From Hygiene To Manners: Does Gen Z Need Etiquette Coaches At Workplace?

A few months ago, a company in San Francisco made headlines for hiring workplace etiquette coaches to train Gen Z employees on basics like hygiene, email sign-offs, punctuality, and office behaviour. At a cursory glance, it sounds awkward and absurd. Do professionals need to be taught how to behave? However, the reality is something one cannot ignore.

Gen-Z work culture

Gen Z entered the workforce through a very different door. Many began their careers during the pandemic, learning professionalism through screens, Slack messages, and informal digital spaces. For them, casual communication, flexible schedules, and hierarchies felt normal.

So many of my friends are now not hiring gen z NOT because they aren’t smart or good at their jobs (they are) but because they’re rude, difficult to work with, and don’t know how to behave with other colleagues. Honestly hard to defend a lot of the stuff lol.

— Harnidh Kaur (@harnidhish) December 3, 2024

Traditional offices, however, still operate under unwritten rules, such as how you dress, how you email seniors, when you speak, and even how you physically present yourself in a shared space. But due to this meeting of two different worlds, the current need to train Gen Z has become unopposed.

Leaders working closely with Gen Z argue that the issue isn’t behaviour, but expectations that haven’t evolved with time. Jeel Gandhi, CEO of Under25, explains this shift clearly when she says,

“What we call a ‘workplace etiquette gap’ is actually a mismatch between old corporate habits and the new generation. Gen Z is not rejecting professionalism completely, but rather, they value clarity, transparency, flexibility, empathy, and purpose," Jeel shared with SheThePeople.

"What’s needed is redefining what professionalism looks like today, where old-school professionalism meets halfway with Gen Z’s way of life, without diluting the outcome requirements,' she added. "It’s all about outcome, not the number of unaccounted trials; efficiency, not the number of hours; and ownership, not just forced accountability.”

Taylor Elizabeth, an etiquette coach and the founder-CEO of The Elegance Advisor, shares that etiquette teaching can become a common path between Gen Z and the work culture ethics by effective communication and mutual understanding.

"As times change, so does the definition of professionalism. If each generation is willing to meet in the middle by strengthening emotional intelligence and remaining open to learning and change, common ground emerges. From that place of mutual understanding, teams become more connected, effective, and productive together."

Ritu Rathod, an image consultant & soft skills coach (@moonlight._.musings) shares "The ‘etiquette gap’ isn't a lack of respect, but a clash between ‘legacy corporate personas’ and Gen Z’s focus on ‘authenticity and boundaries’."

She adds, "While organizations must modernise outdated norms, the onus is also on the new generation to master the 'diplomacy of professional presence' ensuring their push for change is paired with the soft skills needed to build cross-generational trust."

Is This Really a Gen Z Problem?

Putting the blame entirely on Gen Z is an easy shortcut. Every new generation has been labelled “unprofessional” when it first steps into the workplace.

What’s different today is that the nature of work has evolved, while many office cultures have stayed stuck in the past. Gen Z looks for clear communication, flexibility, and meaningful work, not unspoken rules backed by silent judgment.

Professionalism and its connotations

The real question isn’t whether Gen Z needs etiquette lessons, but whether workplaces need to redefine professionalism. Respect, accountability, and basic courtesy matter and no generation is exempt from that. 

But professionalism doesn’t have to mean rigid traditions that no longer serve the work. If offices want loyalty and productivity, they need dialogue, not just correction.

Views expressed are the author's own.