Are Companies Becoming The New Helicopter Parents For Gen Z?
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If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
It’s clear that things like well-being programs are a huge focus area and they are becoming broader and broader in terms of scale and definition. Well-being for many organizations is now including everything from gyms, food, therapy, counseling, financial planning, etc. Basically anything and everything that can be considered to improve the quality of life for an employee.
This sounds noble and commendable but there’s a part of me that is skeptical.
Over the past few years there has been a lot of research coming out on how Gen Z is struggling. 42% of Gen Z are diagnosed with a mental health condition and 45% of Gen Z say they are burned out at work (Gallup). Another study came out which highlighted that 26% of Gen Z prospects are brining their parents to job interviews.
This article from SHRM sums things up nicely and it’s titled, Generation Z: ‘The Loneliest, Least Resilient Demographic Alive.’
Who is to blame for this? Many people say the parents who have coddled their kids. Helicopter parents who catered to their every need, solved all of their problems for them, constantly asked them how they were doing and feeling, told them they were special and superstars, that they can do no wrong, and that all of their ideas were brilliant.
This is the generation that is going to be taking over the workforce and my fear is that as they leave their parent’s homes, the organizations they work for will assume the new role of helicopter parent.
Let’s go a bit deeper behind the velvet rope of the paywall.
I know I singled out Gen Z, but the idea of being a helicopter parent is actually relevant to anyone and everyone with a job.
Here’s a cartoon I loved from Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation that I think speaks volumes to the workforce, even though the book is focused on parenting.
Why is it always the responsibility of the organization to take care of your well-being, purpose, meaning, engagement, etc?
Is it not enough for a company to focus on giving you a job that pays you well, a leader who treats you well, the opportunity to learn and grow, and the chance to advance into a more senior role?
What if you’re someone who makes no effort to in your personal life to have friends, exercise, eat healthy, develop hobbies, look after your finances, or take care of yourself? Can you just show up to work and say “I’m not engaged, I’m lonely, and I have no purpose, solve these problems for me?”
I mentioned I’ve been interviewing CHROs at some of the world’s top companies about this and they all acknowledge that this is something they are struggling with trying to figure out. What is the right balance between what the organization should do and be responsible for versus what the employee should do and be responsible for?
A lot of this happened as a result of the pandemic. Organizations made tremendous investments in well-being programs as so many people struggled for several years. But as many CHROs acknowledged, once you give something to employees, it’s very hard to take it away, so a lot of the well-being programs stayed in place and kept growing and growing.
Another challenge and one of the things I asked CHROs is why they keep making these investments, and one of the top reasons is because their competitors are doing it. So we have this ending snowball that keeps getting bigger and bigger.
But at what point does it become too much?
I still contend that employees at your company primarily care about just four things:
- They want a job that pays well.
- They want to work for a great leader.
- They want the ability to learn and grow.
- They want the opportunity to advance.
The other things like purpose, meaning, recognition, etc. are a by product of the above four. If you company didn’t have any engagement or well-being programs but did a great job at the four things above, I’d bet your employees would be far more engaged compared to a company that did the above four things poorly, yet gave you access to a therapist.
So what does this mean for all of the well-being and engagement programs out there?
I don’t believe they are inherently bad and in many situations they are done with good intentions, but then again, helicopter parents believe the same thing when they are coddling their children.
I think a few things need to happen.
- Review what programs you want to make accessible from a convenience perspective as opposed to programs you want to completely fund for your employees.
- Focus on the 4 areas above first, before adding in and emphasizing the other programs.
- Use the language of the business throughout the organization and emphasize things like competence, hard work, and meritocracy.
- Constantly revisit the programs you are offering and why you are offering them for your people.
- Be clear in your communication around what your organization values, cares about, and measures.
- Emphasize the need for your employees to be accountable and responsible for their lives and that the company is not a parent.
The next few years in this space will be very interesting to watch and pay attention to and I know this is an ongoing and growing concern for CHROs and people leaders around the world.
If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
