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How do you say “that sounds like a you problem” in corporate language?
It’s a question, it turns out, that quite a lot of people seem to have been pondering. Many of them have turned to Laura Whaley for an answer.
With more than 6mn followers across Instagram and TikTok, Whaley is one of several content creators helping Gen Z workers and other perplexed white-collar employees become more fluent in corporate communication.
In her popular “how do you professionally say” videos, Whaley is given a quick-fire series of thoughts that might regularly cross a young employees’ mind. Her translations make them palatable to bosses. “What are you talking about?” becomes: “Can you elaborate on your thinking here?”
The popularity of these skits reflects a common problem. Workplace jargon has always been an issue. But with five generations working together, colleagues can find themselves speaking different dialects. Sometimes a translator is required.
Other interpreters making a selling point of their fluency in office include Vincent Xu, an LA-based lawyer who has amassed a following of more than 500,000 across TikTok and Instagram, and Mike Mancusi, with nearly 100,000 on Instagram. In Mancusi’s skit of a board meeting, a translator explains the CEO’s announcement of “strategic processes” means “lay-offs”.
Xu says he started making “how to professionally say” videos after observing a “communication gap” between workers’ feelings and their ability to articulate them in corporate-appropriate language. His viewers tell him he has helped them set boundaries with their boss, or endure tough meetings. “People aren’t just necessarily copying my phrases word for word, but they’re learning to translate their emotions into language that gets results.”
The videos are particularly popular among younger staff. According to research by professional network LinkedIn and Duolingo, the language learning app, 48 per cent of Gen Z and millennial workers felt less involved in the workplace because of jargon. Two-thirds said they had to work out the meaning of office jargon without help from managers or colleagues.
Poppy Allen, 23, who works in insurance, counts herself among that group and is turning to Whaley’s videos. Their “most useful” guidance tells her how to politely ask if a meeting is necessary when — as often happens — colleagues do not initially make that clear.
Kemba Neptune, a communications expert at agency commercetools, says many younger workers experienced education and started work during lockdowns, which can mean some struggle with the formality of office life.
Gen Z’s “communication style is very different, it’s a lot more relaxed”, Neptune explains. “Directness translates into transparency or authenticity to them, whereas to others it might seem a bit more abrasive.”
Some employees are using other approaches to bridge the gap. Millie Jotischky, 24, who works in banking, uses Microsoft Copilot, an artificial intelligence tool, when drafting emails “to help them sound more professional or concise”.
Research from Google last year found 88 per cent of younger workers thought AI could help set the right tone for workplace comms. “Just Not Sorry”, a Chrome extension for email, highlights words like “sorry” and “actually” that it says “undermine” users’ messages, and suggests they remove them. Reviewers note it also helps rein in excessive use of exclamation points.
Arguably, one of the biggest obstacles to understanding could be the language used by younger workers themselves.
The Duolingo survey found 85 per cent of US Gen Z workers said they used workplace jargon. Some content creators, such as advertising agency BAM Collective, have made videos that translate this into more common parlance (“You ate” means “you did a fantastic job”, for anyone wondering).
Commercetools’ chief people officer, Roxana Dobrescu, has watched this play out in her own workforce. One employee recently made a complaint to HR because “another colleague said that she has no rizz”. When Dobrescu used a smiley emoji with red cheeks it was also taken as passive aggressive. This was not intended.
And how do you translate “that sounds like a you problem” into office speak? “I believe that falls within your scope of responsibilities, but I’m happy to support where it makes sense.”