Why Gen Z is redefining workplace productivity

Gen Z and millennial workplace trends: Every generation enters the workplace carrying its own mix of bias, expectation, and baggage. Yet, the gap between what organisations demand and what younger professionals value has never seemed wider than it does today.

Gen Z and millennials are not rejecting work — they are redefining it. They want meaning, flexibility, and inclusion. They seek work that feels personal and leadership that feels human. But many legacy organisations still speak a language shaped by another era, one that prizes control over curiosity and conformity over creativity.

READ I Global liquidity trap: Why every asset is rising together

Gen Z workplace: Redefining motivation

The result is a quiet productivity challenge that cannot be fixed by dashboards or performance reviews. It is not about hours worked or targets met. It is about energy. Gen Z and millennial workforce is not disengaged because it is entitled. Of course, there are those who act entitled. But largely the workforce is disengaged because it is uninspired. When organisations insist on rigid systems while the world outside moves fluidly, they drain the very curiosity and initiative that they claim to value.

In many large firms, creativity is treated as a campaign, not a culture. Employees are encouraged to “think outside the box,” but punished when they question what is inside it. Hierarchies are still steep, feedback still travels one way, and experimentation still feels risky. For a generation that grew up in ecosystems where voice and visibility are instant — from social media to start-ups — these corporate environments feel stifling.

Gen Z and millennial professionals today crave something older models rarely offered — psychological safety. They want to be able to speak up without being labelled. They want to see leaders who listen, not only those who decide. They want flexibility not as a perk, but as proof of trust. Most of all, they want a sense that their work adds up to something larger than transactions. Purpose is not a marketing word to them.

I often meet Gen Z and millennial managers who tell me, “We don’t mind hard work. We mind meaningless work.” That sentence captures the generational shift. The desire for purpose is not about vanity. It is about belonging. When people believe their contribution has meaning, they give more of themselves. But when they feel reduced to roles and reports, their creativity withdraws quietly.

Employee engagement: From compliance to creativity

Legacy organisations have built their success on efficiency and scale. Their systems are designed to reduce error, not to encourage exploration. Compliance was once the backbone of reliability. But in today’s world of constant disruption, compliance alone has become too slow a muscle. The question for legacy institutions is not whether structure still matters — it does — but whether that structure leaves space for human imagination to breathe.

To bridge this gap, organisations must first reframe what productivity means. In the industrial age, productivity was about repetition. In the knowledge age, it is about reinvention. Counting hours or attendance no longer captures value. What matters is engagement — the discretionary energy employees choose to invest beyond what is mandatory. That energy comes from autonomy, not authority.

This does not mean abandoning discipline. It means shifting from obedience to ownership. When leaders treat employees as adults capable of choice, they invite responsibility rather than enforce compliance. Flexible work, for instance, is not a threat to control. It is a test of trust. Teams that are trusted to design how they deliver often deliver more.

Inclusion, too, needs to move from rhetoric to daily practice. Younger employees expect representation, voice, and fairness. But inclusion is not only about identity. It is about participation — the feeling that one’s perspective can shape outcomes. Many legacy firms hire for diversity but manage for conformity. They celebrate variety of background, but not variety of thought. True inclusion allows respectful disagreement and multiple ways of contributing. It turns meetings into dialogues, not monologues.

For leaders, this generational shift can feel unsettling. They grew up in cultures where hierarchy defined respect, where control ensured predictability. To them, flexibility may appear as lack of discipline and informality as irreverence. Yet the new workplace values authenticity over deference. It asks leaders to show vulnerability, to admit uncertainty, and to listen before instructing. That is not weakness. It is adaptation.

Leaders who succeed in this era are those who can translate purpose into practice. They do not merely tell younger employees why the organisation exists. They show them how their role connects to that larger story. They create rituals that make purpose visible — open forums, mentoring circles, cross-functional projects. They measure not only results, but renewal — how people grow, not just what they deliver.

Building bridges between generations

The task for organisations is to build a bridge between generations within their workforce — stability that enables possibility. That bridge begins with empathy. When a young employee asks for flexibility, they are not rejecting commitment. They are asking for dignity. When they seek inclusion, they are not asking for special treatment. They are asking to be seen. When they talk about purpose, they are not chasing grand ideals. They are searching for connection in a fragmented world.

Legacy organisations have the experience, infrastructure, and wisdom that younger firms often lack. What they risk losing is agility of mind. To stay relevant, they must let curiosity back into the boardroom and humility back into leadership.

Gen Z and millennial workforce does not want to be managed. It wants to be mentored. It does not want to be told what to do. It wants to understand why it matters. It does not reject hierarchy entirely. It just wants humanity at every level of it.

If legacy organisations can learn to balance purpose with performance, and creativity with compliance, they will find that this generation is not a challenge to be managed but a catalyst to be unleashed. The productivity problem is not a shortage of effort. It is a shortage of meaning.

Five-Point Checklist: Bridging the Productivity Challenge

Redefine productivity: Move beyond attendance and hours. Measure engagement, learning, and initiative as key indicators of value.

Build trust through flexibility: Treat flexibility as a signal of trust, not a loss of control. Empower teams to design how they deliver outcomes.

Make inclusion active, not symbolic: Go beyond representation. Encourage open dialogue, diverse opinions, and genuine participation in decisions.

Connect purpose to daily work: Translate the organisation’s purpose into clear, visible actions. Help every employee see how their role contributes to the larger mission.

Mentor, don’t just manage: Replace top-down supervision with coaching conversations. Create a culture where questions are welcomed and curiosity is rewarded.

In the end, the bridge between generations will not be built by policy but by perspective. The organisations that can listen across age and attitude will discover that the new work ethic is not about rebellion. And those that learn this early will not only retain their young talent but rediscover their own sense of purpose along the way.