The Gen Z is dominating the workforce. Time passes us by like a leaf in the summer breeze, and as it does, so do the people we know. As companies and businesses get older, while some just start to come up, less and less of the older generation are retained or can be seen in the workplace.
While Millennials still make up a great percentage of the working population, Gen Z will inevitably take over the workplace sooner or later. While some companies work to prevent such a sudden shift in both demographics and dynamics, many are working to find a way to streamline the transition.
Slowly and surely, the long-standing companies recruit more and more Gen Z into employment to ensure that they stay in the game, especially with how game-changing the generation has proven to be. Though some may think that recruiting Gen Z is pretty similar to recruiting Millennials, many companies (who have tried and failed) will say otherwise.
Even with such a small gap between Millennials and Gen Z, there still lies a gaping distance between them. For instance, Generation Z is more likely to speak out on global issues, especially when it concerns mental health. Dealing with this difference won’t be easy, but that’s what learning is all about.
Who Are Gen Z?
Who exactly can be considered Gen Z? What makes them so different from Millennials?
To put it simply, Gen Z is those born between 1997 to 2012, which is the generation right after Millennials. This generation was born into the age of the internet, where information about anything and everything can be accessed in just a few clicks and taps.
Keeping that in mind as an employer looking to increase Gen Z hiring into the workplace, you have to try and meet the needs and environment this generation grew up in.
Spoiler alert: you will have to speed up the “digitalization” of your company if you want to see more Gen Z in the workplace.
Normalizing Gen Z in the Workplace
The Earlier, the Better
One of the strongest selling points for a fresh grad Gen Z or simply a Gen Z looking for a job is communication. This doesn’t come as a surprise, especially when the age they were born into made communication extremely easy, even when the other person could be miles apart.
Communicating with Generation Z recruits as early as possible and exposing them to the company and what it does will entice them to consider it as one of the many job opportunities in the market.
Building a relationship with them even before they are looking for job opportunities is setting a strong foundation for a workplace packed with Gen Z employees.
Strong Communication Leads to Strong Relationships
As already mentioned, strong and consistent communication helps with recruiting Gen Z into the workplace. Staying in touch with them throughout time, even long after the first time you’ve made contact will make them feel valued and wanted, as it shows them that they are exactly what your company needs.
Staying in touch with your Gen Z recruits can be as easy as sending an e-mail or company milestones through different SMS platforms in days, weeks, or months. After building a relationship with your Gen Z future employees, you have to maintain it.
Failing to maintain communication with Generation Z can (and most likely will) lead to them looking for other opportunities that they can find on their own. As tiring as it may seem, maintaining communication with them can go a long way.
Mind the Job
Without a doubt, Gen Z is full of aspiring dreamers, and they often make large sacrifices just to be able to live their dream. When some Gen Z recruits say that they want to change the world, they wholeheartedly mean it and will use the best method possible to achieve that goal.
Even if your company belongs to the most prestigious and well–known of luxury brands, it won’t mean much to Gen Z if they can’t live their dream with you. Offering them a role in your company that meets what they need for achieving whatever goal they have in mind will help you see more Gen Z in your company.
Related read: 20 Important Reasons You Should Use Skill Assessment Tests
Digital, Baby, Digital!
Long gone are the days where you can happily sing “Let’s get physical, physical!” In the age of the internet and Gen Z, physical appearances won’t be as valued as they used to be back then. In this era of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you will have to do your best to reach out to these Gen Z recruits where they like to be: in the digital world!
Reaching out to them online is, in itself, already a huge advertisement. Having an online platform where your-eyed Gen Z recruits can easily communicate with you and ask you questions about the company will prove useful in the quest of adding Gen Z employees to the workplace.
Borders Down
Let’s not forget that meeting physically is not only boring and undervalued by future Gen Z employees, but also that it is quite literally hard to get in this pandemic. When offering a job and an interview, your company must also be able to meet their needs so they may work remotely, or as the media likes to call it: work from home.
Being able to work remotely in the comfort of their own homes or wherever they like to is huge for these employees, especially when they work for global brands. Putting down physical borders and setting up a digital working space for your employees will help you earn and see more Generation Z in your organization.
Unity in Diversity
When considering adding Gen Z into your company, you have to be aware that they are extremely aware of the global issues poisoning our world. One of the biggest issues they wish to tackle is diversity, may it be ethnically or sexually (in terms of gender).
Having a diverse workforce where everyone is treated equally and fairly and where these same groups and individuals can mix and mingle without problems will give you plus points in the eyes of these dreamers.
Showing your recruits that you are also looking to resolve these issues in your little way will help you not only feel like a better person but also see more Gen Z employees in your company.
In the Long Run…
In the long run, it is a matter of job security and experience. Where some Gen Z employees like to be adventurous and gain new insights about the world, some just like to have a secure future in this unstable world.
Offering a job position that requires a long-term commitment will entice Gen Z recruits and employees to take you up on your offer. Having something certain in their life where they can also live out their dreams will be one of our major selling points, as Gen Z also knows that the only certainty we can get in this world is uncertainty itself.
Offer Adventure
Remember when we talked about diversifying your company and employees? Yep, that also includes diversifying your job offers. Many Gen Z is looking to work as freelancers at this time, especially when that freelancing helps them get more for a little experience.
Often, some Gen Z is looking to work as freelancers because it helps bring them a step closer to their goal. They seek short-term job commitments if they haven’t found a job that meets their needs and aspirations.
Offering such jobs will help you see more Gen Z and diversity in your workplace, even if they might not be as permanent as you’d want them to be.
Opportunities to Benefit
Of course, giving them the chance to pursue their dreams is not the only benefit you can offer your Gen Z recruits. As mentioned earlier, Gen Z is hyper-aware of the issues around the world, especially poor working conditions. Offering them the benefits they deserve for the work they do is what’s right and can (and will) serve as a trump card over the competition.
Benefits like life insurance, health insurance, paid vacation leaves, and other bonuses and incentives will always catch the Gen Z recruits’ attention, especially when you show them that you care about your employees.
Another one of the most important benefits to a Gen Z employee is your willingness to support their journey for continuing professional education. You have to remember that the era Gen Z was born into was one where information was easily accessible.
Thus, it is in this generation’s nature to delve deeper when searching and learning new information. Making it easier for them to access tools like seminars, professional talks and meetings, and online publishings will pay off in the long run. The new information your Gen Z employees could learn from giving them such a benefit will most likely help your company anyway.
Techy IS Trendy
Showing Gen Z that you are a techy employer is also showing them that you are relatable. Having an employer they can easily communicate with and relate to can boost hiring rates for Gen Z employees, as the tech-savvy generation will find it much easier to fit in the workplace.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have the kind of technology they want and need in a workplace. Sometimes, the workplace can speak for itself. Increasing technology in the company makes it easier for Gen Z to work, especially since they are most likely to be exposed to advanced technology that isn’t in your company yet.
Update the Website
Yep! You are going to have to update that funky 90’s website design and interface you thought was cool back in the day. Most likely, the first place where your Gen Z recruits are going to look for your company is – you guessed it – the internet.
Having an old school website is not bad per se, but it does discourage Gen Z from taking you up on your job offer as it already serves as your first impression on them.
Having a professional yet easily accessible design and interface for your website already serves as major plus points from your Gen Z recruits.
Up-to-Date
There can never be enough times where we have to emphasize staying updated when it comes to hiring Gen Z employees. This not only talks about yourself as an employer but to the company as well. As the times change and new needs have to be met, your job as an employer is to make sure your company is keeping up.
Updating company policies, technology, and workflows is necessary for the eyes of Gen Z. To the older generation, this might be a hassle, but if you want the younger and fresher Gen Z recruits in your workplace, then updating yourself and your company to meet what your Gen Z recruits expect out of you is a must-do.
And by the way? Up-to-date is an outdated word, try using updated.
Easy Recruitment is Fast Recruitment
There is no way we cannot stress this enough, but you have to maintain communication with your Gen Z recruits, especially after your job interview.
Making the recruitment process much easier for them to go through will be a very rewarding activity, as this calms down any of their anxiety and reduces any negative impressions on you.
Additionally, you also have to keep them updated about their job application, as any good employer should do. This shows that you are interested in their talent as a recruit, and serves you well too, as they might have updates about their own career choices. This saves you time as you might have approved their application right when they accepted another offer.
Young Minds, Big Ideas
The most likely reason that you are adding Gen Z employees into your roster is that you want exactly what their minds have to offer: fresh and new ideas. But, when you want your Gen Z recruits to give you the big ideas from their young minds, you will have to listen, even to the bad ones!
Your Gen Z employees are just looking to be heard, and when you have a whole roster of them, so many ideas will pile up on your plate. The most important thing you have to do as their employer is to listen to all of their ideas, and give credit where credit is due.
The Shorter the Better
The age of the internet has called for an age of instantaneousness as well, like instant coffee. Kidding aside, information to Gen Z comes in nanoseconds, which shortens their attention span, meaning you will have to update certain processes that can take so much time.
Having short introductions or instructional videos made available for your Gen Z recruits when it comes to getting around the know-how of your company will help them retain more information. This forces them to focus on the important stuff about your company, letting go of the unnecessary fillers that older videos tend to have.
In Everything, Balance
As mentioned above, Gen Z employees and recruits are more likely to speak out and open up about mental health issues, especially when it stems from their work.
Helping your Gen Z employees deal with their mental health issues is one step in the right direction, but moving even further forward requires that you give them the work-life balance they need.
Giving them the opportunities to take breaks when needed and respecting their personal space and time will give them more breathing space for them just to be themselves. Putting pressure on them and sending them messages past their working hours impedes their ability to enjoy a healthy work-life balance.
Additionally, you can also provide them with the appropriate facilities for taking breaks when working on-site is required. This allows their mind to slow down and give way to ideas that can help them with their work and not crowd their minds with thoughts and emotions that will only slow them down with their work.
In Simpler Terms
Gen Z is all about keeping up with the times and global trends. Gone are the days where employers can easily get away with poor working conditions and little to no communication with their employees.
In the age of the internet, the Gen Z employees will no longer be satisfied with reasons like, “I had trouble communicating” or “Updates are expensive”. Gen Z was born in an era where almost anything and everything is accessible with just a few swipes and taps on their screens.
As an employer looking to recruit more Gen Z into your workplace, you will have to make changes in the company to suit both your and your employees’ needs. However, having some Gen Z employees on your roster is sure to be rewarding, especially with all the talents, skills, and knowledge they have to offer.
