Believing younger generations are inherently lazier, ruder, less respectful, and more prone to making bad choices, is seemingly hard-wired into the aging process. Bemoaning the ‘youth of today’ has apparently been part of the older generations’ playbook since time and memorial.
A quote attributed to Socrates reads ‘The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise’. Plato obviously felt similar as he lamented ‘What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders; they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?’. A 6,000-year-old Egyptian tomb even took a swipe at the younger generation and their lack of manners, penchant for fun, and their impatience. History does indeed repeat!
I can’t help but wonder why, as we age, we stop seeing the innovation and daring of youth as something wonderous, exciting and compelling, and instead view the societal, cultural and attitudinal differences as something negative – threatening, even?
The ironic thing is we can get misty-eyed about the ‘rebellious youth’ of yesteryear, and the lasting impact past generations had on this country – whether through music, fashion, politics or social culture – but since the post-war era, the idea of the generation gap has steadily grown and now we seem incapable of seeing the positive in the moment.
Given the exposure we all have to youth culture thanks to social media (you no longer need to have teenagers and young adults directly in your life to know the latest trends, vocabulary and fashions), you’d think the gap would be bridged a little, but the conversations I have with multi-generational employers say otherwise. Rather than go into the background of it all, I wanted to give my view on why I think, with a little re-framing, businesses can start to see Gen Z as their biggest asset. Let’s look at their skills:
1. They’re tech savvy and computer literate
This generation were born into the digital world. They may not understand all of Office365, and have been known to ask ‘what’s a photocopier?’, but they know their way around the internet and pick up new digital skills very quickly! Many of Gen Z learned coding at school, they have been early adopters of AI, and there’s not much they don’t know about social media. This makes them a huge asset to your business, so utilise them!
2. They’re innovative problem solvers
The myth is always that younger generations are lazy, but is it just that they’re great at finding new, smarter, ways of doing things? While many of us get stuck in the ‘it’s just the way we’ve always done it’ trap, fresh eyes bring fresh approaches, and these usually result in a task taking less time and causing less hassle. This is efficiency gold-dust, and your business should be bottling it!
3. They’re adaptive
If there’s one thing that’s unequivocal, it’s that Gen Z are growing up in weird and tumultuous times. Having to adapt to circumstances outside their control is commonplace, and although we know events like the Covid pandemic have caused significant harm, especially where mental health is concerned, this generation know what change is, and many are able to adapt and flex to meet changing needs much more easily than previous generations. It feels like nearly every current job spec contains the word ‘agile’, so Gen Z get a big tick there!
4. They’re keen to learn
I’ve talked many times about work readiness and skills gaps, but if there’s one thing that sets Gen Z apart, it’s their desire to learn. They spend more time developing themselves compared to previous generations, and welcome feedback (hint: make it bite-sized and in the moment – hour-long ‘review sessions’ are not their thing). They will also share honest feedback – so set out the parameters for doing so, give them the permission and tools to share their thoughts in the moment, and make the purpose clear; you won’t be disappointed!
5. Their endless creativity
My absolute favourite thing about Gen Z is that they are so amazingly creative – new words, new phrases, new dances, new crazes – these kids do not stand still! They take what us millennials did and just seem to make things so much… cooler! Don’t believe me? Well, remember we danced the Macarena for YEARS!!! I don’t know if it’s because when your life is so online, there’s more pressure to always be looking for the next big ‘thing’, but regardless of the driver, your Gen Z employees have creativity by the bucket load. Whether they are in your marketing team or not – get them involved in your messaging and social media and prepare to be amazed!
With all that being said, if Gen Z are so great, why is there still so much of a disconnect between them and older generations? Well, communication plays a big part in mutual understanding and right now, many employers just aren’t getting that right. A huge part of my role involves helping employers to use our tech to get their messages across, so here are my top tips on how to communicate with Gen Z:
Explain the purpose of everything!
Why you chose that assessment process, why you need to collect that data, what exactly your business does, why this role is important…
This generation is all about purpose and if you don’t answer these questions, you won’t get the most from them.
Say it in bite-sized chunks
They don’t read emails, and long webpages will be closed within seconds. Give them short videos and snippets of content – make it visual and let them interact, and if possible, allow them to personalise it.
Be honest and authentic
This generation can see through the corporate guff and trust me, they will do their research! If you say you’re an equal opportunities employer, but you have a huge gender pay gap, they will find out! If you talk about the environment, but are also responsible for deforestation in the Amazon, they will know!
Let your employees tell their stories in their own voice, don’t over sanitise, and be honest about where you are and the journey you’re on.
Help them be their best
They have been through a lot, and many know their soft-skills and confidence need work, so why not utilise your interactions to help them be the best they can be. We’ve found that the reaction to skills-based information is exceptionally positive. It’s great for the individual, their future employer (whether that’s you or not), and it doesn’t do your brand perception any harm either.
If you’d like to chat about how you could better engage with Gen Z candidates and employees, or if you’d like further details about our work readiness solution, please do get in touch with me on Jodie.grove@meetandengage.com.
