World is known to them, yes, in a single click. They like information at their fingertips. They typically connect via smartphones and other portable devices.  Yes, here they are the generation “Z”.

The key Gen Z demographic today comprises about seven percent of the workforce. By 2019 it is said that the number of employable Gen Z will be nearing 30 million.

What defines Gen Z?
Surveys and findings show that this generation is bound to be more focused, clear in their goals and know how to manifest information in meeting their targets. They tend to find and get engaged in environment that suits their clearly defined goals. Therefore, it will be difficult and almost impossible to make them efficiently productive in any work domain which does not meet their aspirations.

Studies reveal that Gen Z is outbound towards data, connectivity, and networking & communicating.  Thus all these basic elements make staging rudiments of knowing, acquiring, managing and retaining Gen Z. However, surprisingly, since the generation grew up with texting, emailing and social networking, Gen Z prefer face-to-face communication on the job. They want genuine connections that go beyond technology. Moreover, they look for authentic and frequent feedback. Gen Z opt for upfront inputs from their seniors and managers before they start a project, and they want their supervisors to touch base with them often.

Align your aspirations with that of Gen Z’s
For organizations getting ready to hire and incorporate youngsters from this generation with an aspiration to develop them as their future corporate leaders, current leaders need to engage with them where they live — on their mobile devices.

Keeping their “mobile” lifestyle in mind, companies need to establish mobile-enabled career pages, and an active social media presence to engage with Gen Z talents. They expect to hear about job openings via text, not email, and they want to apply for those jobs using their phones. For this, companies should take advantage of popular recruiting tools like Glassdoor, LinkedIn etc.

Getting Gen Z onboard
Attracting and engaging Gen Z will involve a more targeted approach, but the benefits of bringing them onboard are incredibly worthwhile. Once they are onboard, this generation will look for opportunities to work in a high-tech, fast-paced environment where they can get real time feedback, and vie for a clear path to personal success.

Gen Z is on the cusp of entering the workspace; they will be looking to progress quickly which can lead them to hop from one job to another. With the love for continuous learning, Gen Z employees may look for employment elsewhere if they feel they aren’t getting opportunity for challenging roles. So the challenge will be to retain them. Therefore, it will be a necessity to continuously throw at them challenging tasks and provide them with rigorous training and mentoring.

Hear then out and benefit
As said by many, they are also innovative and entrepreneurial and will bring fresh ideas to the work place. They are motivated more by opportunities for advancement rather than by money. They want to make their voice heard in the workplace and have their ideas accepted.  

Further, Gen Z look for flexibility in terms of where they work from. As a result, workplace tools that enable instant communication and access will be a core in the coming years. Learning should be self-directed and experiential, and workplace technology must support that.

Companies need to provide applications, systems and platforms that allow these employees to engage in their work operations while replicating the format and devices that they use in their everyday life. For instance, better and in-house adoption of KIOSK system to address basic employee information and administrative transaction will further add to the aim of hassle free engagement initiatives.

Punch points to take this further

·         1. Gen Z is active and at best when employers align their roles with Gen Z’s aspirations in a direct way.

·         2. Throw challenging and at the same time learning opportunities at them.

·         3. Create a supportive work environment.

·         4. Engage them digitally.

So get ready and become digitally dynamic to attract, engage and develop your Gen Z employees.