People in Gen-Z are entering the workforce as Millennials advance in their careers. Younger workers expect different things from their employers than Gen-X and Baby Boomers, causing a natural change in the workplace. Values and desires tend to change over time, and employers, when appropriate, must adapt to these younger individuals rather than requiring them to live with tradition.
Understanding what Gen-Z and Millennial employees want is the best way to attract talent, retain younger workers, and grow your company as they become a higher and higher percentage of your workforce.
Thus, it's essential to understand their preferences to ensure you can attract and retain top talent.
Most younger workers are not just looking for a paycheck. They want to work for employers who share their values and worldview and support the causes they support. Older workers tend to be comfortable with things the way they are and tend not to look too deeply into the specific values of a prospective employer (or, for that matter, a company they purchase from). Younger workers value sustainable business practices, like reducing waste or making environmental contributions, and implementing these values makes their workplace a more positive place to be.
Gen-Xers and Millennials particularly value integrity and empathy. They want to know where you stand on the issues important to them. Make sure that your company's shared values are consistent with your company culture and how you treat workers. They also appreciate knowing what decisions you are making and why. That openness makes employees feel trusted and reassured in their positions, helping them feel more comfortable investing their time for their work.
Millennials are the generation most likely to job hop. A Gallup poll indicates that 21% of Millennials say they have changed jobs within the past year, more than three times any other generation (including Gen-Zers). Millennials are more likely not to be highly engaged at work, but they also tend to see changing jobs as the way to grow and advance.
They want, in other words, to feel as if they have those opportunities with their current employer. The best way to get Millennials to stick around is to offer them professional development and advancement. Make sure they get continuing training in new trends.
You should increase the number of company-wide training, offer your employees training in their specific interests (whether they're skills relevant to your industry or soft, transferable skills). Make sure that you give reasonable consideration to internal candidates when filling management and other senior roles. Don't assume that because somebody has several years of experience, as older Millennials generally do, they don't need continual training. Managers and supervisorsalso require ongoing training.
Make sure that your employees, at all levels, feel as if you are treating them as an investment and care that they stay.
In some cases, employees can cross the line from "highly engaged" to "workaholic." Gen-Zers and Millennials care more about stress management and work/life balance and want employers who share that value.
They are much less likely to be tolerant of being overloaded or expected to work long hours and are much more likely to set boundaries. Younger workers would rather have boundaries, flexibility, and the opportunity to work from home than higher wages. Top talent is likely to set boundaries, confident that they can find another job if you don't treat them the way they expect.
Offering hybrid or work from home, keeping overtime to genuine needs, and being willing to consider flexible schedules will go a long way towards convincing younger workers to stay with your company.
You've probably heard the phrase "digital native." Younger workers grew up during a time of extreme technological development. Millennials were born when computers were new, and Gen-Z is the generation for whom they have always been ubiquitous. That has given them a significant advantage when dealing with new technologies.
If you don't keep up, you run the risk of increasing the number of shadow IT and related cybersecurity problems or workers leaving for companies who keep more up-to-date on trends. Make sure that you invest in changing technology. One good way to do this is to implement a reverse mentoring program. In reverse mentoring, you pair a younger employer paired with a senior executive, but the senior worker is the mentee. The younger worker "trains" the older worker on new technologies and even strategic matters on how to utilize these new mediums. Reverse mentoring allows you to take full advantage of their desire to keep up on trends and tendency to do it on their own time and makes them feel highly valued.
Retaining younger workers inevitably becomes more important over time, which means you need to understand generational trends. Millennial and Gen-Z employees want you to invest in their training, not to feel they have to find another job to advance. They seek employers who share their values and offer high flexibility. They expect you to keep up with technological change. Doing all of this is crucial to reduce turnover and help your company grow as younger workers advance into leadership positions.