Alaska News

Lynne Curry: Boundaries, Coconut Oil and Generation Z

Q: We have two employees who post their grievances about their supervisor on Facebook to each other and the world at large. We understand that laws give them the freedom to complain about their supervisor to each other, but they post photos of his face next to mocking statements and photos in which they're wearing our company's logo, thus bringing our company's name into their private venting. Does this give us an avenue for terminating these employees?

A: No -- unless they're discriminating against or harassing their supervisor on the basis of age, sex, race, religion or another protected category. The National Labor Relations Board and Act, the same regulatory agency and legislation that gives employees the right to air their grievances to each other concerning wages and working conditions without fear of employer retaliation, states that employees have the right to use their company's name and logo when engaging in this activity.

You can better protect your company from reputation damage with a well-written social policy that tells employees they have the right to voice concerns to each other and on social media, but asks them to do so in a manner that doesn't damage the company's reputation.

Q: I'm the only woman on an all-male crew. Most of the guys are good guys. One isn't. When he jabs at me, I try to handle him in a way that doesn't make it look like I can't take a joke. Recently, he handed me a tube of coconut-scented body lotion and asked if I thought it smelled good. I said "Sure, whatever." He sneered and asked, "Would you like to rub this all over me?" I didn't know what to say because I felt like I'd walked into that one. Everyone snickered.

A: The next time a guy asks you if you'd like to rub oil on him, answer "on a scale of 0 to 10, that's a negative 20" or simply "no."

The rest of your crew may surprise you. Although they laughed at the situation, he may gross at least some of them out. You can find this out by turning to one of them and asking, "The next time this guy pushes me around I'd like to verbally flatten him." My guess, he'll answer "Go right ahead, it'll be fun to watch."

Further, you don't need to take unwanted sexual overtures. Let your company's human resources manager or general manager know they're employing a dinosaur whose stupid jokes could cost the company money.

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Q: We're hiring a group of young interns this summer and are trying to figure out the best team member to supervise them. We're thinking someone as close in age to them as possible. Your thoughts?

A: You're hiring Gen Z workers, individuals born after 1995. The oldest Gen Z workers are 18 to 20, and while similar to Gen Y employees, they are as different from Gen Y workers as Gen Y employees are from Gen Xers. It surprises many that Gen X managers fare worse when managing Gen Y employees than do Baby Boomer managers, those born prior to 1964. Thus, don't let age be your deciding factor.

Gen Zers crave independence and consider themselves self-directed, even if they aren't. It's easy to over-manage them, and the individual you select will strike out if he or she traditionally supervises them. Gen Zers live online and expect instant access to mountains of data about any topic that interests them. They prefer texting to conversing and crave immediate answers and feedback.

Gen Zers grew up in a world shaped by 9/11 and the War on Terror. They doubt the American Dream exists, so "all this and more can be yours someday if you pay your dues" statements won't work. Your best bet: Find an individual who can fulfill the role of a job coach who gets to know your interns and inspires them to do their best without using platitudes they consider preaching.

Lynne Curry | Alaska Workplace

Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Navigating Conflict,” “Managing for Accountability,” “Beating the Workplace Bully" and “Solutions,” and workplacecoachblog.com. Submit questions at workplacecoachblog.com/ask-a-coach/ or follow her on workplacecoachblog.com, lynnecurryauthor.com or @lynnecurry10 on X/Twitter.

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