Hannah Ubl & Lisa Walden formed Good Company Consulting with the ultimate goal of producing happier people at work, which will lead to improved retention, engagement, creativity, and also a happier bottom line. In their latest blog post, Hannah and Lisa explain the generational differences between Milliennials and GenZ, so everyone can work together seamlessly as their most authentic selves.

Gen Z & Millennials: Three Key Differentiators

Tale as old as time… an exciting, sparkly young generation enters the workplace, and like they’re the new kid in high school, you give ‘em the stink eye and wonder (with a heavy dose of skepticism) “exactly why is this newbie is getting so much attention?”

Oh hi, Gen Z.

Born between 1996 and 2010, the oldest Zers are 24 years old and working alongside you right now, while their younger generational peers are devotedly getting through school in an effort to land a stable, well-paid internship (and eventually, a stable, well-paid job).

But who are they? And how are they different from those Millennials the interwebs likes to talk (aka: complain) so much about? And how will those differences impact the way they show up at work? Glad you asked! Here are three big differentiators between these two distinct generations.

DIFFERENTIATOR #1: Birth Years

Ok folks, let’s get one thing quite clear…

Millennials and Gen Z are not the same generation. I repeat, Millennials and Gen Z are NOT the same generation.

For whatever reason, there’s a common misconception that “Millennial” and “Gen Z” are interchangeable terms to refer to young people at work. Nope. That’s not a thing. These are two different generations, born in separate birth year brackets. This differentiator may elicit a "duh, whatever” reaction but it’s the foundation of understanding why Gen Zers and Millennials are distinct generations. Different birth years means different coming of age years, and those years are what form generational identities.

Still skeptical that these years matter? Chew on how each of these generations experienced the following:

SMARTPHONES & THE INTERNET

Millennials: When I was a tween, I had to wait for dial-up to go through its banshee screech before I could connect to PAINFULLY slow internet. More often than not, it wouldn’t work or my mom would be tying up the line, so instead I’d run out and play Ghost in the Graveyard with the neighborhood kids. I rushed out to get the first iPhone during my junior year of college while my friends stayed loyal to their Motorola Razrs (#earlyadopter.)

Gen Z: This generation has never known a time without a smartphone and constant connectivity to the internet. Even the eldest Zers, the twenty-four-year-olds, were around eleven when the first iPhone came out in 2007. The internet, fast and furious as we now know it, has ALWAYS been their normal. Nowadays, 69% of 6th graders have a smartphone. 🤯

SHOPPING & ENTERTAINMENT

Millennials: I can recall staying up for almost twenty-four hours in college so I could record Beyoncé’s Single Ladies on our TiVo. We had to wait for it to come on. It took forever, but we finally did it. We watched that MTV clip on loop for the next few months... and maybe tried to learn the dance. It was awesome and worth every second of sleep deprivation. Music video, movie, or butterfly shirt from Delia’s… while attainable much quicker than previous generations, we still had to wait for them.

Gen Z: With a quick search on YouTube or Vevo, Gen Z has access to millions of music videos (as well as their favorite influencers) instantaneously. They don’t have to go to Blockbuster to rent the latest hit movie, they can stream it online and binge the new season of their favorite TV show one sitting. Trendy clothes are delivered at the competitive speed of Amazon Prime. Whether it’s TV, shopping, or learning to dance the Renegade, so much is (and has been) accessible to Gen Z at the simple click of a button.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Millennials: Maybe I’m showing my old fogey card, but I thank my lucky stars that social media wasn’t a thing when I was in high school. AIM Instant Messenger was the latest and greatest during my teen years, followed by a very primitive early Facebook (initially only released to select college campuses). Instagram, with its filters and selfie culture, didn’t even exist until I was well into adulthood.

Gen Z: No one knows the world of social media better than Gen Z. More than digital natives, they are social media darlings. It’s yet another thing they’ve grown up knowing and navigating their whole coming-of-age years. While Millennials learned how to use all the new platforms that emerged over the past couple decades, many Gen Zers have been on Insta since before they even hit puberty. The world of Snapchat, TikTok, and even Venmo (odd, we know) are where they socialize. Instead of hanging at the mall, they hang on social.

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