Alastair WallaceCEO. Lead Consultant. Trainer. Coach, Brainfood Ltd · Leadership & Management Training for Busy Managers. Helping senior leaders stop handholding | Brain-friendly, diary-friendly | Save 5+ hours a week | 23,500 managers trained | 200% ROI guaranteed. TED

Gen Z being late

26 Aug 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:17

In this short advisory video, Alastair Wallace addresses managers dealing with a Gen Z employee who arrives late. He explains that lateness is less about the individual and more about the manager’s tolerance of flexible start times. If lateness goes unchecked, it signals to the whole team that the start time is optional. Wallace provides a concise, fair script for a patterned conversation: acknowledge the lateness, restate the 9 AM start time, ask what happened, and set a clear expectation for future punctuality, while offering a way to communicate any issues beforehand. He also promotes his free “Say This First” guide, which supplies ready‑made wording for awkward managerial conversations.

Chapters

Your Gen Z team member wanders into work at 9:15 AM, iced matcha in hand, headphones on. You groan and think, where have you been? Lateness isn't just about the clock, and it doesn't just apply to Gen Z either. This is about what you as a manager tolerate. Flexibility is totally fine if that's what the agreement is. If one person drifts in late and nothing happens, Everyone else learns the start time is more of a suggestion. If time does matter, you don't need a lecture here, you just need a patterned conversation. Say this: I noticed you were 15 minutes late today and on Wednesday. Our start time's 9 AM. What happened? Then clarify: I need you here ready to start work at 9 AM from tomorrow. If there's a problem, you can always give me a call before the start time, not after. This works because it's specific and it's fair. You can listen without making the standard optional. If you want the words for awkward manager conversations just like this one, grab my free Say This First guide. I'll put it with the post.