Gen Z in the Workplace: Understanding, Engaging, and Leveraging Their Potential

Gone are the times when offering decent pay was enough to win and retain employees!

It has become especially challenging to engage the new generation of employees in the face of a constantly evolving professional landscape and emphasis on employee experience. 

Gen Z, born between 1995-2010, is the youngest in this workforce. Increasingly they are becoming a large part of the workforce demographic, and by 2025, 27% of the workforce will comprise Gen Z.

Most Gen Z in the workplace began their career amidst extreme volatility. The pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, recessions, and inflation- are all acute at the moment. 

Cigna Health Survey 2023, across the globe, states that 91% of 18-24-year-olds are stressed. Most Gen Z struggle to cope with the rapid shifts in work culture and situations like layoffs.

Yet, hiring Gen Z is beneficial as they:

• Are passionate about the work and excelling at the job.
• Are driven by purpose and making an impact.
• Prioritize growth over money.
• Exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Are productive in dynamic work environments because of their multitasking capabilities.
• Collaborative mindset helps foster cooperative work culture.
• Have technological proficiency, helping improve productivity, streamline processes, and drive innovation within the workplace.
• Rarely waste time as are always active and productive, thus improving ROI 
• Are persistent and proactively solve problems. 

Undoubtedly, they are a workforce with the potential to make a difference. However, for HRBPs to tap into this workforce, it is crucial to decode their expectations, engage them effectively and unleash Gen Z talent optimally.

What Motivates Gen Z in the Workplace

Gen Z is not easily satisfied. They do not look forward to job security sans challenges. Getting the most out of them is beyond the traditional ideas of employment. 

The characteristics of Gen Z in the workplace are very unique. They grew up witnessing a rapidly changing world around them, like technology, society, and even professional concepts. All these play a role in what motivates Gen Z in the workplace.

According to a statistic on employee engagement, Gen Z is considerably more engaged, provided they are getting certain perks. Employee engagement has followed the V-curve consistently since 2020. 

While Gen Z is considerably more engaged, the maximum dip in engagement occurs among Gen X. This is most likely because the present world is more relatable to Gen Z growing up with evolving technologies, unlike Gen X.

Following are a few things they look forward to that keep them motivated and dedicated to an organization:

Interpersonal Relationships

Though referred to as an informal generation, mostly confined to virtual interactions, Gen Z craves physical interaction from time to time. They are more motivated when there is one-on-one interaction between Gen Z employees and higher management. 

In 2022, “quiet quitting” became a trend as more and more employees struggled with burnout. Approximately 4 million employees resigned, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. 

To limit quiet quitting, Gen Z should be engaged well by making them feel heard and offering them a thriving work environment. With an employee engagement platform, this can easily be resolved. AI-powered solutions like inFeedo’s Pulse Survey provide detailed insights through employee surveys, sentiment analysis, and more. It allows you to curate tailor-made questions to identify and fix problem areas.

Such real-time tools help you quickly grasp the employee’s needs and handle Gen Z in the workplace. You can automate repetitive tasks and improve HR professionals’ efficiency.

Regular Feedback

If you are wondering what motivates Gen Z in the workplace, try sharing regular feedback. They have grown up in a world where instant updates are readily available. As a result, they constantly crave feedback and real-time updates on their performances to stay motivated.

It gets tough to retain Gen Z and keep their productivity consistent if feedback gets shared only during annual performance evaluations. Instead, HRBPs can share regular feedback and. interact with the employees on their overall performance. Share solutions to help them improve their performance. Such attention will motivate them to do better and sort out problems with Gen Z in the workplace.

Flexible Work Setting

According to Workhuman, 84% of employees go through anxiety due to a cost-of-living crisis. 

Amber, by inFeedo, identifies such employees who are unhappy, disengaged or ready to quit by having intelligent conversations with them. Employees' willingness to change their job or current workplace, referred to as Turnover Intention, organically leads to voluntary attrition. Amber chats with every employee regularly and identifies those with turnover intent. 

Amber shares this in her daily report and gives you actionable insights about these employees through her culture dashboard. These employees are highlighted in the People to Team (PTM) section of the dashboard. As a result, providing solutions at the right time gets easier, and the employee retention rate increases. 

According to Amber’s Turnover Prediction Algorithm, 71% of Gen Z are willing to change their job or current workplace. A flexible workplace that prioritizes employees’ physical, mental, and emotional health is what motivates Gen Z in the workplace and helps retain them. 

Career Growth Opportunities

Gen Z in the workplace looks for challenges that will add to their growth and bring home better career opportunities. They are proactive when you can offer such growth objectives. This is mutually advantageous as their go-getter tendencies also accelerate the organization’s growth.

They are a constantly evolving and fast-paced generation. Offering lucrative career opportunities with consistent growth motivates them primarily. This can get done by offering the following:

• Achievable and ambitious OKRs
• One-on-one career discussions 
• Skill training, coaching, and certified mentoring

Characteristics of Gen Z in the Workplace

Though considered rather informal, Gen Z can be a highly professional and motivated group provided you have the right incentives for them. Here are a few such characteristics of Gen Z in the workplace that will HRBPs must note:

• They are motivated by challenges and are generally ambitious. The balance between challenging work and proper communication will help you bring out the best in this generation.
• They underperform with heavy-handed upper management and are even borderline rebellious. Micromanagement will fail dismally when managing Gen Z. Maximize managerial effectiveness and boost their performance with encouragement, inclusiveness, professional etiquette, and realistic goals.
• High salaries and additional perks that are fair in terms of their job role also act as a key motivation. With such incentives, Gen Z is likely to outperform and show dedication.

Conclusion

The key to managing Gen Z in the workplace starts with clear communication and understanding their motivations. Once you figure out their expectations, it gets easier to retain them. 

So, start improving employee engagement with real-time data and build an inclusive work culture for all.