Companies Grapple With Needs Of Gen Z Workforce

"Gen Z workers are expected to outnumber baby boomers in the U.S. workforce this year. If only their bosses could understand them.

Companies find their youngest employees the most difficult to work with, surveys show. Now executives are making efforts to engage them more. They are arranging mentorship for employees who entered the workforce remotely during the pandemic; they are giving guidance on how to communicate; and they are offering new kinds of perks, like an on-site therapist.

Each new generation coming up in the workforce tends to confuse corporate management, at least initially. 

Members of Gen Z -- generally defined as born between 1997 and 2012 -- are no exception. 

Dozens of board members from public companies gathered in June at the Sheraton hotel in Palo Alto, Calif., to discuss the questions this latest cohort raises.

Christine Heckart, CEO of Xapa, a professional-development app for GenZ, told the audience that younger generations want meaning, mentorship and a sense of purpose.

The message didn't go over well with everyone in the room. One board member in attendance asked why any of those things should be the company's responsibility.

Heckart makes the case that companies will benefit from helping to fulfill the needs of younger workers because then they will be better employees.

"They want security and this chance to matter," said Heckart, who advises companies. "When they're not heard, when they don't have an opportunity to grow, when they're not appreciated, then they check out pretty quickly."

"A lot of employers are recognizing that Gen Z is going to be such a huge part of the labor economy -- it already is -- that they have to respond," said Cat Ward, who works with big employers to improve workplace practices as a vice president at the nonprofit Jobs for the Future. "Employers are trying to make sure they maintain relevance."

Some of the dissatisfaction, executives said, stems from how younger generations entered the workforce.

During the pandemic, many Gen Z employees completed internships entirely remotely. They missed out on the side-by-side learning that helps early employees acclimate and thrive in new jobs. With hybrid schedules and offices still half empty, many younger workers are finding that they lack genuine relationships at their companies.

At Booking Holdings, which operates travel sites such as Priceline, the average age of an employee is about 37. Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said he has noticed that the newest generation of professionals needs additional guidance about workplace norms. Some younger employees have been known to give presentations with more than 40 pages of slides. Executives have had to stress that less is more. "This is one of the first jobs they've ever had. And nobody told them how to be," he said.

During Booking's virtual all-hands meetings, managers have reminded workers not to leave snarky comments while people are speaking. Despite that, younger workers don't always know what is constructive versus inappropriate.

"In every room, there's always going to be incredibly hardworking, self-driven maniacs, and we have a whole bunch of them," he said. "And then there are people who are just showing up."

Last summer, credit-card issuer Synchrony Financial asked dozens of new Gen Z hires at its headquarters in Stamford, Conn., to tell executives what benefits and culture they hoped to find in an employer. The answer surprised Synchrony's executives: Some in the cohort of about 100 people said they wanted free, on-site therapy at work.

The company this year began offering free in-office sessions. On Synchrony's Stamford campus, the therapist, Jennifer Nielsen, works from a serene space behind frosted glass. Though Gen Z staffers expressed a desire for the benefit, employees of different ages are using it.

Hilton executive Laura Fuentes said Gen Z and Millennials might not be so far apart from their older counterparts; at times, they are simply more vocal about what they want.

Younger hotel employees expressed an interest in being paid after each hourly shift. Hilton made that an option, and older workers now use the benefit, too.

Maria Amato, a senior client partner with Korn Ferry, a consulting firm, said many of her clients are concerned about attracting and retaining younger employees. And yet every time there is a new generation emerging in the workforce, companies worry about not being able to understand or accommodate them. "We started having this conversation 25 years ago but then we were concerned about Gen X."

She advises companies not to apply approaches based purely on generational differences in part because older employees might want many of the same things.

At the semiconductor company SiTime, instead of annual reviews, managers meet with their employees individually once or twice a quarter to check in, share feedback and find out more about the employees' long-term goals. This is in addition to what are known as "problem-solving" one-on-one meetings, which are more time-sensitive and focused.

"The younger crowd lives on feedback," said Rajesh Vashist, SiTime's CEO.

The company launched a program that takes the top 20% to 30% of individuals within teams and offers them additional mentorship opportunities. The program is also meant to help ensure high-performing junior employees can see they are having an impact.

The design-software developer Canva has put supervisors through a leadership coaching academy in the past year, aiming to reinforce that younger employees expect clear goals and guidance on how to develop new skills, said Jennie Rogerson, the company's global head of people.

Rogerson said Canva is reaping the benefits of giving Gen Z employees, in particular, more conversations. Managers frame conversations around: "What are the goals that we're going to take on together?" she said. "How do you contribute towards that?"" [1]

1. Companies Grapple With Needs Of Gen Z Workforce. Bindley, Katherine; Cutter, Chip.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 03 Sep 2024: A.1.