"Bottom line: I think the most important thing in hiring anyone is viewing the personal characteristics of the individual. That matters much more than a generational label." — Aaron Glick, DDS, FAGD
Experts further warn against using generational labels in the workplace. “What we find is that the macroeconomic environment is a much bigger factor than the generation, and another big factor is life stage,” said Jennifer Deals, senior research scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Deals said that factors such as if someone entered the workforce during a recession or if an employee had young children at home would have much bigger implications on these employees’ day-today lives and career trajectories than the so-called generation when they were born. Deals said, “Label is fundamentally immaterial. What is material are the details of the person sitting in front of you.”
What Dentists Are Noticing Dan Ninan, DDS, FAGD, has been practicing dentistry for more than 15 years and is based in Arizona. He recently collaborated with a number of professionals who are a part of Gen Z, and he has been impressed by their capacity to integrate technology. He’s also seen some areas for improvement in his youngest collaborators. “I have observed a number of Gen Z team members struggling with developing professional habits, such as consistent follow-through and punctuality,” Ninan said. “I see this less as a generational trait and more as a reflection of the early stage
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of their career. With appropriate mentorship and clear expectations, I expect that these individuals will improve and adapt.” Various researchers have observed similar phenomena among recent graduates, no matter the generation. The transition from school to work has an enormous impact on the way people view their roles in the world and themselves. In one 14-year longitudinal study, self-esteem scores of newly minted graduates slowly rose within a three-year window after graduating and entering the workforce. While many factors were at play, including if they had gone from high school to either work or college, across the board it took a series of years for the new hires to grow in confidence in their capacity as professionals. With self-esteem comes both success at work and well-being, according to the researchers, and self-esteem growth is a predictor of positive outcomes.4 There is also a period of lag time when newly graduated hires begin working in which they initially feel lost in their new work environments. In one 2012 study, researchers polled companies where 89% reported that their newly hired and newly graduated employees experienced a “lost in transition” phase that lasted six months to a year as new workers adjusted to their jobs and workplaces.5 In a theoretical framework, researchers report there’s a complex dynamic in which newly graduated employees are forming a professional identity. This is comprised of
“self-realization, development, inner integrity, personality determination, adequacy and stability of its self-concept regardless of situation changes, [and] identity with the profession and the professional community.” Entering the workforce is a major life change that affects a whole host of aspects of the new employee as a person.6 Aaron Glick, DDS, FAGD, made one new Gen Z hire a patient coordinator in his office in Texas. He has been thrilled with the results. “I’ve found that my new employee from Gen Z is more comfortable with social technologies. This has been helpful to the practice, specifically in marketing and communicating with others in a similar age range. Now, we’re integrating social technologies in a way that has made our community as a whole more aware of our office,” Glick said. “Bottom line: I think the most important thing in hiring anyone is viewing the personal characteristics of the individual. That matters much more than a generational label. In an effort to improve staff retention, it’s important to remember the general principles of team management and understand the personal motivations of our new hires.”
Mental Health of the Youngest Workers There has been an observed rise worldwide in mental health problems in the younger age demographics that corresponds with when smartphones became ubiquitous,