AFP – Gossip, whether positive or negative, is a natural aspect of work life.
Employees often engage in small talk with their colleagues, covering topics like the weather and new TV shows. However, younger generations prefer to engage in more meaningful conversations with their colleagues and even their boss.
This trend is known as “big talk,” which stands in stark contrast to “small talk” – the trivial exchanges that fill the silence in waiting rooms, supermarket queues, or taxi and e-hailing rides. As the name implies, “big talk” involves much more serious and substantial discussions.
Don’t even consider talking about whether it’s rainy or sunny out. The aim is to talk about important subjects that will help you forge a deeper bond with the person you’re talking to.
Social network Pinterest made “big talk” one of its top trends for 2024. It found that searches for “hot seat questions” increased by 825 per cent on its platform between September 2021 and August 2023, and searches for “deep conversation starters” by 185 per cent.
However at first glance, the office or workplace doesn’t necessarily seem like the best environment for this kind of discussion.
When colleagues ask how we’re doing in the hallway, we’re generally content to respond with an unconvincing “fine, and you?” This habitual question rarely gives rise to a heart-to-heart conversation about the relationship or money problems we may be experiencing.
BUILDING CONNECTIONS THROUGH DIALOGUE
And yet, many young employees wouldn’t mind their colleagues talking to them about more important matters, such as their passions or challenges they’re facing both professionally and personally.
“It’s all about asking the questions that matter and giving them a chance to share how they are feeling about certain things,” confidence coach and psychologist Ruth Kudzi explained to People Management magazine.
This is related to the fact that young working people attach great importance to being themselves at work. They refuse to self-censor or downplay their personality, as older generations may have traditionally done.
For Kudzi, this quest for authenticity in the professional sphere is not unrelated to young people’s online habits.
“They’ve had a diet of social media so they are often more informed and knowledgeable about topics than generations before them and so they want to engage on this level, feeling confident to add their opinions into the mix,” she said.
And as we have seen, young professionals are not afraid to speak up in the workplace. The younger generations of employees are not afraid to express their opinions on issues that are important to them, such as pay and quality of life at work.
In fact, 87 per cent of the 1,001 Americans belonging to Generation Z interviewed for a major Adobe survey said they feel comfortable talking to their colleagues about sensitive subjects such as their job satisfaction – or dissatisfaction.
This willingness to speak freely is not a sign of youthful recklessness, but rather a desire to forge connections.
After all, young professionals attach great importance to getting along well with their peers.
Two-thirds of Generation Z members questioned by job search site Glassdoor for one of its surveys, for example, say they have a best friend at work, compared with 51 per cent of non-Generation Z employees.
Indeed, friendships are forged through conversation. It’s easy to feel affection for someone who shares your beliefs or interests. But you have to know that.
Small talk, unlike “big talk”, doesn’t allow a person to get to know another individual intimately. Of course, it’s not always easy – or even appropriate – to talk about certain deep subjects with colleagues.
But sometimes it’s worth a try. Who knows, you might even discover common passions with your open-space neighbours. An additional motivating factor for getting to the office!
