“There are plenty of companies with a hot product, a hip style, or a fast-rising stock price that are, essentially, one-trick ponies – they deliver great short-term results, but they don’t stand for anything big or important for the long term” (Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company)
Format: online training (7 sessions); in-person training (13,5 h; 2 days)
Target audience: team leads, project managers, cross-functional team leaders, frontline and mid-level managers, HR managers, People & Culture Managers, HR Business Partners, Talent Development Managers.
Goal:
Provide leaders with the tools and mindset necessary to:
· unlock the full potential of Generation Z employees by fostering value alignment, increasing engagement, and developing mindful intergenerational collaboration;
· integrate modern, future-oriented management approaches and frameworks into daily practice, strengthening communication, culture, and team effectiveness;
· develop the company’s leadership brand and its ability to become a magnet for young talent in a rapidly changing world.
Module 1. Who are Gen Z employees? (1,5 hours)
“Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it” (George Orwell)
· Generations X, Y, Z: comparing expectations
· Values, demands, and behavioral patterns of Gen Z
· Myths and real challenges
· Tools: value map, motivational profile, profiling
· Case: 'Startup team breakup due to misunderstandings between millennials and Gen Z'
Module 1.1. Leadership style and team dynamics with Gen Z (2,5 hours)
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (Theodore Roosevelt)
· Leadership styles that work with Gen Z: partnership, coaching, influence over authority
· Belbin theory and Gen Z: typical roles and team balance
· Tuckman's model: stage dynamics with Gen Z
· Who Gen Z will / will not work with: trust, authenticity, action-based authority
· Tools: Z Leadership Radar, Belbin self-check
· Case: Spotify squads & rituals — team dynamics in action
· Role-play: Dialogues with Gen Z employees and millennials focused on building trust, authenticity, and action-based authority – both in ‘open’ company cultures and in more ‘closed’ environments where internal politics and behind-the-scenes decision-making play a significant role.
Module 2. Task setting and control in Z-style (1,5 hours)
“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play” (John Cleese)
· Microtasks, visual tools, and flexibility
· SMART+Z formula
· Control without micromanagement
· Practice: task transformation
· Cases: Google Project Aristotle, Netflix Culture Deck (Context vs. Culture)
Module 3. Shadowing, mentoring, coaching (2.5 hours)
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge” (Simon Sinek)
Mentoring as a starting point for business growth: by 2025, millennials will make up over 75% of the global workforce, and 79% consider having a mentor critical to their success.
· Choosing the right approach: shadowing, mentoring, or coaching
· Development through added value
· Formats of peer learning
· Tools: Shadowing Map, 3Q Coaching, mentoring matrix
· Case: SAP Reverse Mentoring, examples from Google, Microsoft, IBM, Deloitte, PwC, Zappos and more
· Practice: Creating a Shadowing Map and role-play using the 3Q Coaching model.
Module 4. Feedback and inspiration (1,5 hours)
“People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou)
· Feedback beyond 'fix your mistakes'
· Feedforward model
· Tools for micro-inspiration and meaning
· Practice: Feedback Battle
· Cases: Netflix Culture Deck, Google Project Aristotle
Module 5. Hiring and firing Gen Z (2 hours)
“Culture is not just one aspect of the game – it is the game” (Louis Gerstner, ex-CEO IBM)
· How recruiters and hiring managers should conduct interviews when selecting Gen Z candidates: questions that work
· How Gen Z ‘sells themselves’ and engages from day one
· Onboarding checklist
· How to fire with dignity
· Hire, Fire, Promote Framework to understand the company culture
· Case: Zappos $2000 Quit Bonus – Firing vs. Engagement boost
· Role-play: Interview with a Gen Z candidate; conversation with a Gen Z employee about resignation.
Module 6. Responsibility and career growth (2 hours)
“Give people a strong purpose and the freedom to act – and they’ll surprise you” (Daniel Pink)
· Assigning and reinforcing responsibility
· Career paths: growth is not just upward
· Forms of recognition: badges, visibility, project-based roles
· Case: Atlassian Team Recognition
· Practice: Gen Z Employee Development Map
· Role-play on the topic: conversation with a Gen-Z employee about career and responsibility in a coaching format
· Training wrap-up. Reflection and feedback, Certificate presentation.
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40+ tools and frameworks ready to be integrated into day-to-day management.
Author and facilitator, leadership trainer and certified coach: Victoria Tomashevich