What You Need to Know Right Now About Gen Z
You may not like the information I’m about to share with you, but like anything that is good for you, you need to take it whether you like it or not.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal published a commentary by Suzy Welch, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, about her research on Gen Z. Welch found that only 2% of Gen Zers align with the values most sought by hiring managers. (I can hear your gasps!) The article goes on to describe how, for many CEOs and executives, this is just confirmatory data. It documents what they claim they already knew: Gen Z is ill prepared for the workforce, unwilling to adapt as needed and, ultimately, unemployable.
Is Gen Z at Odds with What Employers Want?
Before you jump to that conclusion or a similar one, let’s review where that conclusion comes from. In the Welch study, hiring managers reported their top three most-wanted values in new hires:
- Achievement
- Learning
- Strong desire to work
In the same study, the 7,653 Gen Z respondents reported their top three values:
- Self-care (65.6%)
- Authenticity (61.4%)
- Helping others (52.75%)
Only 2% of Gen Z respondents indicated that their values aligned with the values of hiring managers. If you know me, you know that I am driven by data. But data can only be meaningful if you understand the context.
Every Generation Shifts the Workforce
There is a quote I am fond of using because it illustrates generational shifts and the challenges they create in our society:
“Our youth now love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders, and they love to chatter instead of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not servants of their household.”
This quote has been used for generations and is often attributed to many from Ancient Greece, including Socrates and Plato, but is likely a misattribution. Nonetheless, it has been around for some time.
Generational shifts, and the challenges they create in society, have been going on for, well, generations. Older generations have always complained about younger generations, and younger generations have always changed the workforce based on their own values.
Baby Boomers: Beyond the Gold Watch
When Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) came into the workforce, they had Silent Generation colleagues and supervisors who valued loyalty (working for 40 hours/per week with the same employer for 25-45 years) and legacy (leaving something behind). When it came time to retire, Silent Generation employees were happy to get their universal symbol of a successful career: the gold watch.
Those were the values Boomers changed. They told their colleagues and supervisors, “We want more!” Their values centered on having a stellar career, which was measured by material and financial acquisition. As a result, they change the workforce by creating the 70- to 80-hour work week. (Thanks, Boomers!)
Gen X: Getting a Life
Gen Xers (1965-1981) came into a workforce that valued face time (being at work 70-80 hours a week) and stellar career, but their values centered around productivity and work-life balance. Productivity meant measuring what was produced, not the time it took to produce it. (“If I can do in 40 hours what it takes Joe 70 hours to do, why would you hold it against me?”) Work-life balance meant that Gen Xers simply wanted to enjoy their lives in the present instead of waiting until after retirement to do so. So they treated their personal and professional lives with equal priority.
Millennials: Hustle and Cause
Coming into a workforce where Boomers still valued stellar careers and Gen Xers valued work-life balance, Millennials valued causes larger than themselves and genuine relationships with colleagues. In response, companies adopted cause statements and broke down Gen X’s wall separating home life and personal life. For Millennials, jobs that provided meaning, significance, purpose or cause felt less like work and more like just a part of their lives.
Millennials are also the generation of the side hustle. Driven by a desire to build wealth, Boomers worked 70-80 hours a week. But they were putting in all their time in one company, often ending up with “golden handcuffs.” Millennials dodge the golden handcuffs by having side hustles. Even as they work full time, they often have other streams of revenue that keep them from being tied to any single employer.
Gen Z: Pushing for Care and Authenticity
Gen Z values will likely create shifts in the current work force:
1. Their focus on self-care will likely push companies to show interest in the overall health of every employee. This is particularly important to Gen Z given increased rates of anxiety and depression compared with earlier generations at the same age.
2. Authenticity as a value will likely drive greater transparency in information, communication and feedback. Organizations that conceal important information will likely have difficulty recruiting and retaining Gen Z.
3. Cause/purpose statements will be increasingly important. Think Patagonia’s “We’re in business to save our home planet” or Bombas’ “For every item you purchase we donate an item to those experiencing homelessness.” Discuss your cause statement frequently and set metrics around it.
The Hard Truth
When I hear executives and CEOs say things like “This generation is unemployable” or “I just won’t hire people from this generation,” I think of an organization that is, metaphorically, built on an eroding shoreline and trying to hold back tide and time. Eventually, no matter how much money or energy you spend trying to prevent the damage, the tide will eventually prevail. The alternative is to understand the tide that is coming in and adapt to it rather than trying to hold it back. The companies that understand this and take action will win the war for talent, and the future.
I’d love to hear your questions and comments. If you would like to discuss this topic further, just drop me a note.
