Refreshing The Perspective Of Work With Gen Z
April 26, 2022
Label themselves with “freedom”, “flexibility” and “individuality”, a Gen Z employee can be a nuisance for any business. However, when taking a step further in deepening the world of Gen Z, employers may discover that there is a reason for each decision and requirement that this generation makes. Once comprehensively grasping Gen Z’s mind, they will have more opportunities to firmly develop their workforce.
While Gen Z may create a good impression owing to their wisdom, good perceptiveness and ability to overcome adversities, many colleagues, managers, and especially human resource departments are obsessed with their “job hopping” culture. Recently, a number of viral videos on social network platforms featuring how Gen Z behaves towards their bosses have strengthened the impression of a generation that does not seem to “work solely for money”. They are a bit swaggering and hard to be managed.
In fact, this generation often has a lot of conflicts with themselves. Once businesses get to the root of the problem, they will have more chances to thrive.
“Working not for money but not working for little money”
One worth noting trait of Gen Z is their capability in leveraging various job opportunities to earn for living. For example, a food reviewer takes advantage of technology and communication skills to produce videos on social networks, earning up to hundreds of millions each month. Thanks to good financial knowledge, a young investor bought his own house and car even though he has not graduated from university yet. It can be seen that numerous new occupations emerge to meet the demands of the increasing current trends in digital consumption and entertainment. This offers the new labour generation more ways to climb up their career path. Because of the urge to explore new areas, their desire to study is much stronger than the previous generation. Many young people are willing to take on challenges, internships or start-ups… to gain more experience.
Gen Z does not “work for passion” either. According to the latest report by Ripplematch, a human resource consulting agency in the U.S, compared to the period of 2019-2020, “salary and bonus” have risen to become top priorities when graduate students consider job offers in 2021, especially in the aftermath of Covid-19. Then, they will take into account other factors such as work-life balance environment, corporate culture, opportunities for skills development, and potential career prospects.
Based on these traits, companies, namely HR teams must pay more attention to existing benefits for employees. For example, companies should constantly update the salary of employees in accordance with the newest market pay rates; evaluate and adjust welfare policies, offer more practical benefits for employees, organize skill training programs, and outline a clear career ladder for each individual;…
On the other hand, companies should consider writing a clear job description, including binding terms that restrict employees from doing other jobs after work.
A strong love for freedom and a strong desire for integration
Gen Z has a high demand for flexibility in terms of workplace and time. A recent survey conducted by Decision Lab demonstrated that up to 47% of Gen Zs affirmed an easy-going working environment and flexible working hours are the top two factors that affect their decisions when choosing a job. This makes them well-adapted to the work-from-home or hybrid working models during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. They are also the most efficient remote workforce, according to a PwC report.
On the other hand, a study by Dell Technologies also showed that Gen Z values real-life interactions at work, with 74% of interviewees saying they want to learn directly from their colleagues at the office instead of by working online. More particularly, 82% of young people said they prefer working with their superior who is able to pay close attention and give specific instructions to them.
“Therefore, in order to retain and maximize the potential of this young generation, companies need to reconsider standards and working models that ensure the balance between online and offline, freedom and discipline. This will give employees more space to develop themselves without losing sight of the company’s core values”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi An Ha – Strategy Cooperation Director at Talentnet, an HR consulting firm. This can be done by allowing employees to have flexible working hours, and having fixed weekly briefings at the same time. Besides, employees are free to be creative and express their ideas but their work needs to follow the given templates of the company.
According to Ms. An Ha, as Gen Z is about to dominate the labour market in the next 5 to 10 years, it is urgent that companies figure out a flexible working model to meet the demand of young employees, yet maintain the consistency and core value of the business.
Such changes do not mean that companies are erasing the traditional identity that contributed to their long-standing reputation. They are actually modernizing their core values, thereby creating new momentum to catch up with the new trends.