Bridging the Soft Skills Gap

“What’s Your Story?”

Consider a scene from a typical company featuring typical generation Z employees. As part of a “weekly lunch with the CEO” program, a Silicon Valley CEO spoke to a 22-year-old employee sitting next to him. “Did you just graduate this past May, or were you working somewhere else prior to joining us?” he asked the young woman. She said this was her first job. “Where did you go to school?” he asked her. She told him. The CEO said, “Did you do any part-time work while you were in school?” After a few more questions, the young woman replied, “That’s enough about me, alright? What about you? What’s your story?” Relating this incident later, the CEO chuckled and said, “I wanted to say, ‘My story? I’m your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. That’s my story’.”

The young woman’s cheeky attitude wouldn’t surprise most people who manage gen Zers. While technically competent in the areas of “hard skills,” many gen Zers lack “self-awareness,” “problem solving,” “teamwork” and “people skills.” Thus, many workplaces suffer a gap between what managers regard as acceptable employee behavior and what they get from many – though, of course, not all – members of generation...