Nurturing the next generation: challenges and opportunities
What sets Generation K apart
Tensions and conflict between the generations are hardly a new phenomenon. However, it’s easy to overgeneralise when it comes to intergenerational friction and to tar millions of people worldwide with one unfair brush. “That’s why I love data,” says the academic and economist Noreena Hertz, speaking from her office at University College London. She has built a career from diving deep into the numbers and using them to explain what is truly happening to people across our societies. For instance, her most recent book, The Lonely Century, explores how technology and politics have made individuals more isolated than ever.
However, Noreena is perhaps best known for her years-long research into Gen Z, or as she prefers to call them, “Generation K” (named after Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the hit book series The Hunger Games, whose life is a perpetual dystopian struggle). It’s generally agreed that this grouping refers to young people born between 1997 and 2012, making them between 13 and 28 today. Noreena’s research has revealed substantial fault lines between this and previous generations. For instance, the percentage of people who trust big corporations to “do the right thing” has fallen from 60% among Gen Xers (those between 45 and 60 today) to just 6% among Generation K. As she explains: “The social contract between big corporations and this generation has really broken.”
There’s this mischaracterisation that this is the selfie-taking selfish generation, but they volunteer more than other generations and give a larger percentage of their income to charities than previous generations do. So they may take selfies, but they’re not selfish.
Related to this is the importance that this generation places on social and environmental justice. “It’s not that older people don’t care about climate change, equality and racism; they obviously do,” says Noreena. “But this generation cares about them massively.” 20% of them have left a job due to environmental concerns and over 70% consider green credentials the key factor in hiring, she says, citing Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. “There’s this mischaracterisation that this is the selfie-taking selfish generation,” she says, “but they volunteer more than other generations and give a larger percentage of their income to charities than previous generations do. So they may take selfies, but they’re not selfish.”
Of course, much has been made of the backlash in recent years among young men, in particular, surrounding issues such as gender and feminism. For Noreena, however, while this regression is certainly taking place, it isn’t as broad as it has been made to seem. The data, whilst being relatively sparse, suggest that this is still a very progressive generation, when it comes to social and climate justice, and equality.
Another major characteristic of Gen K is that they are “experiencing a mental health crisis,” Noreena continues. She points to the three-fold increase in the number of young girls who are self-harming compared with a decade ago, and notes that this generation is on average even more lonely than pensioners. “One in five of this generation doesn’t have a single friend at all,” she says, citing her own research, adding that 80% feel lonely “often or sometimes”.
Supporting Generation K in the workspace
All of these factors should be taken into account by those in positions of power from older generations, whether they be within a business, a family, or indeed a family business. Employers should realise, for instance, that they have to offer a level of emotional support and care in the work place that has not existed before. They also need to deliver that sense of connection that this generation is craving, whether that means eating together at lunch or employing an office barista. This is not simply an ethical imperative; there is a business reason behind this too. As Noreena explains, “Lonely workers are less productive, less motivated and more likely to quit.”
Younger employees don’t just want to passively take on instructions; they actively want to co-create alongside you.
Three other factors will help keep Generation K workers motivated, she argues. For instance, they also tend to expect more consistent and regular feedback, so while companies might have traditionally offered yearly appraisals, employers might consider moving to more continuous performance management for this generation. “Also, they don’t just want to passively take on instructions; they actively want to co-create alongside you,” says Noreena. Companies should therefore consider bringing these team members into their decision-making processes. And finally, says Noreena, “You need to be clear about your environmental and social offering.” For this generation, these issues “are increasingly becoming non-negotiable.”
These demands can occasionally feel like a monumental burden for companies to bear, which is why Noreena also has words of advice for young people entering the workforce. “They need to learn that in the workplace, you have to give up some of the privileges of your personal life,” she says. “The workplace demands more homogeneity and there is often a need for some form of hierarchy.” This doesn’t mean you should hide your talents and become a wallflower, but there has to be a balance.
Noreena Herz is an advocate of reverse-mentoring schemes, whereby younger and older colleagues learn from one another for their mutual benefit. “Learning doesn’t need to be a one-way street,” she says.
Building credibility in family businesses
At the same time, young people need to both respect and empathise with older colleagues, who might be struggling with all the newness and change they encounter today. On the other hand, the older generation’s experience will mean that they have plenty of useful advice and wisdom to impart, so humility is key too. This is why Noreena is an advocate of reverse-mentoring schemes, whereby younger and older colleagues learn from one another for their mutual benefit.“ Learning doesn’t need to be a one-way street,” she says.
It’s often best if the heir first gains experience and credibility outside of the family business.
These generational tensions will sound familiar to many businesses, but they take on new and even more complex dimensions when we factor in family dynamics as well. Generation K family members entering a family business face a number of additional challenges. For instance, they might sense a lack of credibility, given older members of staff might have seen them as children on the factory floor or playing at the office summer party. “From my experience, it’s often best if the heir first gains experience and credibility outside of the family business,” says Noreena. “Otherwise it’s hard to overcome the perception of inexperience and entitlement.”
Noreena also preaches patience from younger family members. “Yes, you’ve got passion and new ideas, and you want to innovate, ”she says. “But most successful entrepreneurs will prefer their heirs to aim for evolution rather than revolution.” There will inevitably be different appetites for innovation and this can be a challenging friction to resolve.
Empowering Next-Gen leaders
Her advice is for next-gen leaders to “come armed with data, not just passion,” and to recognise that it will take time to show a track record of smaller successes and build trust. She also counsels them to find those areas of the business where their youth can really add value, whether that be in digitalisation, AI adoption or something else. Again, however, patience is important: “Don’t expect to be spearheading the whole AI revolution within your company from Day 1, but perhaps you can take responsibility for spearheading the education side of it.”
At the same time, next-gen leaders need to show empathy towards themselves, because it’s a hard position to be in. “I’ve seen a lot of young people inheriting businesses and really struggling with a self-imposed level of pressure that they heap on top of themselves,” says Noreena. “Yes, you can know that you’ve been handed something really amazing. But let that drive you; don’t let it sink or crush you.”
If we listen to them and try to understand what they care about, we can have real-time intel into what the future is likely to look like.
If both older and younger generations follow this advice and treat each other with empathy and compassion, the opportunities for fruitful (and lucrative) collaboration are abundant. For instance, the younger generation boasts a level of digital fluency and familiarity with AI that any organisation should be keen to integrate. Meanwhile, Generation K has been shown to be more entrepreneurial than older generations. “That can be a challenge in the workplace,” says Noreena, “but it’s also an opportunity, if you can harness that entrepreneurial spirit and encourage intrapreneurship within your legacy business.”
Arguably most important, however, is that Generation K – whether employees or the next generation within a family business– can be your most accurate futurist and trend forecaster all in one. “They represent where the world is going,” says Noreena. “If we listen to them and try to understand what they’re concerned about, what they care about, what they value, we can have real-time intel into what the future is likely to look like. So let’s nurture and mentor them.”
