More and more SMEs are beginning to adapt recruitment campaigns to different generations. Undoubtedly, each generation, that of the Millennials, or that of the Baby Boomers and of course Generation X, behave in a different way at the same time that the assessment they make of their respective careers is also based on different elements.
However, with Generation Z (Gen Z) poised to enter the workplace, the global business culture is poised for a new wave of change, as is recruiting.
Who are Generation Z?
The post-Millennial generation, Generation Z, was born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Since Gen Z seniors are only twenty-five years old, Generation Z will be the fastest growing demographic. growth in global workplaces.
What is Generation Z like as employees?
This generation has an advantage over previous generations, as growing up with smartphones and small content on YouTube and apps like Snapchat means that Generation Z processes information faster than other age groups.
Employers can work with shorter attention spans to take advantage of Gen Z’s incredible multitasking abilities to boost engagement and productivity.
A generation born at the peak of technology
They have been caught by a true technological revolution in all areas of society, but especially it is the generation of the simplification of communications.
The Z is a generation that is designed to be fast communicators: they are used to responding quickly to problems and questions, and are more comfortable adapting written communication to a large number of channels and social groups when appropriate. This generation is also flexible, adaptable and quick to grasp new ideas and processes.
What do Generation Z want from their careers?
Having grown up with the cost of college tuition tripling, industry leaders predict a greater number of today’s teens entering the workforce straight from school. In an increasingly connected and transparent world where knowledge is just a click away, Gen Z is more confident in building their own knowledge and knows that by joining a workforce sooner than previous demographics, they can gain A head start on your career without crippling debt.
1º) Financial success
A report from the Barna Group labels Generation Z as “the most success-oriented generation.” More than two-thirds of Generation Z value financial independence as the most important thing before their 30th birthday.
2º) Ethical practices
Generation Z has grown up with the ability to see more of the world than any previous generation, at the touch of a button. Another study found that 81% of Gen Z respondents would refrain from buying brands with sexist, racist, or homophobic values, and would also actively discourage others from buying said brand.
Employees in this age group value ethical practices in the products they buy, the clothes they wear and the food they eat, and as employees they will value a workplace that also exhibits ethical practices throughout its supply chain.
3º) Purpose
Globalization and the fast-moving, transparent nature of information mean that Generation Z is on top of global issues and challenges. This generation wants their careers to have meaning, and many seek to be involved in a purpose greater than profit creation, such as advancing human rights around the world, protecting the environment, raising funds or awareness, or simply helping others. as much as possible.
4º) Unique work experience
Coming of age during the rise of the internet and AI means Gen Z is quick to grasp technology. The use of social media has helped Generation Z develop their personal identities and brands, boosting individuality and entrepreneurial focus. Gen Z is more likely to want to work for companies with unique brands and diverse workforces that truly understand their values and perspectives.
5º) Balance between work and life
While Generation Z values financial independence and is willing to work hard to achieve it, they also want to live life to the fullest. Young people are eager to travel, see the world and experience as much as they can, and a career that offers vacations and fringe benefits is sure to appeal to this generation.
How to attract and retain Generation Z
1º) Promote learning and development
Generation Z see themselves as ambitious and prioritize professional development and career growth. As such, it may be worth considering promoting the learning and development programs of the company that has been looking for candidates for new jobs and wants to attract Generation Z.
2º) Incorporate diverse and inclusive recruiting practices
Generation Z is the most diverse generation to date, for example in the case of the UK, 20% of its citizens are expected to be from an ethnic minority by 2051 and only two-thirds of Generation Z identify exclusively as heterosexuals.
Therefore, Gen Z is more likely to believe that employers should do more to combat discrimination, and they value others as unique individuals, regardless of their characteristics or background.
To attract Generation Z, companies must ensure that their Human Resources and Recruiting teams are doing everything possible to combat discrimination and conduct equitable hiring activities.
3º) Offer employee benefits
Employee benefits programs need to be reviewed and modified to include flexible working (which can increase productivity by 30%), experience-focused activities like extra vacations and trips abroad, and on-site services like fitness to enable Gen Z employees to socialize at work and achieve a good work-life balance.
Skills shortage and generation gap
The next decade will see the retirement of the Baby Boomer demographic. The steadily declining birthrate over the past 20 years means there won’t be enough Millennials and Gen Z employees to fill the gaps left by previous generations.
Skills shortages are particularly prevalent in engineering and related industries, which, given rapidly increasing technological advances, could create significant challenges for businesses around the world.
Solving the skills shortage and recruiting Generation Z lies in redefining the way we attract and recruit talent. While different generations favor specific benefits and elements of company culture, the best recruiters value each candidate’s skills and experience as an individual and treat them as such.
Although Gen Z is generally in favor of financial success and ethical practices, each candidate will have their own wants and needs, and these should be considered throughout the hiring process and throughout their career.
A holistic recruiting approach will not only consider the attraction of candidates by demographics, but will look at the entire business, which means implementing programs and benefits that appeal to all potential employees at every phase of their career, and candidates will proactively seek this type of staffing organizations.
10 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Gen Z Employees
“You want to work at a place that not only supports you, but actually wants you to thrive,” said the 23-year-old who interned at Arby’s for three months after graduating from Auburn University with a degree in public relations.
Bartle was hired last year as a field marketing coordinator for Arby’s, a division of Inspire Brands, the holding company that also owns restaurant chains Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins.
The culture of a company is not only what it says about itself, it is what it does. Bartle said he quickly learned about Arby’s corporate culture when his job interviews included a lot of conversation with team members who not only asked him detailed questions, but also gave him time to ask as many as he wanted on whatever topic he wanted. would consider important.
Many HR professionals, recruiters, and members of Gen Z say they are highly focused on genuine growth opportunities and an upbeat work environment that encourages innovation. Building insights into the company’s individual brand can be critical for Gen Z employees.
So what exactly are the best ways to attract and retain members of this generation (workers age 23 and under) and give potential employees a limited view of what a company really is?
Here are 10 of the most compelling qualities that can help employers attract and keep Gen Z employees
Flexibility
Flexible work options are expected as often more proficient with digital tools, Gen Z workers prefer to work from home or wherever is convenient for them. They want to work from anywhere that fits their lives, which could be their bedroom, the workplace, a table at Starbucks, or even a lounge chair on the beach.
Training
Few efforts are more highly valued by Gen Z employees than peer coaching programs.
It is more effective for a peer to encourage another peer, as they have done through years of schooling, than it is for a supervisor to micromanage.
Teamwork
Feeling part of a team is a must for Generation Z.
Diversity
Generation Z is the most diverse generation to have ever worked for any of the Inspire Brands restaurant chains, so it is up to each of the chains to demonstrate to potential Gen Z employees that each chain reflects the same diversity throughout the workforce, says Matt Thomas, director of talent acquisition for Inspire Brands in Atlanta. “We have to look, act, walk and even smell like them,” he says. “This generation is imposing that on us in an appropriate way.”
Bartle agrees. “When you look at different companies, nothing comes into play more than the pride you take in working for a company,” he said. “It is very important to feel comfortable in your own workplace.”
Work-life balance
Working for a company that promotes a healthy work-life balance is critical. Hence, when a boss gives an employee time off for medical appointments and other emergencies that have arisen, it is a highly valued attitude.
Every week in group meetings, bosses need to remind their teams to balance their work life with their real life. A company has to understand that everyone is a human being.
Developing
Most Gen Z members appreciate and deserve a clear set of development opportunities so they can not only progress in their roles, but also develop new skills.
Employers should develop an internal talent marketplace so employees can identify opportunities that interest them and try out responsibilities outside of their current role.
Increase
From day one, Gen Z demands absolute transparency about real opportunities for advancement. They don’t care so much about job titles, but about their opportunity and security for growth.
Advancement potential is the most important quality a new employee looks for from the company that hires them. Moving from one company to another is risky and stressful. The possibility of advancing in your career is decisive in deciding for that job.
Social conscience
Few things are more important to most members of Generation Z than a corporate commitment to social responsibility on both equity and environmental issues.
Tutorials
Mixing and matching different generations on the same team is one of the keys to attracting and retaining Gen Z workers.
In many organizations, some teams have members from four generations coming together to discuss their career experiences and goals.
Job rotation
Young workers especially enjoy being offered the opportunity to rotate through various jobs during their first few years with a company. For example, a company accountant might spend six months in franchise accounting, another six in brand advertising accounting, and perhaps another six months in corporate accounting.
5 Strategies to Retain Top Gen Z Talent
A happy face in the workplace helps us to ensure that all the faces in that work environment are also happy and satisfied. That they feel that they are constantly evolving because organizations are becoming employee-centric. Companies have now realized that in order to win the market in the future, they have first had to win in the workplace. And we know that Generation Z and Millennials are the future of the business world. In fact, after millennials, Gen Z is the second largest generation in the global workforce. According to predictions, Gen Z is estimated to contribute 30% of the workforce by 2030.
The workforce is being revolutionized and will continue to change in the future as well. However, as the corporate world changes, so do the demands of future incumbents. If you’re an employer, you might agree that convincing Gen Z and hiring them is hard, but retaining them is harder. In fact, if we take a look at the statistics:
A recent Adobe survey of 5,500 workers found that 56% of 18-24 year olds say they plan to change jobs in the next year.
Microsoft and Bankrate research reports that 54% to 77% of Gen Z are considering quitting.
These statistics are pretty self-evident that it’s about time employers buckled up and started working to retain their top Gen Z talent. To effectively retain your second-largest workforce, you need to have foolproof strategies in place. to do the job.
5 Foolproof Strategies to Retain Gen Z Talent
1º) Promote flexibility as the new normal
It is an undeniable fact that flexibility is slowly but surely becoming the new currency for attracting top talent. Statistically, 75% of Gen Z say that flexibility in the workplace is the number one benefit employees seek. This implies that if you want to retain Gen Z talent, if not today, then tomorrow, you must embrace the trend of flexibility as the new normal. There are two kinds of flexibilities Generation Z demands from their workplace.
First is the flexibility to work at your comfortable time and place.
This generation wants their employers to trust them, expect results, and not micromanage the entire process. More than that, the statistics revealed that 43% of those surveyed said that time flexibility had increased their productivity.
Second, Gen Z demands the flexibility of communication in which they can express themselves in the workplace.
Whether it’s in terms of getting feedback on their performance or providing feedback to the company regarding their organizational structures, Gen Z wants everything to be transparent.
In fact, according to statistics, 84% of Gen Zers prefer face-to-face communication with their employers. This flexibility of open communication helps them express their opinions. This open communication can help you improve your growth and that of the company together.
So if you want to retain Gen Z talent, you have to accept that this generation expects flexibility in their workplace. If they don’t get that, they don’t mind changing jobs even before 6 months of joining.
2º) Offer professional development opportunities
Everyone wants to be on top, and Generation Z took that seriously. This is why, according to statistics, 64% of Gen Z cited “career growth opportunity” as one of the top priorities when building a career. They want to work for a company where they can consistently grow and can measure their growth substantially.
Therefore, it is essential to create a path in which employees can work on their individual professional growth and development while working for the growth of the company. However, providing employees with growth opportunities will also improve the overall efficiency of the company, as this will ultimately lead to improved performance, which will also contribute to the overall growth of the company.
To provide opportunities for growth, you can have some sessions or workshops to improve or update skills, establishing the resources with which employees can work on their individual professional development. For remote workers, they can also get help from various paid learning apps, which can help them improve their knowledge base at their convenience.
These resources and sessions will ensure that Gen Z talent thinks of them beyond work and cares about them on a personal level. This will help engage them and encourage them to stay with the company longer, which will help improve the retention rate of your Gen Z talent.
3º) Be a high value company
Every company has its own values, and Gen Z prefers to work with a company that matches their values. This is why, for the effective retention of Gen Z, in your role as an owner or manager, you must build a company that practices high values in the workplace. Otherwise, according to statistics, 67% of Gen Z revealed that company values are even more crucial than the CEO/leader of the workforce.
If the value of the workforce aligns with the values of the company, it will help the workforce to connect or feel belonging to the organization. When the workforce is connected and appreciates belonging to the organization, it helps to retain them more efficiently.
If we talk about values, diversity is one of the most important values that Generation Z prioritizes in the contemporary workplace. This generation wants their company to value every member of the workforce regardless of the fact that they belong to a certain part of society.
Therefore, a diverse culture must be created that values and appreciates every part of society. It will help improve new hire engagement and result in a higher retention rate.
If the company values and appreciates diversity, they will also be very important points that will add to the value of the brand and help to obtain a wide pool of talents to choose the members of the team.
4º) On board with its full potential
There are moments that are key in the employer-employee relationship, for example, when joining the company, since the incorporation process is the first impression that an employee has of the company that hires him. In your role as a leader or as an owner you have to hire, new hires are already having a hard time adjusting to a new environment, so if you as an employer don’t welcome them, they will become disengaged. This is why a good onboarding is a crucial step in retaining your precious Gen Z talent.
A poor onboarding process can leave this generation feeling disconnected from work. Because of this, they may not be able to give their all for the growth of the company. This disconnection will decrease your motivation to work on the spot. In addition, it will also have an impact on the overall growth of the company, because if the employees are not engaged in work, it will affect their productivity, which will lead to less efficient work for the company, which could affect the growth in terms of Profits.
This is why management must ensure that each time new employees join that they are welcomed with grace and enthusiasm, for example, employees who are already on the staff can organize a small welcome party that will give them the opportunity to meet your colleagues.
Additionally, for remote workers, a virtual happy hour can be scheduled where they can introduce new hires to the rest of the team, helping to engage them in the workplace.
Going all out to create a successful onboarding experience for new hires will make them feel connected and comfortable in the organization. This will improve their overall sense of belonging in the workplace, helping to retain them for long periods of time.
5º) Foster empathy in the workplace
Empathy is the emotion that is mostly missing from contemporary workplaces. Is it a compelling reason why an employee cannot be retained? Of course, yes, because there are countless situations in which employees fail to understand the feelings and emotions of their team.
In fact, if we take a look at the statistics, 75% of Gen Z say they will only work for an empathetic employer, even if they have to change their job, industry or career path they are willing to do so. So if you don’t want to face a similar situation, it is very important that you foster empathy in the workplace.
Empathy is the ability to wisely understand feelings or situations before reacting to a certain situation. When you are in your role as employer, and you lack that sensitivity to understand the emotions of others, the direct consequence is that it increases the disconnection of people to work. But, if you successfully emerge as a leader who not only listens, but also understands the emotions of others, you can improve the engagement of all staff in the workplace.
Also, not only should you focus on becoming an empathetic leader, but you should also create a culture of creating an environment where everyone likes each other. If your employees are happy and positive in a workplace, you will also help improve the general well-being of their talent, as well as create a positive environment for everyone. It will result in better collaborations and teamwork. All of this together will not only help improve your team’s engagement, but it will also help retain them.
A final opinion
To summarize, hiring brilliant Gen Z talent is not enough. The ultimate goal should be your retention. Therefore, to retain Generation Z in the contemporary world, you must first create a company worth retaining. The strategies given above can effectively help you with the same to retain the precious Generation Z and contribute to the successful growth of your company.