What does Gen Z look for in a mentor?

Every week, PhilSTAR L!fe explores issues and topics from the perspectives of different age groups, encouraging healthy but meaningful conversations on why they matter. This is Generations by our Gen Z columnist Angel Martinez.

Much has been said about Gen Z workers—most of them, pretty harsh. We’re job hoppers, we only ever do the bare minimum, we’re too afraid to engage in basic tasks. And just when I thought I’ve heard the worst, a new study has officially deemed us "unemployable."

But I personally believe that we’re just not being given the chance. Have we ever stopped to consider that maybe, we’re pivoting from one position or company to another because we aren’t being given the tools to succeed? Or that new hires may be frequent targets of intergenerational conflicts and tensions, that we simply can’t perform at our best? In the States, it's even reached the point that one in 10 Gen Zers now want their boss to be replaced by AI, ironically stating that they feel ChatGPT will be “nicer, fairer, and more neutral” than an actual human being.

Now, before you throw stones at me, we have to admit: Recruiters and supervisors can go into interactions with their own set of biases, instead of giving us the chance to prove ourselves. Career coach Pat Mallari warned against this. “These judgments we put upon the younger generation, we have to be careful about them because they can define [Gen Z workers], like how we were unfairly defined by our predecessors,” she told PhilSTAR L!fe. She also mentioned how this is a case of the confirmation bias at work: our tendency to look for proof that our preconceived notions are right.

Fully tapping into our potential will require our elders to put their faith in us: “[Gen Z employees] are likely to stay with companies that invest in their development, provide opportunities for growth, and align with their values,” former HR recruiter Chiara Villavicencio-Arkoncel told L!fe.

According to Mallari, this can look like giving us ownership over high-stakes projects and allowing us the agency to execute in fresh ways. “Good mentors will allow them to fail and experiment: to realize for themselves what they’ve picked up from a project, rather than be told what to do. Because even for us, who ever enjoys being told what to do?” 

Villavicencio-Arkoncel echoed this, stressing the importance of reminding Gen Z that it's okay to make mistakes in the process. "Based on my experience with Gen Z hires, it helped them build resilience. They also saw mistakes as opportunities to learn," she said.

In line with this, the former HR recruiter noted that Gen Z value open-minded mentors. "Since young people are known for being vocal, they want mentors who are willing to accept their feedback, suggestions, and ideas—those that would make them feel heard and seen."

She added that Zers are looking for mentors who "know how to balance work and fun, reminds their team of the importance of both, and lets them do the same."

Instead of trying to change what they deem as undesirable, Mallari advised bosses to embrace strengths instead: “No one person is alike, and no generation is either. Allow them to see what is positive rather than constantly pointing out what they’re doing wrong.” Because frankly speaking, what others see as wrong can sometimes just be different, and resistance to change has never stopped it from happening.

Fellow Gen Z Solf, who works in the accounting department of a global FMCG, backed this up with her own experience: “My boss lets all of us on the team do our own thing, which implies that she trusts us and the work we do for the company,” she shared with L!fe. Best of all, when it’s time to present their findings to the higher-ups, her supervisor always had her back: “Unlike others who tend to side with people who have a say [in the company], she’s not afraid to show support and amplify what I have to say to the leadership team.” Unsurprisingly, she’s spent more than a year with her company and has no plans of resigning.

Conversely, Sarah (not her real name), a Zer works in business development for another conglomerate, called herself a “ruthless job hopper”: a title she owes her previous bosses, who “weren’t interested in investing in [her] as a person.” She explained, “I feel like they were always just waiting for me to make mistakes, because I was the typical Gen Z hire in their eyes. So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: I didn’t want to do well, because no one expected me to anyway.”

Instead of trying to pigeonhole younger workers at the expense of their growth and development, Mallari also advised bosses to embrace inherent strengths: “No one person is alike, and no generation is either. Allow them to see what is positive rather than constantly pointing out what they’re doing wrong.” Because frankly speaking, we have a lot of strengths to leverage but they will only shine through in environments we deem safe and stable enough.

In a recent study, Suzy Welch, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, found that only 2% of Zers hold core values that companies search for in new hires: achievement, learning, and an unbridled desire to work. This has been eclipsed by our relentless search for purpose. As opposed to previous generations that saw their jobs as a means to an end, Gen Z is motivated by high-impact projects we can consider our mark on the world. 

But perhaps the most important mindset we bring to the modern day workplace is our positive relationship with rest. We understand that nothing good comes from burning out, and that the best results are often produced if our minds are free to wander. True, we’re not always the most conscientious in using up our mental health days. But our ability to draw boundaries and push back against unfair hours and pay is something our elders weren’t always free to do and thus, some frown upon today.

Before we know it, Gen Z will be the ones in boardrooms making decisions and determining a company’s overall direction. While I don’t claim that we should be immune to critique or that we’re completely indispensable, all we ask is for our bosses to realize one thing: They have just as much to learn from us, as we have to learn from them.

Generations by Angel Martinez appears weekly at PhilSTAR L!fe.