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As 2025 draws to a close, it is the perfect moment to pause and reflect. At Flyntrok, we believe the most valuable lessons are found in those moments of reflection. That is why we offer you our End-of-Year Reflection Series.
We have curated and invited experts across diverse fields to share their perspectives on the defining moments and trends of 2025. Each brings a unique lens to their respective areas ranging from the world of HR to leadership and research. This series isn’t just about looking back; it’s about gaining the perspective you need to make sense of a changing world and chart your course for 2026 with intention.
Andrea J. Gonzalez is an accredited coach, facilitator, speaker, and awarded senior academic based in Australia. With over 17 years of experience, Andrea has personally coached more than 6,000 students across 34 countries to thrive in their studies and careers. A Gallup Clifton Strengths certified coach, she specializes in strengths-based coaching for emerging adults and advocates for neurodiversity and inclusivity in education and the workplace. When someone has spent nearly two decades coaching thousands of Gen Z students and emerging professionals across continents, they see patterns others miss. They know what drives this generation—and what shuts them down.
Over to Andrea…
Here are 5 patterns and concerns that I constantly noticed in the young students and professionals I coached in 2025. They were young people entering the workforce for the first time. I hope some of these patterns will help leaders better engage with them in 2026…
1. Will I get to do what I’m good at?
For years Gallup data has shown us that employees who use their natural talents and abilities every day are nearly 10% more engaged in their work, 15% less likely to leave, and contribute to 29% greater profitability for your company. Yet the biggest groan I hear from young professionals is “I never get to do what I’m good at.”
They may be new to their role at work, but they have been using their natural talents for success at school, in sport, in part-time jobs, and in community and cultural pursuits for over a decade.
Build a matrix of skills and talents for your team so everyone sees the value of your youngest workers from day one. Then give them challenges and problems you need solved so they can use them.
Your Gen Z employees are not blank slates. They are bringing a decade of proven capability. The question is whether you will see it—and use it.
2. What happens when I fail?
It is their biggest fear and it is holding them back because they have watched their parents live through an era of shame and blame for failures at work.
Instead, acknowledging and rewarding our new professionals for their courage and persistence through inexperience and mistakes creates a culture of potentiality. It builds loyalty. It inspires other young workers.
Most of all, encouraging experimentation and accepting their failures accelerates company innovation using the ultimate intelligence—the infinite imaginations of our youngest generation at work.
The fear of failure is not about lack of confidence. It is about having watched what happened to the generation before them. Create a different story, and watch what they can do.
3. What makes my job meaningful?
This is so important to your Gen Z workers we need to accept this now for their good health and wellbeing at work.
The most successful tip I have, to help your young professionals embrace any role at work is: coach them.
Coaching helps them connect values, take right action, align with leadership, and embrace the alliance between the success of your company’s strategic vision and enjoying their time at work.
Meaning is not a luxury for Gen Z. It is a requirement. And it is not about grand purpose statements. It is about connecting the dots between what they value and what they do every day. Coaching creates that bridge.
4. What’s my source of truth?
Our youngest professionals hate a lie—there, I have said it. They know when they are being lied to and it is the biggest, and quickest, turn-off to them doing their best work.
It is truly counterproductive going into 2026 to think your Gen Z workers must believe you because you are in authority. At every level of leadership and management, say what you mean and do what you say, for they can handle it—and they will respect you for entrusting them with the truth.
This generation grew up with information at their fingertips. They fact-check. They cross-reference. They know when something does not add up. Authority without honesty is not authority. It is just noise.
5. Will I have friends at work?
Our youngest professionals are onto something here and we need to pay attention.
In 2025 Gallup shared that worldwide employee engagement has fallen to just 21%. This means most of your employees are giving their time, but not the energy and passion you are counting on from their discretionary effort.
There is one exciting exception and our youngest professionals thrive on it. Gallup’s data shows that employees who have a best friend at work are more likely to be supported socially and emotionally, informed, accountable, connected, and committed to key business outcomes—even in a hybrid or remote worker model.
Creating opportunities and encouraging your youngest employees (indeed all employees) to grow and keep lasting friendships is the ying to the yang of embracing AI in the workplace.
As work becomes more automated, human connection becomes more essential. Gen Z understands this instinctively. The question is whether we do.
What This Means for Leaders
These five questions are not requests for special treatment. They are signals of what every generation needs—but Gen Z is the first to say it out loud.
They want to use their talents. They want space to fail safely. They want meaning in their work. They want truth from their leaders. They want connection with their colleagues.
None of this is unreasonable. All of it is measurable. And organizations that figure this out will not just retain Gen Z talent—they will unlock innovation, engagement, and performance that other companies are leaving on the table.
The organizations struggling with “Gen Z problems” are not dealing with a generational issue. They are dealing with a leadership gap. Because what Gen Z is asking for is what good leadership has always provided: clarity, honesty, development, purpose, and connection.
2025 showed us the questions Gen Z is asking. 2026 will show us which leaders were listening.
We invite you to look back at 2025 through your own experiences and consider the varied perspectives of the experts in this series. A personal reflection guide (New Beginnings) is available for you at flyntrok.com/point-of-view.
