporate-culture differences between generations emerging.
Interestingly, younger employees are keen on their organizations taking public stands on world events—something corporations would have actively avoided doing in prior generations.
Two-thirds of employees believe younger generations have put more pressure on organizations to take a stance on world events and politics, according to the report, with younger generations nearly twice as likely to want their companies to engage in global events publicly.
“Taking a company-wide stance on global events and politics is difficult,” acknowledges Hannah Yardley, who serves as chief people and culture officer at Achievers, “especially when you have intersecting generations who have different perspectives on company publicity.”
If you do choose to foray into global events, she adds, “empower people leaders with tools and resources, create safe spaces, and support those who want to create space for life outside work in the workplace and for those that don’t.”
This approach will also adhere to the needs of employees “who want work to be a haven from personal obstacles and devastating headlines,” says Yardley.
Major differences asides, different generations see eye-to-eye on a few things, such as engaging in pleasant correspondence at work. Indeed, nearly 90% of employees in Canada desire “light, fun talks at work.”
“There is one stance employers can take based on the report’s data,” Yardley offers. “Almost universally, everyone agrees that employees want to be able to have fun or light conversations.”
To inspire friendly communication, the Achievers report suggests “employee connection tools,” noting how such technology “can increase retention by 36% and make employees 51% more likely to trust their company’s leaders to guide the organization through challenges.”
The report also suggests upskilling managers to prepare them to handle the shifting expectations of younger workers. For example, AWI data indicates that just one-quarter of managers have received sufficient training on having hard conversations with direct reports. And yet employees who feel recognized by their manager are twice as likely to have high trust and are almost twice as likely to feel safe having tough conversations with their manager, Achievers says.
Originally known as I Love Rewards, Achievers was founded by Razor Suleman in Toronto in 2002.
