Generation Z may not want to work for you.
Try not to take it personally. Gen Z may not want to work for anyone. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to work. They’re just off starting their own businesses. According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey, which surveyed 21,637 randomly chosen LinkedIn members between December 4, 2021 and January 28, 2022, "25% of Gen Z respondents say they hope or plan to leave their current employers within the next six months."
For older generations, these career choices may be hard to understand. We were told that the most proven path to success was to get in early, work hard, and climb the corporate ladder. But for Gen Z, this traditional career path is missing a crucial element: purpose.
And for this new generation of workers, purpose is everything.
In organizations where Baby Boomers and Gen Xers hold most of the leadership positions, results almost always get measured on a quarterly basis. What are our targets, and did we hit them? But as many leaders saw during the Great Resignation, chasing quarterly results may not be enough for this generation. And until companies understand that this younger generation is pursuing purpose over profit, they may fail to attract and retain tomorrow’s top talent.
Purpose may feel like a gray area for many businesses. But it doesn’t have to be. Your business can still solidify its purpose and, in the process, help recruit and retain the best talent Gen Z has to offer.
Prioritize ‘Why’ Over ‘What’
Recently, one of the world’s leading tool manufacturers asked me to train its teams on innovation. Wanting to understand the tool market better, I spent a weekend walking the aisles of my local hardware store to observe what my client’s core customers do and say right before they decide to purchase.
I immediately took note of the large number of young couples. While I had always thought of home improvement stores as a place for burly contractors and dads buying yet another tool for their collection in the garage, it was clear that the tides were changing.
As I observed these couples evaluating their potential purchases, it didn’t take long to see that this group of consumers didn’t seem to care much about my client’s products. In fact, these young couples didn’t seem to care about any product. Instead, their conversations were focused solely on one thing: creating their dream homes.
The tools didn’t matter. Why they were buying that tool was more important than what the tool did. And in the case of the growing Gen Z market, the why was helping them build the home of their dreams.
For this new generation of workers, purpose is everything.
After presenting my findings, this shift in focus not only helped the client win a new generation of consumers, but also dramatically improved its pipeline of creative, hard-working Gen Z talent. Because who wouldn’t want to work for a company that helps customers build the home of their dreams?
Strive for Empathy
It’s easy for older generations to misinterpret Gen Z’s career choices as laziness. Baby Boomers believe that younger employees should adopt their style of work. The “do as you’re told,” 9-to-5, chained to a desk grind.
But for a generation that values empathy in leadership, this top-down style of management just won’t cut it. If you want to recruit Gen Z workers, it’s crucial you put yourself in their shoes.
This generation prioritizes free time. And can you blame them? This is the first truly digital generation. Day in and day out, they watch their peers “living their best lives” on social media, pursuing interesting passions and hobbies and sharing them with the world.
You remember what it was like to be young and passionate, right? When you’d get so excited that you’d race your bike to the park to chat about it with your friends? That’s usually where the conversation would start and end. But for Gen Z, the push to pursue life’s passions is constant, so they search for flexibility and freedom in their employment.
If you want to hire (and keep) talented Gen Z workers, try to encourage company leaders from different generations to empathize and adopt practices, such as implementing a four-day workweek or offering unlimited paid time off, that can help keep younger employees engaged and satisfied both on and off the clock.
Why Your Company Needs Gen Z
While some business leaders may feel like they’re bending over backward to recruit and retain this new cohort of employees, businesses searching for long-term success should consider looking at this new generation of workers as an unparalleled competitive advantage. Not only will this generation soon make up a large percentage of the workforce, but they also represent a large portion of global consumers. Meaning you don’t just need Gen Z to work for you ... you need them to buy from you, too.
Lucky for you, both can be achieved by reorienting your brand around its purpose.
Photo: Getty Images
