Why leaders and Gen Z keep missing each other (and how to bridge it)
Short version: A new whitepaper from Suzy Welch (NYU Stern/Becoming You Labs) and sociologist Daniel B. Davis finds a sharp mismatch between what hiring managers prioritize and what Gen Z actually values. Only 2% of Gen-Z respondents hold all three “most-desired” employer values in their top five. That’s not a skills gap. It’s a values gap. becomingyoulabs.com+1
What employers say they want
Across 2,100 U.S. hiring managers (knowledge industries), three values dominate:
- Achievement (visible success) — ~30%
- Scope (learning + action) — ~23%
- Workcentrism (comfort with hard work) — ~22%
Together, these account for ~75% of hiring managers’ top priorities. becomingyoulabs.com
What Gen Z says they want
Gen Z’s most salient themes lean toward well-being, authenticity, and service (e.g., Eudemonia, Non-sibi/altruism, Voice/authenticity). And even when Gen Z does hold employer-preferred values, many say their ideal life would dial them down:
- 61% show negative variance on Achievement (they feel pressure to over-index on it in real life, and would prefer less).
- 37% show negative variance on Workcentrism.
- 27% show negative variance on Scope. becomingyoulabs.com+1
Bottom line: Only ~2% of Gen Z have all three employer-preferred values (Achievement, Scope, Workcentrism) in their top five. Most are optimizing for balance, authenticity, and altruism—while employers are screening for performance-visibility and pace. becomingyoulabs.com
Why this matters (People • Process • Profit)
- People: Value misfit drives disengagement and churn; replacing a mis-hire can cost 50–60% of annual salary directly (and far more when indirect costs are included). becomingyoulabs.com+1
- Process: When teams name and align values up-front, performance standards become clearer, candidates self-select better, and onboarding friction drops. becomingyoulabs.com+1
- Profit: Competing blindly for the 2% is expensive. Designing roles and team mixes for partial fits is often the smarter play. becomingyoulabs.com
What to do next (for leaders)
- Align stated vs. lived values. Decide whether you’re hiring to the company’s values or the team’s values (hiring manager vs. team manager). If they differ, reconcile them before you post. Get everyone on the same page—in writing.
- Tell the truth in the job “value contract.” Don’t oversell what the role rewards. A mismatch might land a great hire today, but the downstream costs—process disruption, culture setback, and bad signaling to the team—are far higher when they realize the reality.
- Listen for “negative variance.” If someone wants less Achievement or less Workcentrism than the role currently demands, treat it as an early warning for burnout or flight risk. Rebalance scope, redesign the role, or reset expectations.
What to do next (for Gen Z job-seekers)
- Name your top 3 values and look for roles that genuinely require them.
- Translate values to behaviors (e.g., “Scope” → ship new skills every 30 days; “Non-sibi” → measurable client impact).
- Interview the role, not just the brand. Ask how success is recognized (Achievement), how learning cycles work (Scope), and how time-on-task is paced (Workcentrism).
Join our upcoming podcast: “Do Our Values Actually Fit at Work?”
We’ll unpack this study together—with leaders and Gen Z in the room—using the same prompts we’re discussing internally:
Primer Questions (from our team email):
- When you started your career, what was your top priority—and why?
- Where might we have been naïve about that priority then? What is it now, and why did it change?
- If someone’s top value is Altruism but they can’t find a job, do they become jaded toward that ideal later?
- The study frames this as hiring manager → individual (not “leader → worker”). Does that framing matter for how we hear and act on it?
Call to action:
- Leaders: bring one role you’re hiring for and the three values it truly requires.
- Gen Z: bring your top five values and how you’ve demonstrated them.
Tune in and we’ll answer these questions with leadership experts and Gen Z voices.
Differences power us; purpose points us. Don’t fight the differences just find the Purpose.
