By Shelley Friesen, founder and director – Melbourne Social Co.
When it comes to Millennial stereotypes, I tick just about every box.
Always taking flatlays of my food? Tick.
Can quote almost every line of Gilmore Girls? Tick.
Chunky necklaces and a French tuck? Tick.
About a month late to TikTok trends? Well, here’s where I deviate from the stereotype, thanks to the team of Gen Z employees that I work with.
I head up Melbourne Social Co, a social media agency that has been in business for 13 years. And while I identify as an elder Millennial, around 80% of our staff today fall into the Gen Z age bracket.
I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories about Gen Z. They’re lazy, unmotivated, don’t want to work in an office and don’t like to be told what to do. So how on earth am I managing to run a successful agency?
Yes, despite only being separated by a decade, there’s certainly a lot of differences between our generations. When I started my career around 20 years ago, hustle culture was at its peak. Working 60 hour weeks, constantly striving for a promotion, a long daily commute, pencil skirts and heels in the office (with a pair of flats in your bag to change into), and working through your lunch break (what lunch break?) was the norm.
Gen Z are the course correction for all of the above. They strive for work life balance and prioritise their wellbeing, they’re rarely motivated by money or fancy titles, they want to work flexibly and find passion and fulfilment in what they do. Actually, that sounds pretty great right?
Yes – however, the flip side to hustle culture does have its challenges when you’re running a busy business. If your staff are not motivated by money or titles, how do you get great results from this generation?
How can Millennial (and older) managers get the most out of their Gen Z team?
When it comes to social media, the pros to having a predominantly Gen Z team are clear. They get content, trends, the platform and the audience. They love authenticity and don’t crave perfection (unlike our Millennial generation who would take 200 selfies, then edit them until almost unrecognisable before even thinking about posting, more often than not just overthinking it and leaving the post in drafts).
To get the best results out of this generation, we need to tick the boxes that are meaningful to them.
At Melbourne Social Co, we prioritise work life balance and wellness, by ensuring staff are not working after hours, and by offering wellness incentives, such as an allowance to spend monthly on these activities, as well as yoga and meditation in the office.
We focus on understanding and acknowledging the diversity in the working styles of our team. Each staff member puts together a ‘How To Work With Me’ guide, which outlines how they like to work and be managed. We all study each other’s guides and have a compassionate, empathetic approach to communicating and working alongside each other.
We work flexibly and don’t force staff to work in the office five days a week. I’m a firm believer that if the work is being done to a high standard and on time, I don’t really care when and how it happens. That being said, we also prioritise working together at least two days a week in the office, because culture and collaboration is so important to us.
We don’t have a dress code or any strict corporate protocols. We encourage our team to express themselves creatively, through both the way they physically present and their working style. We encourage team members to build personal brands and to work on projects that inspire them.
We overcommunicate and provide context for everything. When it comes to working with Gen Z, there’s no room for grey area, and context is everything, so we make sure everything is clear and we do what we say we’re going to do.
We leave corporate hierarchy at the door, and all contribute meaningfully to projects and the business as a whole.
That’s not to say it’s a perfect formula, and just like I used to struggle to identify with my Gen X managers, I’m sure our Gen Z staff feel the same about me at times.
Generally speaking however, my experience in managing a Gen Z team has been incredibly positive, and I’m impressed everyday by their creativity and knowledge – particularly of the social media space and trends. I really do learn something new every day (you’ll even catch me saying ‘slay’ on the regular now – although I was about 12 months late to the trend).
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Top image: Melbourne Social Co.’s Shelley Friesen