Numerous phrases have entered the workplace lexicon in recent years as employees have reassessed their approaches to jobs. Members of Generation Z in entry-level jobs often are the generators of these phrases, which include "quiet quitting" and "coffee badging."
In May, Fortune published an article highlighting another term, "yapping," or the phenomenon of young people chitchatting nonstop in the workplace.
"Yapping" is "to speak for long periods on end, sometimes until the listening party tunes out," the article stated. The term has surfaced on social media, with some Gen Z workers expressing their experience with "yapping" at work. In one TikTok video, a worker describes "yapping" to co-workers at lunch and telling them "about all the intrusive thoughts I've been having lately."
Vicky Tilton, DNP, RN, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at Madera, Calif.-based Valley Children's Healthcare, told Becker's the term is new to her, but it does resonate.
"We have been seeing it come to fruition within our new generational workforce," she said. "The concept that stood out to me about the term is that it's that oversharing but wanting that personal relationship from how they can express themselves."
In the Fortune article, experts pointed to years of COVID-19 isolation and loneliness as potential factors contributing to the desire for young workers to build relationships, engage in small talk and gab with co-workers. Dr. Tilton pointed to other factors noted in literature as well, such as young workers' upbringing around social media and them leveraging technology differently than other generations.
Experts in the Fortune article acknowledge the positives of "yapping," such as bringing about new ideas, fostering inclusiveness and creating a culture of mutual exchange, as well as potential downsides, such as posing a distraction to peers working nearby or making others with different communication styles uncomfortable. Additionally, a workplace study published in the Academy of Management Journal suggests "that the polite, ritualistic and formulaic nature of small talk is uplifting yet also distracting."
Overall, at Valley Children's, where Gen Z makes up an estimated 40% to 50% of the nursing workforce, Dr. Tilton does not view "yapping" as a negative.
"I think there is some negative connotation around it, but I think it's how you foster it and how you understand where they're coming from and how you help them incorporate that mentality of, they joined the workforce," she said.
"Because in healthcare, there is a set expectation of professionalism, especially in pediatrics. We're dealing with a very critical situation with someone's child. So it's really trying to help them develop a fine line of being sincere and empathetic and supportive but also understanding that there are some clear boundaries, especially with patients and families, and their own colleagues. I think that's what resonated when I heard the term and was thinking about it in our workforce. But we certainly do see it happening."
She specifically sees it happening during the interview process as young workers finish college and enter the professional environment. This could involve the interviewee sharing some personal experiences when they are asked certain questions.
"I think that's how they relate, and wanting us to get to know them as an individual versus more of that standard skill-set approach or task-oriented mentality," Dr. Tilton said. "I think we're seeing it demonstrated there."
She added that younger interviewees express wanting to join the organization during the interview.
But "it's sharing those personal stories about a friendship or going out or doing something fun. All fine to hear, but might not be an appropriate time to share that. From an executive team perspective, it's really ensuring that our workforce as a collective continues to focus on sensitivity to our patients and their families along with the colleagues. But balancing awareness around that our younger workers have grown up in an age of social media and sharing aspects of their personal lives is a norm for them. And from that, they form authentic and genuine connections, and that's what they're looking for. As an organization, we want to retain the new talent. They're bringing different views and opportunities for us to navigate and look at how we do healthcare differently. So they're a great influence, too."
With all this in mind, she is a proponent of encouraging open communication and personal expression, and being inclusive and understanding, while finding a balance of staying mission driven, staying focused on caring for patients and professional expectations.
"Their tendency to overshare, we just need to monitor that if you will, address it with empathy, setting clear guidelines, setting expectations, and then teaching [managers] how to harness some of the aspects that are positive from this trend," Dr. Tilton said.
As to an example of this at Valley Children's, she referenced an attendance issue with an employee. Dr. Tilton heard this secondhand from another leader.
"The leader pulls them into the office to say, 'I noticed a trend or pattern where you're five minutes late or not prompt,'" Dr. Tilton said. "And the employee shared, 'I have X, Y and Z going on in my life, and I just can't make it happen, and I'm struggling.' Sharing a lot of personal things."
Dr. Tilton said the leader heard this, understood it and looked into whether there was an accommodation the hospital could make.
"Maybe [the worker] had some personal things going on with their partner, getting kids to school, and they couldn't get here at 7 a.m. But [the worker] needs a day shift because of family, school life. You can't make exceptions for everyone, but we can understand that," she said.
The leader ultimately narrowed the attendance pattern to Wednesdays and was able to adjust the employee's schedule.
"They were highly competent with their skill set, otherwise delivered great care, was a great colleague, all of the positives you want in a worker," Dr. Tilton said.
"It was this one incident that overshadowed what they brought to the team. And we pushed their start time to 7:30 a.m., and then the employee circled back and said it's made a tremendous impact. … And then the team understands that they're not waiting for this person who's always getting away with being late. It was shared with the team that we made some accommodations [for the worker], and if other team members have opportunities or needs, they have to talk with their leadership team so we can help manage through that."
From the leader's perspective, the manager expressed support but also provided "a nice reminder to say, 'You also have to be able to separate personal life sometimes when you're here at work because we have an intense environment. And if you're not able to do that on a certain day or time you're struggling, please come talk to me. We want to show up and demonstrate our best to our patients and families, because that is our expectation for our team.' It's kind of level-setting those pieces with the employee," Dr. Tilton said.
Her main takeaways for hospital and health system leaders:
Encourage open communication and personal expression. "That should be allowed. But I think it does need to be tempered with guidelines that help maintain that professionalism and an overall respect for everyone's comfort level. Being able to read the room. Understanding those triggers in other folks and coming to even listen more. As leaders, too, I think we need to listen more."
Foster an environment or culture of acceptance, supporting and understanding. "And then not only for our workforce, but that trickles down to our patients and families' experience with us. I do think there's a time and place for sharing, and if we can align that with the guidance around why we're here, too. Why we work at our hospital and our mission about taking care of kids and that being our focus. I just think the balance of all that [is important]."
Understand where employees are at and their experiences. The desire to share and engage in small talk is "not all negative because that brings a different opportunity for them to question us and keep us aware of what's shifting out there and how we can be more mindful and keep going forward innovatively and proactively together. We always want two-way communication with our team. We always want to be locked in step as leaders. Be open and have them comfortable to come talk with us. That's what I strive to demonstrate."