Why Your Managers Are Failing Gen Z

Manager ignorance of cognitive differences is creating workplace friction and driving away your most critical talent pool

It may be that your newest potential employees are rejecting you before you even interview them. One in five Gen Z candidates won't apply to job opportunities simply because companies lack neuroinclusion resources. This speaks to a substantial but still overlooked issue: a generation with a new understanding and consciousness of different thinking styles is entering a workplace led by managers who often remain critically uninformed here.

The "Entitled Generation" Myth

When Gen Z employees request written meeting summaries or flexible deadlines, many managers blame generational differences. Perhaps twas-ever-thus when it comes to older generations considering younger generations entitled, but it’s a dynamic clear to see here.

However, this narrative has its flaws in fact – meaning business risks if it is unchallenged. Research shows, in fact, that generational workplace differences are surprisingly small. The real issue appears to be more subtle and far less recognized, and it relates to Gen Z’s completely different level of recognition around neurodiversity. Remarkably, over half (53%) of Gen Z identify as ‘in some way neurodiverse’ – something that speaks to this enhanced consciousness that we don’t all think alike. But, problematically, managers (typically of older generations) have received zero training on neurodivergent experiences at work, and how to optimize for smoother and more inclusive team collaboration.

This, as we’ll see, is causing problems and friction at work. But to re-emphasize: it’s also damaging your talent funnel before new starters even get there, as 20% percent of your potential young talent won't even apply.

The Brain-Aware Generation

Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with widespread neurodiversity awareness. Bear in mind the term ‘neurodiversity’ was only first coined in the late 1990s, and it’s only since then that diagnostic access has become far more widespread. Social media platforms, too, have given a new voice to millions sharing neurodivergent experiences, popularizing and democratizing terms like "executive dysfunction" and "sensory processing" through viral videos.  Schools and education, too, have taken some (varied) steps to create better awareness of different thinking and learning styles, and to support openly neurodivergent kids. Managers, teams, and HR departments, by contrast, often never received similar awareness efforts or education.

As a result, Gen Zers are significantly more likely than older generations to report having a learning and thinking difference (30% Gen Z vs. 14% Gen X, 6% Boomers), being diagnosed with ADHD (25% vs. 9%, 2%), or being neurodivergent (14% vs. 3%, 1%).

No surprise then too, that 82% of Gen Z say diversity and inclusion is very important at work – and 80% would be more likely to apply to employers with readily available neurodiversity resources.

The Training Gap Crisis

If you’re in HR yourself, and have seen managers come to you for support and guidance on this topic, the idea of (understandable) manager ignorance on this topic will already resonate. There’s quantifiable data here too: 34% of workers don't know what neurodiversity means (CIPD & Uptimize report 2024), and Uptimize has found that more than half of managers entering its training programs feel concerned about the topic and anxious to change that.

This dynamic is building, of course, as Gen Zers become a greater proportion of the workforce: and generating particular issues and risks when it comes to workplace accommodations.

Reasonable accommodations, under the ADA, are available to neurodivergent (and other disability category) employees, as a means of ensuring fair access to work. Given a lack of manager understanding of neurodiversity, often teams don’t typically discuss different thinking styles… meaning employees are left to try to ‘fit in’ with team norms. Inevitably this causes challenges, which is where the (often brave) decision to ‘disclose’ comes in, often sadly leading to inadequate support conversations within heavily medicalized processes.

Under the ADA today, employers face mounting lawsuits for failing to accommodate neurodivergent employees. Gen Zers are significantly more likely than any other generation to say they have asked an employer for a workplace accommodation (42% Gen Z vs. 27% Millennials, 21% Gen X, 13% Boomers). But among those who have asked for a workplace accommodation, Gen Zers are significantly more likely to say their request has been denied (45% vs. 28% Millennials, 29% Gen X, 26% Boomers). Notably too, among those who have not asked for a workplace accommodation, Gen Zers are significantly more likely than older generations to agree that they have not asked for one because of the stigmas associated with needing them (50% Gen Z vs. 33% Gen X, 22% Boomers).

Manager Ignorance is Creating Conflict

Without sufficient familiarity around cognitive differences, managers often default to harmful stereotypes that damage team performance and create legal exposure.

Specifically, daily interactions can become minefields, for example an employee using or asking for noise-canceling headphones for sensory processing being seen as "antisocial”, a team member asking for deadline flexibility being flagged as having supposedly "poor work ethic", or a team member asking for more context and notice of changes being seen as wasting time on unimportant matters. Sadly, these and many others represent common outcomes in organizational cultures shaped without cognitive differences in mind.

How This Is Hurting Businesses Right Now

This generational and organizational gap is both creating and compounding problems affecting team effectiveness, legal liability, and the bottom line.

Worker expectations have shifted, and many Gen Zers have a foundational expectation – namely, that their thinking style will be appreciated and leveraged – that is simply not being met in reality. Interestingly too, the leading reason employees choose to leave a job is a toxic or negative work environment, followed by poor company leadership and dissatisfaction with one's manager or supervisor. Without proper neuroinclusion training, managers inadvertently create these exact conditions for neurodivergent employees – while organizations face the risk of situations escalating with legal ramifications.

At the same time, when teams navigate misunderstandings instead of leveraging cognitive diversity, performance stagnates, and teams and organizations risk missing out on the proven benefits neurodivergent talent who often excel at pattern recognition, detail orientation, and creative problem-solving.

Another risk comes in talent development: and importantly here, it’s important not to assume all managers are older and neurotypical. A substantial chunk of middle managers also learn and think differently – and companies that don't develop neuroinclusion capabilities today will continue to struggle with building tomorrow's leadership pipeline.

Building Cognitive Understanding

Organizations have the ability, though, to go from confusion towards far greater cognitive fluency through neuroinclusion training across all levels—managers, HR, team members, and leadership.

This, perhaps not surprisingly given the significance of better understanding the one key tool that every employee brings to work each day, is already proven to have striking and rapid results. Games company Keywords Studios, for example, saw 2/3 of participants experience immediate team collaboration improvements through better understanding of cognitive differences. Large companies such as IBM and Accenture, meanwhile, have successfully rolled out global programs, building confidence in supporting team members at every level whatever their thinking style.

Successful organizations often also complement educational initiatives with developing practical frameworks supporting team collaboration across neurological differences. This includes sensory-friendly meeting spaces, flexible communication protocols, and comprehensive skills development.

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It’s likely that your organization lacks preparation for neurodivergent employees, costing you talent, performance, and creating legal exposure. The question is: will better leveraging neurodiversity reshape your workplace, or will you continue to face more and more compliance issues while competitors capture the cognitive diversity advantage?