The Communication Context Gap: Why Gen Z Struggle to Communicate and How to Help them Thrive
A few years ago, I was asked to train a group of PhD hires at an investment bank. We had three whole days to explore communication, impact and personal brand.
The training manager scheduled a call a week or so before the programme and explained that one particular participant (let’s call him Eric) was really struggling with communication. Eric was technically brilliant, however his team had flagged his communication skills as a real area for development.
Eric’s teams concerns were not shared by Eric himself though! When we met, he told me that, during his PhD, he delivered lectures to undergrads and had received glowing feedback from them. This experience, in a very specific context, had convinced him that he was an excellent communicator. His lack of self-awareness didn’t inspire much confidence in his ability to evolve as a communicator…
And yet, I persisted!
The group were a delight to work with and fully on board with the learning, exercises, and discussions. I kept an eye on Eric and checked in on him every now and again, but I wasn’t exactly sure how he was progressing.
At the end of the second day, Eric approached me. “Can I share a realisation I’ve had?”
I nodded, no idea what this realisation might be.
“I’ve realised, in academia, if your audience don’t understand you, it’s their fault for not getting it. In business, if your audience don’t understand you, it’s your fault for not communicating clearly.”
This was an amazing shift to witness happening in real time.
Eric was learning that, just because he had got by up to now, didn’t mean he was fully equipped for the future. It was dawning on him that successful communication in the limited arenas of school or academia did not necessarily mean success in the big wide world.
Eric is far from the only Gen Z graduate making these realisations.
Graduates have always faced the challenge of adapting to workplace communication norms and expectations. However, today's graduates aren’t starting from the same baseline. Their run-up to professional life has been dramatically different to previous generations.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns significantly altered the communication and social landscape for Gen Z, according to a growing body of empirical data, sociological research, and workplace studies. Lockdowns in particular effectively substituted vital, real-world social trial-and-error with digital communication.
Beyond the pandemic years, it’s just a fact that young people’s day-to-day communication involves more typing, tapping and emojis than it did for their parents.
The results of this are unsurprising. According to a Harris Poll, 65% of Gen Z workers reported that they actively struggle to initiate or maintain casual, in-person conversations with colleagues. And according to an Indeed survey, nearly 50% of employers believe the communication skills of Gen Z recruits are unsatisfactory.
I see this not as an issue with intelligence or potential, more that they’re expected to communicate in an ecosystem that feels alien and adhere to rules that no one has ever quite explained.
This is what we call the context gap. Graduates are moving from digital-first, highly controlled, low-stakes interactions into a workplace full of nuance, ambiguity, hierarchy, and unwritten expectations. They’re not struggling with the communication itself, but with understanding their audience and the environment they are now part of. Gen Z simply need to be shown how to reorientate their communication for the workplace context.
Communication is rather like a three-legged stool, you need each leg – confidence, competence and context – to be present in order to avoid the whole thing coming apart.
Often though, communication training focuses on competence and confidence, and the context piece is missed.
Yes, new graduates need to be competent in structuring a message, articulating ideas, using the right communication channels etc. However, competence on its own doesn’t guarantee clarity. A graduate will still miss the mark if they don’t know what an audience needs from them.
And yes, confidence allows graduates to ask great questions, build their brand, and build trust with others. But confidence without context can easily tip into misjudgement.
It is ultimately an understanding of context that determines if communication lands or not. Without understanding who they’re speaking to, their preferences, values and expectations, even the most technically competent graduate will struggle to make an impact.
So how should organisations address this gap? It starts with giving graduates the opportunity to understand the communication environment they’ve stepped into. Graduates need opportunities to practice real workplace communication scenarios. They need space to make mistakes, try things out and receive constructive feedback so that they can join the dots between competence, confidence and context.
Just like Eric, once graduates understand the context, other things click into place. Not because they need to change who they are, but because they understand the environment they’re communicating in.
References:
https://fortune.com/2024/01/23/gen-z-social-skills-limited-coworkers-promotion/
https://rowancenterla.com/the-gen-z-stare-social-anxiety-and-new-communication-styles/
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