Manager support is consistently identified as the number one success factor for graduate programs. Strong manager relationships drive engagement, accelerate time-to-productivity, and significantly impact retention rates across early career cohorts.
But how can you know what effective Gen Z management looks like? Beyond the surface-level assumptions about flexible work and feedback frequency, what do your early career employees actually need from their managers to thrive?
Much of the advice around managing Gen Z relies on survey data and broad generalisations rather than direct insights from the generation themselves. While we know manager quality matters, there’s been limited visibility into the specific expectations, preferences, and experiences that shape successful relationships.
When we asked our Gen Z Advisory Board members – graduates and early-career professionals across various industries – to describe their ideal manager, patterns emerged that challenge conventional wisdom about this generation’s workplace needs.
Are Gen Z really that different?
Understanding why Gen Z’s management expectations seem to differ requires looking beyond simple generational preferences. One board member provided insight into how these expectations actually form:
“When I went into my first job, my expectation was that my bosses were going to be really tough because that’s what my parents prepared me for. But I think managers have evolved. They’ve gone through the workplace, they’ve had those tough managers, they know they don’t want to repeat that cycle.”
This observation challenges the common narrative that Gen Z arrives with inherently different demands. Instead, organisational culture and management practices have evolved, shaping new employee expectations in real-time.
The same board member continued: “I’ve had a lot of managers say to me, ‘When I was a grad, they treated me horribly, and I never want you to feel that way. So I’m going to be really supportive.’ It’s changed my expectations, but I wouldn’t say I put the expectations on them.”
Rather than viewing Gen Z’s expectations as generational entitlement, we’re seeing the result of progressive management practices that have evolved over time. Current managers, having experienced less supportive leadership earlier in their careers, are consciously choosing to provide better experiences for their teams.
Beyond the manager vs leader debate
Our Advisory Board consistently described managers using words like “supportive,” “inspirational,” and “growth-focused.” But dig deeper, and you’ll find this isn’t about wanting a “soft” manager. It’s about wanting a strategic one.
While previous generations expected to compartmentalise work and personal life, Gen Z expects integration – and managers who understand this connection perform better.
“We bring our whole personal life with us to work. You don’t just have two separate lives. Helping us professionally, but also understanding what’s happening at home, helps us show up better at work.”
An important distinction emerged during our discussions: the difference between technical leadership and people leadership. One participant noted that individuals promoted for their technical expertise may not always have the knowledge, skills or desire to excel at people management.
“You don’t want a manager who clearly looks like they don’t want to be supporting a graduate, because it makes you feel like a burden from the start.”
The solution isn’t necessarily separating these roles, but ensuring managers have both the capability and genuine willingness to develop people.
What Gen Z brings to the relationship
When we explored what Gen Z employees believe their role is in the management relationship, the responses challenged common assumptions about this generation being overly dependent.
Key responsibilities they identified include:
- Proactive communication: “Speak out when I need specific support”
- Solution-oriented thinking: “Come with solutions, not just problems”
- Clear escalation: “Accountability within your scope of work, escalation when things are out of your control”
- Self-sufficiency: “Be self-sufficient” appeared multiple times
This suggests Gen Z wants autonomy and responsibility, but with appropriate scaffolding and clear communication channels.
The burden barrier: Gen Z’s biggest management challenge
One significant theme highlighted by our board represents an important barrier that’s less commonly discussed: the social dynamics of seeking help and the fear of being perceived as burdensome.
As one member explained: “If you have a really busy manager who’s overloaded with work, there’s a social contract. People hesitate to interrupt that intensity.” Another participant expanded on this challenge: “I feel like I’m constantly inconveniencing my manager.”
This dynamic creates a problematic cycle. Gen Z employees are willing to take ownership of their development, but they’re simultaneously reading social cues that make them reluctant to actually seek support. The result is accumulated stress, unresolved challenges, and potentially subpar work output – exactly the opposite of what both parties want to achieve.
These employees are demonstrating strong emotional intelligence by recognising their manager’s workload pressures. However, this sensitivity becomes counterproductive when it prevents them from accessing the support they need to succeed.
The solution?
“Having that dedicated session or having the manager come to you means you can say, ‘OK, I’m having issues with this, this, and this’ without feeling like you’re bothering them all the time.”
Gen Z employees will take responsibility for seeking support, but only if the environment genuinely feels safe to do so. The requires fundamentally restructuring how support requests are framed and received, making them feel like a normal part of the development process rather than a burden.
Finding the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ of challenge
Perhaps the most nuanced insight came from exploring experiences where initially frustrating management approaches proved beneficial in hindsight.
One participant described the progression: “My first manager was very hands-off, almost to the point of ‘don’t bother me, find your own solution.’ At that career stage, that wasn’t right. But now that I’ve had more structured support and learned the fundamentals, I’m back to a hands-off manager and finding I learn more from the accountability.”
The key distinction was the presence of psychological safety. Hands-off management works when there’s trust and support infrastructure. It becomes counterproductive when it feels like abandonment.
Another board member shared: “Some managers will just say something and expect you to run with it. But others use a whiteboard and start drawing stuff, even if the handwriting is illegible. At least I have something that shows me what the end product should look like.”
This highlights the importance of providing just enough structure to enable independence, not so much that it becomes micromanagement, but not so little that it becomes overwhelming.
Practical applications for HR leaders
Based on these insights, manager development programs should focus on reframing how we think about support and accountability. Rather than viewing these as opposing forces, effective managers learn to create safe communication channels while maintaining high expectations.
Creating psychological safety for support requests:
- Establish regular check-ins that don’t feel like interruptions
- Train managers to proactively create openings for support requests
- Develop systems that make asking for help feel normal, not burdensome
Calibrating the right level of challenge:
- Help managers understand different support needs across career stages
- Provide frameworks for gradually increasing autonomy
- Teach managers to distinguish between beneficial challenge and overwhelming pressure
Addressing the busy manager problem:
Organisations need to honestly assess whether managers have the capacity to provide quality support. This might involve:
- Workload redistribution during peak graduate support periods
- Dedicated graduate support roles separate from operational management
- Technology solutions that streamline routine check-ins.
At a minimum, reviewing the frequency of check-ins will ensure that support requests don’t feel like interruptions.
Why this matters now
Research consistently shows that manager quality is the number one predictor of employee retention, and for graduate programs, where organizations invest heavily in recruitment and development, poor management represents significant financial risk.
Our Advisory Board’s insights suggest that Gen Z’s management expectations are strategic rather than unreasonable. They want managers who can help them contribute faster and more effectively. This requires intentional design of both manager capability and organisational systems that support quality relationships.
Organisations currently vary significantly in their management quality. Those who invest in developing truly effective Gen Z management capabilities will differentiate themselves in the talent market.
Effective Gen Z management combines high expectations with high support, individual recognition with team goals, and professional development with personal understanding. The managers who succeed won’t be those who become “softer” but those who become more strategic, more intentional, and more skilled at creating environments where challenge and support work together.
As organisations design their manager development programs and graduate support systems, the question becomes: are we ready to develop managers who can unlock the potential that this generation brings?
Ready to develop managers who excel with early-career talent?
Our People Leader Workshop series equips your team with research-backed strategies for supporting and retaining Gen Z employees. Learn more about building manager capability.
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About the Gen Z Advisory Board
The Brightworks Gen Z Advisory Board was created to bridge the gap between the leaders creating early careers programs, and the employees experiencing them.
The Board comprises eight members with diverse experiences across various industries.
As the only dedicated early careers consultancy in Australia to maintain such a board, we provide our clients with unparalleled access to authentic insights directly from emerging talent, while sharing key takeaways for all professionals in the early careers industry.
