When I Deserve to Have a Voice and a Vote
During a Q and A time with business leaders in Guyana, South America a woman asked me why so many young employees today expect to have a “say” in how things are done at work from day one. She was baffled by the sense of entitlement she’s witnessed. But before I had the chance to explain my research on the issue, she volunteered her perspective. It was so profound I wanted to grab my tablet and take notes. Her wisdom was simple yet thoughtful. When did she believe someone gets to weigh in?
❝When you start caring for something or someone other than yourself.❞
Getting Lost in the People Pile
One of the heart cries Generation Z employees bring to the workplace is the desire to be “heard.” A growing body of research shows they despise the phrase “pay your dues” and want to weigh in on issues immediately, even though more experienced team members might balk at the notion.
I can understand both sides of this issue. Generation Z has grown up in a world of social media platforms where they instantly and constantly get the chance to speak their mind, voice what they like and comment on posts that please or displease them. Why not continue this as they enter the workplace? After all, they’re part of the team now.
On the other hand, supervisors and seasoned staff wonder why anyone should listen to someone who has no job experience and has only been around for a short amount of time. Veteran employees tell me they would not have dreamed of expecting their manager to listen to their opinions early on. After all, you earn the right to have a voice.
What young team members often fail to recognize is the principle of leverage. When a new staff member demands rights or perks, it can come across as nonsense to a tenured supervisor because they have so little to leverage. Negotiations, even friendly ones, operate based on leverage—what value do you bring that would persuade the boss to adapt to your request? Someone with nothing to leverage has little power to get their way.
How to Gain Leverage on the Job
Young and old frequently represent two different paradigms at work. Call it old-school and new-school thinking. The businesswoman’s comment struck me because of its common sense. Consider this analogy. Both children and adolescents tend to focus on themselves. We are naturally self-centered as we begin our lives. Consequently, parents who allow a kid to have an equal vote might just create an unhealthy family. I am one of three adult children born to my mom and dad. When we were young, if all five of us got an equal vote on how to spend Dad’s hard-earned income—it would have been a disaster. Why? Because kids care most about themselves. We’d vote to go to Disneyland and eat cotton candy every week. Kids don’t possess a big picture perspective on the benefits or consequences of decisions. Perspective comes with responsibility. We begin to see beyond our own interests. We feel the weight of “ownership” and can balance both the perks and price of big choices. The same can be true of a young employee, especially one who’s still not mature emotionally or socially. Individual contributors likely don’t see situations the same as a department head.
I believe there is such a thing as “work maturity.” It comes over time as employees gain a sense of ownership. It’s not just about age. Sometimes young team members mature quickly as they assume a sense of ownership rapidly. Like perspective, ”maturity comes with responsibility–when you start caring for something or someone other than yourself.”
Ownership and Responsibility
When our nation was birthed, U.S. citizens couldn’t vote until they owned property. Why? Our forefathers believed that once you were a landowner you had some stake in the game, a sense of ownership in the future of America. Similarly, getting to vote in local and federal elections followed a similar rule of thumb. For years, the voting age was 21 since that was when you gained a sense of ownership of your life, moving away from your parents to live on your own. During World War 2, the U.S. government needed more soldiers, so they lowered the qualifying age for the military to 18. When they did, however, they realized if the government was asking young men and women to fight for their country, they deserved the right to choose who their commander in chief should be. That’s when the voting age was lowered to age 18. Once again, it’s about stake in the game.
I realize we must balance this issue. People tend to vote because they want representation. They want their perspective to be heard by their bosses or politicians. I get that. Conversely, I believe leaders must see the collective point of view and consider everyone they represent. The sooner people assume responsibility for something or someone other than themselves and bigger than themselves, the sooner that team functions well. Call it collective wisdom.
There is an unwritten social contract everyone must adhere to if they want to succeed in life. To offer rights without responsibilities creates unhealthy people. In fact, it’s a mild form of abuse as it ultimately creates unrealistic expectations in them. Adults (namely parents) have done a poor job of clarifying how life works to Gen Z. Youth may enter their first job assuming they have a lot to leverage. When teens carry a sense of entitlement, it’s because we didn’t help them understand people have little say when all the weight of responsibility for their life lies with others. They get to enjoy freedom when it’s up to them. A voice and a vote are earned. Influence is earned. People listen to us when we demonstrate we deserve to be listened to, which happens when we show we care about things beyond ourselves. What did Uncle Ben teach Peter Parker in the Spiderman movies? “With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s what I am talking about. We do a disservice to our kids, our students and our young team members if we fail to model this. Privilege and responsibility go together. This perspective is certainly not politically correct; it flies in the face of our cultural narrative.
❝It may be why 12 percent of managers say they’ve fired a Gen Z employee in the first week, according to Business Insider.❞
Taking Steps to Meet in the Middle
Resolving this issue on your team may take longer than you think it should, because you are both stewarding your organization as well as developing a new generation of leaders who will be in charge one day. Let me suggest three best practices:
1️⃣ Everyone has a voice, but not everyone has a vote.
Several years ago, we decided to meet in the middle. We established a policy that basically said: “Everyone has a voice, but not everyone gets a vote.” This meant we’d hold all-team meetings that presented a concern or an issue and allowed people to weigh in. We knew that letting people weigh-in gets people to buy-in. Once the perspectives were voiced, everyone knew that our leadership team ran point and would ultimately make the decision on what direction to take. We distinguished between voice and vote.
2️⃣ Voice increases when value does.
We clarified a reality to young team members that all veteran employees understand-your influence deepens as you execute your job well and produce results. Autonomy and power both expand when a person adds value to the mission. Power increases with productivity. If young employees want people to listen to them, there is one sure way to make that happen and it has nothing to do with how loud they are. Instead, it has everything to do with how helpful and beneficial they are to the rest of the team.
3️⃣ Teach staff to speak as if they believe they’re right but listen as if they’re wrong.
I adopted this mantra five years ago with no regrets. Both young and old should practice this habit in meetings: speak to others with confidence (as if you are right) but listen to others with humility (as if you might be wrong). This was a game changer for me, both with my team and my own adult children. When I listen to others in a teachable manner, it communicates value and helps them feel heard. David Augsberger said, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, it is indistinguishable.”
After my event in Guyana, I met a Gen Zer attendee. I asked if he felt I was fair to his generational cohort in my session. He confirmed that he felt I represented his generation well. Then, just to get better acquainted, I asked what he did for his job. He smiled and replied, “I think my job right now is to pay my dues.”
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