Millennials went under the microscope when HR departments examined their job preferences to determine how best to attract, hire, and retain this age group. Now, the same holds for Generation Z or “GenZ.” Born between 1997 and 2009, Gen Z is absolutely worth your attention as they will comprise at least a quarter of the world’s workforce by 2025.
Now that we’ve got your interest let’s look at some defining traits of Generation Z to help you get and hold onto them.
A big-picture view of a job as part of working toward a larger cause is a characteristic of this latest generation of talent. While a paycheck is still important, Generation Z wants to know that the organizations who employ them do something for greater good, indicates a recent survey.
Whether this cause is climate change or something else depends on what cause is important to the individual. What you can take away from this point, though, is that focusing on helping at a higher level can be for the greater good and earn you more Gen Z employees.
Research reveals that Gen Z-ers have already felt the difficulty of the transition from college to the working world. They can feel confused and uncentered, which makes sense as the coronavirus pandemic uprooted their traditional learning experience.
Thus, employers and new Gen Z hires would benefit from a longer, more comprehensive orientation program than usual. The goal here is to integrate these workers into the organization, providing them with the support that fulfills them personally on the job and aligns with the organization’s goals.
Diversity and inclusion, and social causes, are areas that Generation Z wants to fight for, as per the survey earlier cited in this article. One area that the youth worry about is income equality, for example.
Three out of five Generation Z’s surveyed also viewed systemic racism as “very” or “fairly widespread” in society at large. Furthermore, more than half of them indicated they saw older generations as obstacles to progress. These findings indicate the importance of your organization having a more inclusive and diverse workforce, and policies to encourage positive change in these areas.
While you likely already know that stress and anxiety can lead to days off work and turnover, you may not know that Generation Z has high stress and anxiety levels. One can only wonder how the pandemic will add to the mental health struggles for this age group over time.
Given this information, it makes sense for employers to provide a stress management policy that exists across the entire organization. Providing a personalized program for Gen Z-ers, based on best practices and the said policy, can open up the dialogue.
Starting to understand younger workers better begins today. By creating a workplace that Gen Z wants to be a part of, you have the potential to attract, hire, and retain top talent. Get more tips in this recent post on engaging with Gen Z.
