"A leadership team is watching productivity stall, culture wobble and communication fray. In one corner, senior leaders are pushing for more office presence, clearer hierarchy and 'proper' ways of working. In another, younger team members are questioning rigid routines, favouring rapid digital communication and expecting flexibility. Everyone is frustrated. And beneath it all sits a bigger question: Is generational diversity a strategic advantage… or a growing fault line?"
This is Alternatively Speaking. The Grant Thornton podcast where we explore the healthy tensions shaping modern business.
In this episode, host and broadcast journalist Samantha Simmonds brings together three people with different career experiences – Gen Z Co-founder Ben Jeffries, millennial audit partner Ant Thomas, and Gen Z audit associate Kirsty Miller – to ask: is friction between generations slowing organisations down, or pushing them forward?
They explore the clash between expectations of hybrid working, where communication styles can spark conflict, how AI is reshaping capability and confidence, and what leaders can do to keep teams aligned when four generations are working to four different definitions of “productive”.
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Ben Jeffries is the CEO and Co-founder of Influencer, a global leader in influencer marketing. Ben founded Influencer when he was 18, partnering with YouTube star Caspar Lee as co-founder and CVO. Ben is an award-winning entrepreneur, with awards from Forbes 30 Under 30 to BMW Entrepreneur of the Year, and has previously spoken at global events such as Cannes Lions, Web Summit, Facebook, TikTok, Advertising Week and Social Media Week, plus many more.
Audit Partner and Head of London Audit, who brings 20+ years’ experience working in a more traditional, highly regulator industry. He works with a wide range of clients of different sizes, international reach and cross industry. Since moving to the firm in 2015 he has been a member of the TMT team, working largely with companies in the tech sector.
Kirsty joined Grant Thornton in 2024 on the school leaver apprenticeship programme, stepping into public sector audit after starting her career as a Duty Manager at the Bannatyne Group. She’s now combining her professional studies with real‑world audit work and is building a career with long‑term ambitions to progress all the way to Partner.