Your best employee doesn't want you to have all the answers anymore. Here's what they want instead
For decades, the model was simple. The manager was supposed to be the smartest person in the room, the one with the most experience, the go-to source when something needed solving. That model is quietly breaking down, and it's worth understanding why if you're managing a team today.
Martin Noonan, a business coach and facilitator at Melbourne-based Innovate Learn, argues the shift comes down to how younger employees, particularly Gen Z, grew up. Having come of age with smartphones, social media and instant access to information, many now default to searching online for answers rather than looking to a manager as the primary source of knowledge. The result, in Noonan's view, is that employees increasingly judge managers less by what they know and more by how well they foster engagement, autonomy and growth, describing the ideal manager as someone who's engaging, provides variety, and creates genuine opportunities to contribute.
That doesn't mean managers are becoming irrelevant, or that younger employees are dismissing leadership and experience altogether. Noonan says they still value senior guidance and judgement, particularly when real challenges come up. But when things are running smoothly day to day, they want a seat at the table, chances to share ideas, contribute to decisions and feel genuinely heard.
Where the gap actually shows up
Noonan points to a specific tension worth watching for. Gen Z employees, having grown up with constant access to information and social interaction, can often size up a problem and offer a solution quickly. But that speed can come at the cost of depth, their read on the issue can be surface-level, and their proposed fix too broad or under-thought.
His suggested fix isn't to shut that down, but to slow it deliberately. Letting people make mistakes, in his view, actually builds deeper learning and a better grasp of consequences than being handed the right answer immediately. One practical way he suggests bridging that gap is pairing younger employees with senior leaders through buddy or shadowing arrangements, giving them a front-row seat to how decisions actually get made, while still having a chance to contribute their own perspective.
There's a communication piece too. Comfort operating across social platforms doesn't always translate into confidence in face-to-face professional settings, and Noonan notes that some younger employees will default to a text message with a customer rather than a face-to-face conversation. His advice is to actively coach communication skills and professional norms, rather than assuming they'll develop naturally on the job.
Why influence matters more than title
According to Noonan, Gen Z expects more from a workplace than previous generations typically did. Rather than accepting a career path built purely around performance and time served, many expect to be consulted and to have some access to leadership, even early on. When that expectation isn't met, he says boredom is often cited as a reason people leave within their first year.
The point isn't that every decision needs a committee. It's that people, generally, engage more when they feel genuinely seen and connected to their manager and the organisation, rather than feeling like an interchangeable resource. One approach Noonan says has shown promise is bringing together a small group of employees from different locations into a recurring monthly discussion about how to make the workplace more effective, giving them real input while asking them to deliver visible outcomes from those conversations.
Three practical starting points
Noonan offers three concrete strategies for managers navigating this shift:
Set expectations early. From day one, get a clear read on what someone actually wants from the role, how they see advancement, what keeps them motivated, and be upfront and honest about what the business can and can't offer in return.
Map a pathway, but stay flexible. Younger employees aren't necessarily planning to stay at one organisation for decades, but many will commit to two or three years if there's a visible, structured path forward. Show them what that could look like, review it regularly, and be willing to adjust as their own goals shift.
Build in variety and responsibility. Keep people engaged through changing environments and genuine involvement, brainstorming sessions, exposure to different parts of the business, even the occasional stint at another location. Give people real problems to work on, not just tasks to complete.
Noonan's broader argument is that managers can no longer create value through knowledge alone, since that's now available to anyone with a phone. What managers can still offer that technology can't is flexibility, genuine opportunity, variety, judgement and real human connection. Businesses that lean into that shift, in his view, will have a real edge in attracting and keeping the next generation of talent.