People leaders should focus on change management strategies as millennials, and eventually Gen Zers, take on managerial and leadership roles.

Move over, Boomers and Gen Xers. Millennials and Gen Zers are ready to take over.

Nearly 80% of the global workforce will be made up of millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha by 2034, according to the World Economic Forum. And this year, millennials surpassed Gen X as the largest share of managers for the first time in the US, Glassdoor research found.

“Every time there’s a new generation that enters the workforce, there’s always this shift of style,” said Matt Poepsel, VP and godfather of talent optimization at talent software company the Predictive Index. “Even when Boomers entered…They were saying, ‘What do we do about this manager who’s showing up with bell-bottom jeans and mutton chops?’”

Now that millennials have transitioned into leadership and managerial roles, and Gen Zers are right on their heels, people leaders will need to adjust strategies to cater to their differences and preferences.

How will these generations be different? Every generation faces similar challenges entering the workplace and advancing their careers, Poepsel told HR Brew, but they also have distinct characteristics and experiences.

“About every 15 years, you have this interesting dynamic where people have a similar set of lived experiences. They’re contemporaries, but they’re also a reaction against what came before,” he said, later adding, “When Gen Z showed up, they said, ‘We want to be heard’...and ‘We want you to change some things around here.’’”

Gen Z leaders will likely be more accountable and authentic than those from generations prior, Olivia Meyer, a member of the Gen Z networking group The Z Suite, told HR Brew. “We are a generation that, I think, is known for holding each other accountable,” she said. “We call out things that we don’t like, or different campaigns or different companies where we can clearly tell that they’re not being authentic.”

Poepsel agrees with Meyer. Gen Zers want the workplace to be real, authentic, and honest, he said, because they don’t want to pretend there aren’t issues. “They’re talking to each other about their diagnoses, and their dosages, and everything else, and they come to work, and we’re supposed to pretend like we don’t have any mental health issues at all?” Poepsel said.

Gen Z and millennials will lead differently, and it’s evident in their approach to work, said Tara Salinas, a professor of business ethics at the University of San Diego. Millennials, for instance, are known for their openness to new ideas, according to Salinas, while Gen Zers are more tech-savvy and adaptable.

Read the full article here: