GenZInsights

Our latest blog talks about how GenZ will react to Covid-19. We're optimistic. And here's a live example. A 17-year-old, Avi Shiffmann, has designed a website that tracks the disease all over the world. He started it last December, before the West was paying attention. He taught himself how to do it with YouTube tutorials and so on. He has 40m followers from around the world. He's still at school - but school has shut. Because of Covid-19. GenZ at their finest.

We’re seeing five generations in the workforce now. As the GenZers arrive in huge numbers, don’t forget the Silent Generation. About 4% of those aged 85 or older are still in the US workforce. So how do you handle them, plus Boomers, Zoomers, GenXers and Millennials?

According to the New York Times what you do is you hire someone to handle this. Of course you do. A ‘Generational Consultant’ is apparently now a thing. But how does your organisation deal with five generations?

‍

Banking is having to adjust to GenZ’s requirements, not only with them as employees but also as customers. With their tech-savvy experience and low threshold to being delayed or crudely marketed to, the cohort is challenging some of the most established banking practices. How can banks react? Here’s a three-point response plan from Finextra.

There’s data to show that the generation most like GenZ is not their immediate predecessors, but those way back. Baby Boomers, the Silent Generation – they hold many of the same views that they’re seeing in the youngest new arrivals in their organisations. So what can CEOs learn about those at the other end of the company? Chief Executive puts forward five lessons.

Business Wire reports on the end of a huge global research project into GenZ, conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos. You can find their results here. But we wanted to highlight a few points.

50% of respondents say they need (not want) direct and constructive performance feedback.

44% want hands-on training.

32% would stay at a company longer if they had a supportive manager.

63% of UK respondents entered the workforce out of fear of being broke – this ties in with other research showing this generation was scarred by the 2008 meltdown and is determined it won’t happen to them as adults.

There are millions of words on the subject of how to get the best from GenZ employees, but we think this quote pretty much sums it up. It’s from Dan Schawbel, best-selling author and research director, Future Workplace:

“If you want to be an employer of choice for GenZ, compensate them fairly, ensure that they genuinely care about the job you're hiring them for and provide them with the necessary training and flexibility so they can succeed without sacrificing their personal lives. Managers that are supportive of GenZers’ needs, mentor them, and allow them to bring their full selves into the workplace will hold onto their workers longer and inspire them to do their best work.”

All managers will look old to GenZ. Only GenZ has grown up with online technology literally since birth - even their Millennial managers haven't. So keeping up with the technology and IT demands of GenZ may be a bit of a struggle for managers, but it's one they must embrace. Just think of the potential IT upside of having such a tech-savvy cohort on board. Just think of the downsides if they feel frustrated and held back every time a system or hardware is seen as out of date or intrusive or slow or counter-intuitive. Plenty to think on there - and here's a useful post from Information Week to aid your thinking.