Most of Gen Z are now adults, meaning that the pool of talent that employers can draw from is healthily populated by this younger generation.
Recent online discourse has revealed that the attitudes of Gen Z might be clashing with the values of employers and causing potential issues in the hiring process.
With iced coffees bearing the burden of responsibility for this issue, it is worth HR teams understanding how different approaches to work should be accounted for when hiring new employees.
Does iced coffee represent an attitude problem or could it be a discrimination risk?
On the surface, the iced coffee debate sounds quite frivolous, but it exposes something more serious that should be noted by HR teams.
The discussion centres around Gen Z’s propensity to bring iced coffee to interviews, with a recruiter warning to avoid the practice sparking an ongoing debate.
The recruiter suggested that employers would view the behaviour as inappropriate, communicating the message that the interview lacked importance and was another task on the day’s to-do list.
However, critics of the advice highlighted that a job interview is likely one part of someone’s day and questioned the strength of feeling regarding a beverage.
In particular, iced coffee is primarily associated with Gen Z, raising the question of whether a similar backlash would be issued to another type of drink.
The debate extended further as it is likely not uncommon for interviewers to offer a glass of water or a cup of tea or coffee during an interview, suggesting that the act of drinking cannot in itself be unprofessional.
As such, the specificity of the advice leads to some questions about it being potentially discriminatory.
How should HR teams handle iced coffee in interviews?
Under the Equality Act 2010, not hiring somebody because they bought an iced coffee is not necessarily considered a breach of the law.
What may be viewed as discriminatory is if the candidate is being disadvantaged due to a protected characteristic, such as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The iced coffee debate focuses on how Gen Z women may be disadvantaged in the hiring process if their choice of beverage puts them at odds with the hiring team.
To avoid any potential issue of discrimination, HR teams should be transparent about expectations ahead of an in-person interview taking place.
If an iced coffee would cause concern, this may be for legitimate reasons such as if there is sensitive equipment in the interview process, it would be wise to forbid any external food or drink during the interview.
Where appropriate, offering candidates beverages is a good alternative as it prevents other potential issues relating to the management of health conditions that could explain a person’s desire to bring a drink in the first place.
All guidance should be applied universally to ensure the hiring process is fair and that HR teams can judge candidates on their suitability for the job role.
