Tag: writing

The Career Ladder Is Finished. Here’s What Gen Z Are Building Instead

For decades, career success had a shape everyone recognised. You started at entry level, you climbed, and you measured your progress in titles, pay rises, the size of your team and the size of your office. It was linear, hierarchical, and – for the generations who grew up with it – deeply motivating. Status was the incentive, and the ladder was the route.

That model is collapsing. In a recent #FromXtoZ podcast chat myself and Danielle Farage talked about some of the findings from a Deloitte survey of nearly 23,000 young workers across 44 countries.

Gen Z and Millennials aren’t mourning the loss of the career ladder. They’re building something entirely different in its place.

From Ladder to Web

The Deloitte research is striking not just for its scale but for the clarity of its findings. When asked about their career goals, only 6% of Gen Z respondents cited reaching a leadership role. Let that sit for a moment. The entire architecture of the traditional workplace – the management tiers, the promotions, the performance reviews oriented around “progression” – has been built on the assumption that people wanted to move up. For most of Gen Z, that assumption is simply wrong.

What they want instead is harder to map on an organisational chart but no less purposeful: a web of experiences that weaves together skills development, wellbeing, financial security, and meaningful impact.

Success, for this generation, isn’t a destination at the top of a structure. It’s a living, evolving combination of things that matter – and that combination looks different for every person.

This isn’t aimlessness. It’s a rational response to the world they’ve inherited.

The Incentive Has Changed

Previous generations climbed because climbing worked. A promotion meant more money, more status, a bigger car, a better postcode. The rewards were tangible and socially legible. You knew you’d arrived because other people could see it.

For Gen Z, many of those rewards have either diminished or disappeared entirely. Housing markets have made the traditional milestones of adulthood feel remote for many young workers. Corporate loyalty has eroded in both directions – companies have spent decades demonstrating that employees are expendable, and Gen Z has noticed.

Why sacrifice your wellbeing climbing up a ladder when there’s no guarantee the rungs won’t be pulled out from under you?

Into that vacuum has come a different kind of motivation. This is a generation that grew up knowing that careers in purpose-driven organisations, with values-led work, are not just idealistic fantasies – they are real, viable options. The awareness of what’s possible has fundamentally reshaped what people are willing to work towards.

Learning as a Lifestyle, Not an Event

One of the most revealing findings from the Deloitte research concerns how Gen Z approaches learning. 70% say they develop skills on a weekly basis, and 67% invest time outside of work to keep pace with their field. This is not a generation waiting to be trained. It’s a generation that has internalised the reality of working in a world where the skills required today may be obsolete in eighteen months.

Context matters here. Gen Z is entering the workforce knowing they are likely to have around thirteen different careers across their lifetime. They are also the first generation to build their careers during a genuine AI revolution, with two thirds worried that automation will eliminate jobs and 61% concerned it will close off traditional entry-level pathways. The anxiety is real. But so is the response: learn constantly, broaden relentlessly, and never assume that what you know today is enough for tomorrow.

Alongside technical and digital skills, the research is clear that soft skills are considered essential by this generation. 85% identify communication, empathy, leadership and networking as must-haves – a recognition that in a world where AI handles more and more of the tactical work, distinctly human capabilities become more – not less – valuable.

The Management Gap Nobody Is Talking About

While most of the discussion around Gen Z at work focuses on what young people want, the Deloitte research also finds something equally important on the other side of the relationship: managers are failing the people who report to them – not out of indifference, but because the system won’t let them do otherwise.

The data shows that managers currently spend around 40% of their time firefighting and only 13% on developing their people. This is a structural failure with generational consequences. Gen Z is the cohort most openly hungry for mentorship, guidance, and the kind of hands-on development that comes from working alongside someone who will bring you into the room, explain the dynamics, and help you navigate the complexity. That “second row” learning – sitting in on a client meeting, being invited into a senior conversation not because you’re needed but because you’ll grow from it – is increasingly rare, and its absence is felt.

What This Means for Organisations

The companies that will thrive with Gen Z talent are those willing to retire the ladder as their primary organisational metaphor. That means rethinking how progression is defined and communicated, building genuine flexibility into career pathways, and investing in managers who have the time and skills to actually develop people rather than simply manage output.

It also means taking seriously the values that young workers are looking for. Purpose is not a soft extra that Gen Z want alongside their salary – for many, it is the primary reason they choose one employer over another, and the first thing that erodes when the day-to-day reality of a job fails to live up to its promise.

The Career Ladder had a good run. But the Career Web is already being built, whether organisations choose to support it or not.

You can check my full podcast chat with Danielle here – https://open.spotify.com/episode/26Bau1QR1cnMQIBUfQNWS8?si=cbce79a111e345f9 or through the image below:

Fostering Intergenerational Harmony: Turning Age Diversity into Team Strength

Workplaces are becoming more age-diverse than ever before, leaving organisations with a different kind of diversity challenge – how to ensure different generations collaborate effectively without friction.

Regular followers will know I debate these topics on an ongoing basis with Danielle Farage on our From X to Z podcast, but for today’s newsletter I’m looking at recent research published by the The British Psychological Society which looked at how age-related tensions develop – and more importantly – how they can be reduced through meaningful contact, inclusive culture, and thoughtful team design.

The Roots of Intergenerational Conflict

With up to five generations now sharing workplaces, it’s no surprise that tensions can arise between older and younger employees. The BPS study defined intergenerational conflict as disagreement, friction, or tension between employees of different age groups –  and links it to reduced team performance, wellbeing, and satisfaction.

But these conflicts aren’t simply about differences in work habits or communication styles. They’re rooted in social categorisation – the instinctive way humans group people into “us” and “them.” When workers feel that their age group is undervalued or discriminated against, this perception – known as Perceived Age Discrimination (PAD) – tends to heighten awareness of generational divides.

This usually results in defensiveness, stereotyping, and more frequent clashes – both about tasks (how work should be done) and relationships (how people relate day-to-day).

The researchers emphasised that both younger and older employees experience Perceived Age Discrimination – younger workers may feel dismissed as inexperienced, while older ones may feel sidelined or outdated. Either way, the sense of unfair treatment fuels tension.

When Work Structures Make Things Worse

Conflict doesn’t occur in isolation – it’s how work is structured that matters. The study found that task interdependence (the extent to which employees rely on one another to complete their work) can intensify conflict when Perceived Age Discrimination is present. In highly interdependent teams, employees have no choice but to collaborate closely. When age-based discrimination or mistrust already exists, this enforced co-operation can magnify frustration and disengagement.

However, interdependence isn’t the enemy – it can also become a powerful connector, provided the right conditions for collaboration are in place. The key lies in the quality of contact between colleagues.

The Power of Positive Contact

The BPS researchers highlight good quality, cross-age contact as one of the most effective ways to foster harmony. This means natural, voluntary, and respectful interactions between age groups – allowing people to learn more about each other as individuals, and not as stereotypes. Positive contact helps break down what’s known as “ingroup” and “outgroup” thinking, reducing perceived discrimination and strengthening trust.

Unsurprisingly (well, to me anyway!) the study found that when cross-age contact is high in quality, the benefits of task interdependence are amplified. Working closely together under these conditions doesn’t heighten conflict – it actually deepens mutual understanding and cooperation.

What Organisations Need to Do

The takeaway for HR and business leaders is clear: you can’t manage intergenerational dynamics through policy alone – you need to build connection. This means:

Creating structured opportunities for intergenerational collaboration that go beyond task assignments – for instance, mentoring partnerships, reverse mentoring, or cross-age project teams.

Training managers to spot signs of perceived age discrimination and address them through inclusive communication and recognition practices.

Celebrate age diversity as a strategic asset, not a challenge – blending experience with fresh perspectives creates stronger problem-solving and innovation.

The researchers concluded that the goal isn’t to minimise differences, but to turn them into a source of strength.

When employees of all ages feel respected and connected, organisations gain not only workplace harmony but also resilience and creativity – which are the hallmarks of a truly multigenerational workplace.

How are you approaching intergenerational harmony in your organisation? Let me know…