We live in a world full of opportunities and challenges, we want everything we desire at the earliest. Living in a corporate world, we are determined to live a unique and harmonious life. A healthy, ebullient and a scholar personality is what we want as the youngest generation of our society. We the youngest ones are the future of this whole world, stepping into the corporate world we are considered as the Generation of our own kind. Yes, we are Generation Z, we are Zoomers. This is how, today’s emerging generation feels while entering into the corporate life.
Generation Z, defined as people born between 1996 and 2012, is the newest generation succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Gen Zers are young, intelligent, valuable, tech savvy and enthusiastic. Gen Zers have already entered to operate in the economy and are leading to various challenges for the companies dealing with them or employing them. Employees are the assets of the company and it is crucial to retain them for a long tenure into the same company. Surpassing Baby boomers and Generation X this generation has the ability to transform and disrupt the workplace more than any other generation.
Generation Z, constitutes a major portion of the population, as per the recent insights by McKinsey and Company, Generation Z will account for nearly a quarter of the population of Asia pacific region by the year 2025. This emerging generation is of utmost importance, as Gen Zers are the nation builders contributing to the overall development of each and every economy in the future, these are tomorrow’s leaders and shapers of the whole globe.
How Gen Zers behave while working? What’s their style of working? Gen Zers are digital natives, they have grown up with instant access to every information and first social generation who enjoys being digital in every aspect. They stay connected, spending more time exploring the social world. They follow the latest trend and are willing to pay more to gain the personalised content for them, they enter into the job market and seek better employment opportunities so that they can earn more. Not only, the intention of earning, they are also keen to widen their knowledge base.
Entering into the job market, starting the career at an early age, today’s generation prefer flexible work model. They prioritize jobs which help them to expand their skills, to show their talent and to explore more and more so that they can grow while working. While working as a fresher in the large companies they are trained by senior staff belonging to Generation X, who work in normal way what the company wants from them. But Gen Zers approach the workplace in a different way with a greater emphasis on learning, socializing, exploring and growing. They can’t work under pressure and are unwilling to work with the staff of bossy nature.
They are far more balanced and want to build relationship through coordination and cooperation, they work for the company as a whole. They value their pay and are eager for promotion to the next level with an increment in the initial months. They can’t sit idle, if the company is not going to invest in them, they are ready to find a way to be a self-learner. They value high standards and transparency. They work in a professional and committed way, and want autonomy in their actions.
Younger employees mostly prefer the option to work on remote basis, where they can choose wherever to work, being most productive and enthusiastic. Even at the workplace, they want welcoming, engaged, cooperative and pleasing environment. They work as per their own style, but accepts everyone’s style and bind the ultimate result. This shows they prefer team work and values the principle of replacing “I with We “than any other generation.
They are always ready to devote more time and work hard when it comes in achieving the results for the company. They have an open mindset and are straight forward in their dealings, learning from everyone and handling everything in their own best way is their way of working. For them personal wellbeing and maintaining a proper work life balance is the key for living a calm life.
Moreover, the major problem with the generation of this kind is that they react early, without thinking. Having an egoistic behaviour, they lack in handling the situations in a better way. Entering into the workplace, right after the college days, it’s difficult to accept the corporate world immediately, so they can’t handle pressure which usually most senior staff shows them and try to control them.
They don’t like to be controlled in such a way, they want good mentors, with this they need to handle every situation in a calm way. They should respect the work they are supposed to do and should always set their own yardstick while working. The management must make an attempt to make them learn as the children of their company.
How organisations should deal with employees of Generation Z? This is the major question which comes in the mind, when organisations have to handle the staff and want efficient and effective results.
Organisations need to consider their employees, while making any decision, they can’t just rely on senior staff only to run their organisation, there is a strong need to consider the viewpoints of the younger generation to make valuable decisions for the company.
Organisations must provide with the latest tools to the employees so that they can enhance the skills being more creative multiplying their unique ideas and realising the ultimate potential. Providing a healthy, welcoming environment to meet the expectations of workers both physically and mentally is the major responsibility for today’s organisation.
Organisations can’t restrict the younger employees to enjoy various facilities like internet, browsing, podcasting, playing indoor games and others, come on, this is the only way which makes Gen Zers show energy while working. With Internet, Gen Zers obviously feel more free, truly they want to be more liberal and it is not going to affect the work at all. Employees from Gen Z, value diversity, inclusion and have an entrepreneurial mindset, they desire to become leaders and are in a habit of inculcating strong leadership qualities in them.
Organisations must consider them in the decision-making process and should always give them feedback for the tasks they have accomplished. Awarding perks, organising wellness programs would be favourable to retain the younger generation into the organisation. Years back, management experts, like F.W. Taylor, Henri Fayol, Abraham Maslow and others have already stated various principles which are always necessary to manage the workers at the workplace easily. Those earlier stated principles still hold and would be holding a long-term influence worldwide.
While, this is just the advent of this age, the whole picture is yet to released, organisations have to understand this and should frame their policies, modify their decisions to represent a positive impact worldwide. Gen Zers are not going to make that easy, organisations have to make everything easy for them.
By: Sneha Chhabra
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