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Mayank Sharma, the founder of a Gurugram-based Human Resources (HR) firm, recently took to LinkedIn to share his struggles of being a millennial boss. In his post, Mr Sharma highlighted the challenges of managing a team while being stuck between the expectations of senior management and the evolving demands of younger employees. He described his challenge as being "sandwiched" between the two vastly different work cultures. He also noted that despite his efforts to strike a balance, he often ends up disappointing both parties.
"Being a millennial boss is really hard," Mr Sharma wrote, explaining, "You have a boomer or an older millennial boss who wants you to torture your team, make people work late hours, ask people to come to the office daily, and wear sophisticated clothes."
He then pointed out, "You also had new-aged millennials and Gen Z reporting to you who want flexibility, work-life balance, work from home, and wear trendy and cool clothes."
Further, Mr Sharma pointed out that finding a balance between these contrasting needs often leads to disappointment on both sides. "Funny thing is, in the process of keeping a good balance, you often end up disappointing both parties," he said.
Mr Sharma's post resonated with many social media users who faced similar struggles.
"Not so sure..my experience has been different l, I have had older bosses who understood the situation better and always reacted (rather responded) with maturity in every situation.. simple reason is that actual life experience matters than anything being specific to generation thing," shared one user.
"Very real scenario. I try to keep it further simple. I ask both the sides what is "must do" to meet delivery and customer expectations and do that.If we start doing "right things" and avoid "politically right" things, everything falls in place," commented another.
"Being a millennial boss basically means being a translator between two completely different work cultures!" said a third user.
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"This struggle will increase more as time progresses and more Gen Z will enter in workforce and employers will have to adjust and prioritize younger needs to remain competitive in the market and the older generation will have to adjust to the working pattern of young ones and they," said one user.
"Basically, being a millennial boss in India means your boomer boss wants you to run the office like it's Dunder Mifflin, while your Gen Z team wants it to be Zomato Blinkit. One side wants attendance at 9 AM sharp, the other side thinks 'login' means sending a 'Good Morning' GIF on WhatsApp. And here I am, stuck in the middle, wondering if I should wear a suit or just show up in sneakers and hope no one notices!" wrote one user.