Gen Z: Are they truly unruly?

Move over millennials, you had a good run. It’s Gen Z’s time in the sun. For those of us old enough to remember where we were on January 1st 2000, it may be hard to accept that we now work colleagues born this century, yet this is the reality.

But what does that mean for workers born and raised in the sepia-toned 20th century? How much will the new generation change to fit in with the established order and how willing will older generations of workers be to accommodate the demands of the new kids on the block?

The expectations of the new generation are many and varied. As such they call for a creative and fresh approach on behalf of employers and managers, since providing a line of work compatible with academic qualifications and competitive remuneration is not nearly enough to get these newly minted jobseekers to join your team.  

Who are they?
As a generational label, Gen Z is the logical follow up to Millennials, since the generation before that one is known as Gen X (people born from the late 1960s to the early 1980s). Generation Z are digital natives who have never known a world without the internet or social networks: in short, they grew up with a smartphone in their hand.

Zoomers, as they are also known, are used to living a life that's constantly mutating, are much more comfortable with instability than their predecessors, and are less willing to stick around when things are not going their way. The idea of having just one activity, of being pigeonholed, is alien to most Gen Zers, who think nothing of splitting their time between various professional activities as slashers: “I’m a chef/podcaster/dog trainer” one might say.  

They are not afraid to try new things, mixing and matching professional activities as effortlessly as they juggle their online and offline lives, experimenting without fear, moving fast and breaking (and remaking) the established order of things.

According to Claire Pascal, chief executive of professional training company Comundi, Gen Z’s ideas and demands should be embraced by companies rather than feared. "This is a generation which is rendering the traditional managerial approach obsolete, since they are far more knowledgeable about IT aspects than their managers. It’s not accurate to label Gen Zers as rebels ─ they are still loyal to their companies, they just demonstrate it in a different way than previous generations. Once they have gotten their feet under the table, they are every bit as likely to be team players as any other age demographic. Values and purpose are enormously important aspects of their work, and companies need to be aware of this when they hire them.”

What do they want?
Contrary to popular opinion, work and having a career is important to Gen Z, however they do not derive their identity from the company they work for and may leave at the drop of a hat for any number of reasons and without much soul-searching.

So, for the employer, is trying to please them a pointless task? Not necessarily, as long as you are comfortable with being just one of their priorities. What attracts a Gen Zer is a job that allows them to achieve something rewarding and have fun doing it. This translates into a desire for independence and responsibility, a quest for meaning and a feeling that what they do matters.

Gen Zers are not afraid to try new things, mixing and matching professional activities as effortlessly as they juggle their online and offline lives

Such an ethos does not preclude management from getting Gen Zers to stay with a firm for multiple years, but even so, this proactive generation will not hesitate to create their own opportunities and upend the traditional structure of life at work, so managers can never truly consider these employees bought and paid for.

For Claire Pascal, Gen Zers reject the idea of “finding their place or being given one task to do, and will push to maximise their exposure to the entire ecosystem in which they work. Flexibility is the name of the game and this applies to the hours they work and when they work them too.”

Finding a job that reflects their values and in which they can flourish and be engages are fundamental criteria for Gen Zers when choosing which company to work for.

Managing expectations
In 2023, Gen Z already represents 20% of the workforce and that percentage is only going to grow as the oldest Gen Xers approach retirement age. Therefore managers must throw out their onboarding playbook and relearn how to attract Gen Zers while envisaging how their differences can be turned into a source of richness for their team and company.  

Once you’ve got them to sign on the dotted line, managers have a major task to cultivate Gen Zers’ abilities and harness their potential. Given Gen Zers attitudes to authority and hierarchical structure, it is incumbent on managers to adopt the posture of a caring coach rather than overbearing boss.

“It’s a generation that doesn’t need much supervision but, paradoxically, values the structure of an office job. What they want from a manager is not someone to learn under as a sort of apprentice, but a guide to the various opportunities that exist and the path towards them,” adds Pascal, who nevertheless assures that Gen Zers do not completely reject the concept of manager, even if they cannot be counted to defer to you, just because you are older and more experienced.