Welcoming 20 Somethings.
Time for Generation Change.
With Millennials (1982-97) coming of age and becoming responsible adults, the time has come to welcome these “20 somethings” into their career phase. Generally this tag is often given to generation Z. This younger set of people are Information junkies, hungry, curious and willing to learn but on their own terms. It becomes imperative on the part of employers to not just welcome them, but also create conducive environments, structures and culture that can help the Gen Z members fulfill the true potential.
The expectation with which Gen Z is coming along our way, it leaves Human Resources with a new set of emerging challenges. Strategies involved in employer branding need to improve and adapt as new markets and platforms come up. The way flexibility and mobility have become synonyms of the Millennial generation leaves little room for rigid organization structures and strict policies. Finally, the culture of the organization needs to evolve and adapt to the habits and behaviours of Gen Z. Only if such changes are made and made soon, your organisation will be able to attract the best candidates.
So, what is the proper way of welcoming the Millennial Generation?
The answer lies in practicing these 5 ways.
1. Dispense responsibility: Create a leadership pipeline from very beginning. Try to give the Gen Z a sense of a CEO. This can be done by creating different communities, groups, etc. and seek their contribution on different projects through opinions, inputs, votes etc. Organisations must move on to a more participative form of leadership. You can still wear the band of authority, but only lightly.
2. Instant Gratification: You will always find Gen Z being very impatient with their career growth, perks and salary. In the past, majority of the employees will wait for the day when they will get there salary credited. The same ‘happiness’ doesn’t apply to this generation. They are looking for career focused perks which will come through variable pay, ESOPs, equity holdings, incentives plans etc. There should be an increased focus on designing compensation plans that incorporate these factors.
3. Earn Respect: As a junior, an individual is automatically obliged to respect their superiors and often call them “sir”. If this is a practice that still happens in your organization, then it must be stopped. Earn respect by creating a solid relationship and by showing your level of expertise, traits which are difficult to learn from online tutorials or videos.
4. Give them space and Flexibility: “Work from home” is extremely popular with this generation. It is time to move on to a flexible timing and engaging workplaces which motivate them to start looking forward to office.
5. Having a proper performance appraisal method : With growing number of social media channels and engagement platforms, the attention span of the current generation has further got reduced. To increase their productivity, the management must minimize distractions and create a dynamic performance management system which is not just the clichéd 360 degree or balanced scorecard appraisal. Mechanisms must be created for instant feedback, on the job training, performance based pay which help keep them on track to utilize their true potential.
To match the above factors, management must focus on continuously reinventing their people practices, engagement exercises and most importantly a favorable culture to absorb the coming generation and grow forward.
