The challenge of empowering Generation Z at work

a revealing 68% of younger workers surveyed by the global consulting firm Gallup reported experiencing a high degree of stress and even burnout. The results of the study were disclosed through the report Generation Disconnected: Data on Gen Z in the Workplace (Gallup, 2022).

In this regard, what should we focus on and how to proceed? We cannot lose sight of it’s about young people and that, for obvious reasons, they are possessors of greater energy. In this sense, it will be necessary to create the conditions to learn together how to better manage them for the benefit of each collaborator and, of course, the achievement of business objectives.

I have no doubt that we face a challenge that arises at the crossroads formed by the expectations of young talent with the type of employee experience that the organization produces.

When talking to young people who come to Amedirh, I have come across women and men who say they are overwhelmed or exhausted by the company ambiguity. Working without clarity about the objectives, processes, results and rewards overwhelms them. They show that it is simply not convenient for them to invest time and energy in a job where growth expectations are not only few but also ambivalent and far from their idea of ​​a life plan or project.

the youth of Generation Z they have more sophisticated expectations. They do not run away from intense activity, however, they make a more rational analysis of what professional practice means and the reward they will receive in return.

In the first place, in addition to the desire to belong to an important and transcendent brand, they hope to find a greater diversity of alternatives for hiring including three-day, part-time, and project-sharing agreements; without forgetting the many possibilities of the call gig economy.

Another of the aspects that they hope to find in a company’s offer is clarity in the type of career they can develop, without ambiguities. Of course, they know that they are human capital in evolution, but they do not detract in the slightest from the talents, skills and competencies that they bring with them, since two out of three have already had jobs during professional training.

They certainly reject conventional talent attraction models because they are riddled with recruitment biases and the lack of objectivity is a red alert that makes them abandon the processes. They know what they want and what they have and can contribute. Therefore, they are not interested in the profile of the recruiter who judges by appearances, who is not critical in their selection methods and who apply evaluation instruments that are not very transparent or not at all.

technological generation

Generation Z does not require much to go through the process of digital transformation because in fact its relationship with information and communication technology is close due to the historical moment in which its members were born and have been educated.

90% of young Gen Z candidates have double or more than digital skills than the previous generation. And I am not referring only to the use of word processors, spreadsheets and software for presentations, but to the use and management of databases, complex web programming based on code and various languages.

know more about digital solutions than most executives in any area and, as is to be expected, find it incomprehensible that platforms are used to make operations more complex instead of facilitating processes. From his position, technological innovations should drive organizational agility rather than hinder it.

The challenge for Human Resources is perhaps one of the biggest in recent times, only after the Covid-19 pandemic. If the Millennial Generation surprised by its demands for time, flexibility and emotional connection, the new Generation Z It will require more knowledge to dialogue, negotiate, grow and build a team.

*The author is General Director of the Mexican Association in Human Resources Management (@Amedirh)