Culture Accelerators

As a consultant in organisational culture, I’m often invited into boardrooms to discuss the “Gen Z problem.” Many leaders speak in hushed tones about a generation that seems disengaged, avoids hierarchy, and brings an unsettling level of emotional candour to the workplace. The prevailing view is that these younger employees are a challenge to be managed. This is a fundamental misunderstanding.

The issue isn’t Gen Z; it’s that we’re trying to fit them into a corporate culture they have no interest in preserving. And in their refusal to conform, they have become the most powerful, and unexpected, accelerators for the very culture change programmes that leaders are looking for help to implement.

Consider the common complaints. We say they lack loyalty, but the truth is they are fiercely loyal—not to a company, but to values. Their insistence that an organisation lives up to its stated mission on sustainability, diversity, and ethics provides a level of real-time accountability that no annual report ever could. They don’t just read the values; they expect to see them in every decision. ‘Sustainability washing’ cuts no ice with them.

We often see their disregard for traditional hierarchy as a lack of respect. In reality, it’s a preference for transparency and collaboration. They have little patience for information silos or decisions made behind closed doors. This instinct to connect and question naturally breaks down the barriers that stifle agility and innovation.

Perhaps most significantly, their open discourse around mental health is often seen as oversharing. But what they are actually doing is normalising wellbeing. They are forcing businesses to move beyond tick-box wellness apps and treat psychological safety as a non-negotiable condition for high performance, something decades of research has proven to be true. They are, in effect, implementing the findings of Google's Project Aristotle without ever having read it.

So, how do leaders harness this? The first step is to stop seeing Gen Z as a problem to be solved and start seeing them as the solution in plain sight. Instead of briefing them on the culture change programme you designed in isolation, invite them to co-design it with you.

Ask them one simple question: “If you were in charge, what’s the one thing you would change about how we work together?” Their answer won't be a critique of your leadership; it will be a roadmap to your future.

Stop trying to mould Gen Z to fit your old culture. Let them be the catalyst that helps you to forge your new one.