For years, employers and recruiters have been focused on the millennial cohort. But, an increasingly bigger demographic is beginning to elbow its way onto the workplace. The Gen-Zers are about to have a massive impact on the workplace.
Just one heads up: These digital natives are radically different from millennials. This is a generation who has an entirely unique perspective on career aspirations and how to define success in life and in the workforce. That means recruiting, managing, and retaining them requires a similarly unique approach.
So, how do Gen-Zs behave? What sort of impacts will they have on the workplace and the company? If you want to benefit of 20-somethings’ drive and creativity in the professional setting, you need to think about what makes them tick.
To better understand Gen-Zs and how to work with them, let’s deep dive into their behaviours, attitudes, and preferences.
Who is Generation Z?
Generation Z are the people who are born between 1997 to 2012, making up 26% of Malaysia’s population. While most in the age group are still studying, a chunk of them — with the oldest Gen-Zs turning 25 — have just entered the workforce. That means you are most likely working with them as your colleagues or teammates.
Growing up with the Internet for all of their lives, the Gen-Zers are the first digital natives. We are talking about a generation who grows up with a digital device in their hands. They may have never known a time without a smartphone, high-speed Internet, and a world of information at their fingertips.
Gen-Z are tech-savvy
While millennials learned to use the technology you're so familiar with today, Gen-Zs were born with the technology already existing. So if you ask a Gen-Zer to do a task they are not familiar with, they are more likely to YouTube the said task.
The Gen-Zers expect companies to embrace the digital world — communication platform, cloud storage, and collaboration software. They want to work with companies that embrace technology as much as they do.
Gen-Z care about career development
For Gen Z, money is not everything; they want their work to have real meaning. More than salary or job promotion, they think it’s very important to be deeply invested in their work — to do their best each day and to have a manager who encourages their development.
Companies need to provide the resources necessary to allow the Gen-Zs to grow in the workplace. In addition to that, Gen-Zers regard career mapping as imperative in progressing in their job.
Gen-Z embrace flexibility
Say goodbye to the formal 9-to-5 life and say hello to freedom — allowing Gen-Zers to choose whether to work in the office or remotely from a location they prefer.
For some Gen-Zs, their entry into the world of work was during the pandemic whereby they have already familiarised themselves with a remote work arrangement. The pandemic gave them a taste of the flexibility they are keen to retain. On the other side of the spectrum, some Gen-Zers lean towards a formal work environment or a hybrid work arrangement, given that this generation has spent a big chunk of their college days virtually.
Allowing them to work where they work best will give them the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.
Gen-Z prioritise mental health
Benefits such as paid time off, massages and yoga or daily pints of ice-cream are secondary to mental health. The Gen-Zers prioritise mental health to material benefits.
READ ALSO: Employers, Take Note. Here Are Cool Perks That Keep Creatives Happy
That means, when looking to attract and retain talents from the Generation Z pool, companies and employers must offer a culture that encourages a healthy lifestyle and champions greater well-being -- and make sure it isn't just lip service. Follow through and keeping to that promise is crucial.
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