How to work with the most difficult generation: The GenZ?
13 October, 2023 Corporate GovernanaceOne study found that when Gen Z was asked what qualities they valued most in a leader, they prioritized empathy, honesty, and openness. This generation expects their boss to be open, encouraging, and respectful of their opinions.
At the same time, Gen Zers desire a work environment that fosters opportunity and innovation. They want to investigate flexible work arrangements and utilise the most recent technology consulting and other related shenanigans available in their industry.
Here are some of the most crucial factors that managers of Gen Z employees need to take into account.
Look out for their mental health needs
Mental Health First, ALWAYS EVERYTIME!
For Gen Z workers, empathy is everything. Today’s Gen Z workers, who make up about 82% of the workforce, believe that managers should provide “mental health days” when employees are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. Employees in Generation Z want to know that their employers care about their well-being.
Business executives in the field will need to look for opportunities to demonstrate their empathy. For instance, implementing a wellness strategy at work that emphasizes providing team members with stress management techniques and burnout prevention measures might be beneficial.
Gen Z workers will be easier to recruit if employers provide benefits like access to counseling, more vacation days for stressed-out workers, and competitive pay to address financial issues.
Communication and collaboration are the rizz
Generation Z is socially conscious. Social media has influenced this generation’s upbringing, and they value maintaining constant contact with the people they work with. As a result, industry executives will need to foster a spirit of cooperation, camaraderie, and teamwork. For Gen Z, face-to-face interaction is not always necessary for collaboration and communication. These workers enjoy having access to instant messaging programs and enjoy interacting with their coworkers via video conferences and phone calls. Business leaders must make sure they are open and consistent with their communication strategies if they want to foster a culture of transparency in the workplace. Keeping staff members regularly informed of the most recent company developments will increase their sense of security.
Allow for autonomy and independence
Gen Zers are driven, independent people who enjoy being on their own. They value the opinions and advice of leaders, but they also want the freedom to experiment with different approaches and conduct business in the way that most suits them. This means that managers must give Gen Z workers a sense of ownership over their projects.
Team members will feel more respected and invested in their work if you give them the freedom to set their own schedules or suggest how to approach projects. Numerous resources for independent research should be available to Gen Z, as well as regular opportunities for them to communicate their ideas and insights to the team’s leadership and other members.
Implement work-life balance strategies
For the millennial generation, burnout and stress have been major issues; about 28% of millennials claim to experience these problems frequently at work. Generation Z prioritises work-life balance more than most because they have learned from their parents’ struggles.
According to 81% of Gen Z workers, having the freedom to choose their hours and how they work is crucial. In the current environment, many team members anticipate having access to fully remote or hybrid working strategies. In order to have more time to recover from their time at the office, some Gen Zers are growing more interested in the idea of the 4-day work week.
Managers will need to provide a variety of working styles outside of the traditional 9-to-5 experience to Gen Z employees in order to appeal to them and keep them satisfied. It will be crucial for leadership to convince team members to take regular breaks and effectively manage their schedules in order to promote a healthy work-life balance.
At last, Adopt modern technology
As the first generation to enter the workforce with no memory of a time before social media and Wi-Fi, Gen Z and technology go hand in hand. This means that businesses will need to be tech-savvy if they want to draw in and keep Gen Z employees.
By implementing tools that aid Generation Z employees in managing their workloads, managers can increase their team members’ productivity and performance. Apps for project management and productivity, teamwork tools, and video conferencing services will all be essential.
Business leaders must also make sure their technology stack is regularly updated and improved if they want to retain Gen Z employees. This entails putting new software and services into use as they become available and even investing in software cloud environments. Gaining insight from staff members regarding the tools they favor using will help to direct successful investments.