The Social Skills Gap: Gen Z, telephobia and the value of connection
Flexibility in itself brings new challenges, especially for younger employees. Recent research highlights a rise in telephobia among Gen Z, with many reporting anxiety about taking phone calls and making small talk. This matters because early career development relies heavily on informal learning, relationship-building and social ease. Hybrid working can unintentionally limit exposure to these experiences, often called ‘osmosis by learning’, especially for those who prefer to stay virtual.
This is where well-designed reward and hybrid policies intersect. If organisations want to sustain productivity and cohesion, they must balance flexibility with opportunities for social connection.
In-person time facilitates:
- Tacit learning through observation.
- Confidence building, especially in communication and negotiation.
- Stronger team relationships and psychological safety.
- Faster problem-solving through spontaneous interaction.
- A sense of belonging, which strongly correlates with engagement.
While only three per cent require full-time office attendance, many organisations now mandate or encourage a modest level of presence – typically two or three days per week. Many organisations say this is not about presenteeism; it is about enabling the collaboration, social learning and culture-building that are harder to achieve remotely.
Hybrid models that include “anchor days” or team-based office schedules give structure without rigidity. For Gen Z, who may struggle with phone-based communication or unstructured social interactions, these in-person touchpoints are particularly valuable.
Linking total reward to modern work realities
So how can organisations design reward systems that reflect this fast-evolving landscape?
1. Start with fairness: transparent job evaluation and clear pay architecture
Employees need confidence that pay is aligned to responsibility and contribution; not personality, tenure or negotiation skills. In uncertain economic times, fairness is even more essential for trust.
2. Integrate productivity expectations directly into reward without over-engineering
Link bonuses to a blend of individual, team and organisational outcomes, as most employers already do. For roles where productivity is harder to measure, use qualitative indicators, behavioural expectations and role-specific outcomes.
3. Avoid micromanagement: measure what matters
While detailed productivity tracking is tempting, overly intrusive metrics can damage culture. With most organisations avoiding heavy monitoring, the opportunity lies in light-touch, meaningful measurement supported by effective leadership and clear goals. Giving people autonomy and aligning them to the organisational vision is essential to motivating and yielding greater impact from each individual’s work.
4. Build hybrid working expectations into reward and performance systems
Clarify what good looks like, why in-person time matters and how hybrid working supports both individual development and organisational outcomes. This means articulating how collaboration and visibility contribute to outcomes and show how the organisation supports quieter or less experienced employees to grow.
5. Strengthen social capital as part of your total reward philosophy
Social connection is a productivity enabler. It drives innovation, resilience, problem-solving and speed of execution. For Gen Z, who face unique communication anxieties, structured support, mentoring, buddying and facilitated collaboration days should be treated as an investment in future performance.
6. Align reward decisions with affordability realities
With rising employment costs and reduced business confidence, organisations must scrutinise pay structures, remove legacy inefficiencies and ensure reward spend is targeted where it has the biggest impact: on retention of critical talent and drivers of productivity. Addressing affordability head-on and being transparent can foster greater trust, strengthening the employee-employer relationship.
A strategic moment for HR
Amid the perfect storm facing HR professionals of affordability constraints, technological disruption, productivity pressure and rapidly shifting workforce expectations, total reward design stands at the centre of organisational strategy.
The organisations that will thrive are those that:
- Pay fairly and transparently
- Link reward to meaningful performance outcomes
- Embrace flexibility without losing cohesion
- Measure productivity intelligently
- Support younger employees in developing the communication confidence they need
- Use hybrid work to foster—not erode—social connection
- Treat reward as a system, not a series of isolated decisions
Fair pay may be a hygiene factor, but total reward is a powerful lever for shaping behaviour, strengthening culture and enabling productivity. In the era of hybrid work and economic uncertainty, thoughtful reward design is not just an HR task; it is a business imperative.
Get in touch
Gen Z are the future of the workforce, so will ultimately define the future of your total reward strategy. How organisations shape the approach now will influence the long-term trajectory of reward design. Contact us to discuss how you can achieve robust frameworks that deliver fairness and transparency.
