Leaders’ Talk #3: Bridging the Generation Gap in the Workplace

Gen Z: The future driving force of the labor market

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Gen Z will account for nearly one-third of the country’s working-age population, heavily influencing the domestic labor market. With a remarkably young workforce spanning from the Management Team to all office staff (“Archers”), Kyanon Digital is no exception to this trend.

Embodying an “Agile” spirit to stay ahead of corporate shifts, Kyanon Digital hosted Leaders’ Talk #3 under the theme “ Lead The Ship of The Generation Gap.” The session was led by Mr. Trung Tran, the Front-End Chapter Lead of Team Hydra.

While Gen Z (born 1997–2012) makes up the majority of Kyanon Digital’s general workforce, Gen Y (born 1981–1996) holds most of the leadership roles. Therefore, this event was specially designed to benefit both the management team and team members across the company.

Key insights from Leaders’ Talk #3

During the session, Mr. Trung Tran broke the topic down into three core pillars:

• Understand: Recognizing the distinct characteristics and differences between generations.
• Share: Listening to the real-world workplace perspectives of different generations at Kyanon Digital.
• Adapt: Implementing practical tips and leadership styles to manage teams effectively.

Understand: Generational characteristics in the modern workplace

Gen Z is widely recognized as a highly dynamic, vibrant, and enthusiastic generation. On the other hand, Gen Y grew up during the dawn of modern digital innovation, witnessing the rise of tech giants like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, eBay, and PayPal.

According to a survey by Anphabe, several defining traits of Gen Z include:

• Independence: Gen Z is highly confident in directing their own career paths. Up to 78% map out their career based on personal capability, and 68% base it on personal interest. Seeking advice from family, friends, or teachers accounts for less than 25%.
• Freedom: While older generations prioritized multinational corporations, 32% of Gen Z are eager to work at startups, and 7% prefer freelancing or running their own businesses.
• Ambition: Their top 5 career goals highlight a strong desire for holistic growth:
  1. Financial independence (78%)
  2. Training and development (67%)
  3. Networking and expanding relationships (54%)
  4. Exciting and diverse experiences (47%)
  5. Work-life balance (43%)

Share: Cross-generational perspectives and expectations

To bridge the gap, the speaker divided attendees into two groups: Gen Z versus Gen Y & X, posing targeted questions to ignite an open dialogue.

• For the Gen Z group: What are the pros and cons of your current work environment? How important is career advancement to you, and do you expect continuous learning opportunities? What traits do you value most in a leader?
• For the Gen Y & X group: What are your impressions of working with Gen Z? What unique value do they bring to the table? What challenges have you faced when managing them, and how did you overcome them?

Through this exercise, both sides gained rare, empathetic insights into each other’s mindsets and alignment on the ideal workplace culture.

Adapt: How to lead effectively across the generation gap

To successfully harmonize these generational differences, modern leaders should focus on four actionable strategies:

• Provide mentorship and growth opportunities: To satisfy Gen Z’s ambition, leaders must facilitate learning and upskilling opportunities. Offering constructive, career-shaping feedback is essential to helping them reach their milestones.
• Build a flexible work environment: Leaders should consider offering remote work flexibility and autonomous time management, heavily promoting work-life balance to maximize productivity.
• Foster an equitable and diverse environment: Leaders must genuinely respect and value diversity. As Trung Tran noted, “Everyone can be a teacher.” Leaders should actively listen to the inputs of even the youngest team members.
• Communicate frequently and concisely: Avoid long-winded feedback. Instead, keep communication brief, clear, and actionable. Using instant messaging, short emails, and even emojis or stickers helps Gen Z feel comfortable and seamlessly connected to the team.

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A message from the Speaker

“Gen Z is a highly unique generation packed with immense potential in the workplace. By truly understanding them and creating the right enabling environment, we can fully unlock the unique value they bring to the business.”

— Trung Tran, Front-End Chapter Lead

Leaders’ Talk #3 provided highly practical takeaways on team management as cross-generational dynamics become standard in modern corporate structures.

ABOUT LEADERS’ TALK

Leaders’ Talk is a monthly knowledge-sharing event hosted exclusively for the management team at Kyanon Digital. Mirroring “Craft”-one of the company’s 7 core values, this initiative ensures that while tech leaders continuously refine their software development expertise, they also develop the internal leadership strengths necessary to unlock their teams’ peak performance.