Making the Workplace Work for Gens
X, Y and Z
All three generations
share an increasing enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, but differ globally in
their fears about the future of work.
Members
of “Generation Y” or the “millennial generation” as they’re commonly known,
have forced a great deal of change in the workplace. A sizable body of research
has tried to understand this incredibly visible and demanding generation, born
between the early 1980s and mid-1990s. With unprecedented access to technology,
millennials have changed the game for leaders, redefining how they expect them
to behave and to give them the opportunities they feel they deserve.
In
2014, INSEAD, Universum and the Head Foundation uncovered in a global survey that
millennials wanted to lead, but their expectations were not as clear cut as
many pundits had made out. They were willing to be coached and mentored and
although becoming a manager was important to them, so was work-life balance,
most choosing it over a big salary. Millennials’ views on whether and why they
wanted to lead varied considerably by culture. What shone through clearly was
that this generation yearned for self-control. Millennials wanted to be
supported by leaders, but not bossed around by them.
In
an expanded global study this
year, including Gens X and Z, the age cohort born before the millennials and
the one after (from 1994 onwards), we find some interesting similarities in
expectations but also fears, which have big implications for leaders and
organisations.
Brave
new world?
A
survey of 18,000 professionals and students across the three generations from
19 countries, ranging from the most developed to the emerging economies,
reveals that all three generations, but particularly those already in the
workforce, have a keen interest in start-ups and entrepreneurship. More
than one in four students and one in three working professionals are interested
in starting their own businesses. There is notably high entrepreneurial
fervour in Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. While this reflects the “cult of
entrepreneurship” led by transformational icons such as Elon Musk, it also
demonstrates how many are also falling out of love with the idea of working for
a Fortune 500 firm. Among working professionals, more want to start their own
business than work for an international company or organisation. Across the
generations, no more than 9 percent want to work for the government.
These
findings represent some key imperatives for companies looking to attract, grow
and retain talent across these generations. The interest in entrepreneurialism
demonstrates that it’s not only millennials who are bored with
hard-to-influence giant global enterprises more akin to super tankers than
speedboats. The bigger the company, the greater the hierarchy, structure and
silos. This used to offer financial security and perks, but today, Gens X,
Y and Z are more interested in whether their personalities fit with the
companies they work for and, crucially, whether it gives them meaning and
purpose.
In
our 2014 findings, the biggest fear for 40 percent of respondents was getting
stuck in a job with no development opportunities. In our latest
multi-generational study, we find that Gens Z and X share this concern, Gen X
to a lesser extent.
This
was reflected across other questions in the study that asked about meaning and
alignment at work. Fully half of Gen Y and Z students and professionals are
either “afraid” or “very afraid” that they won’t get a job that matches their
personality. 40 percent of Gen Xers concurred.
Hope
for the future of work was where differences emerged amongst the generations.
In some countries, the gap between Gens X and Y is large. In Germany, for
instance, Gen Y has greater hope about the future than they felt as students,
whereas the opposite is true for Gen X. We observe the same pattern in Italy,
Mexico and Russia. These divides are important, given research showing that job
insecurity reduces mental health, job satisfaction and performance while
increasing burnout.
The
challenges women face and their fears about their careers vary significantly by
country and generation, which will be important for multinationals rolling out
initiatives across many borders. A common fear for Gen Z women in India, for
instance, was that “no one will listen to me”, while peers in the United States
worry more that they won’t be seen as valuable to their organisation. This was
also a key concern for Gen Y professionals in China. For Gen Xers around the
world, women are worried that they won’t be able to realise their career goals
and enjoy their retirement.
Keeping
them all happy
Gens
X, Y and Z are keenly interested in agility and making sure they reach their
lofty goals. Organisations can respond by making their big firms feel small and
nimble. Some are applying agile project management principles, which structures
teams to allow them to adapt quickly, focusing on specific sets of tasks across
a tight timeframe. In other situations, firms are trying “intrapraneurship”,
giving employees the ability to work on start-up projects within the firm.
All
generations are concerned about whether their personalities fit with the
companies they work for (Gen X to a lesser extent of around 40 percent of
respondents) and, crucially, whether it gives them meaning and purpose.
This
purpose needn’t always concern social causes, something that emerged in our
first report on millennials, which found an overwhelming desire to contribute
to society. In our report, we cite the example of David Kalt, founder and CEO
of Reverb, a marketplace for musicians to buy and sell their kit, who motivates
his employees by giving them real-time access to information about the
company’s current performance. “An annual review shouldn’t be the only time
responsibilities, successes and failures are out in the open”, he wrote
in The Wall Street Journal in
September. Sharing the vision and progress of the company motivates his
employees and gives them a sense of shared purpose, he says. The need for
constant feedback has been commonly associated with eager millennials.
Other
ways to promote the “fit” that half of Gen Zers and Gen Yers yearn for is to
provide a clearly articulated and authentic culture. It is important to promote
this culture internally but also externally to attract outside talent.
The
extent of fear across the generations was also a stand-out part of this paper.
Given that fear can undermine job satisfaction and also performance,
organisations should take steps to combat fear and stress. Benefits that
resonate particularly well with millennials include “go dark” vacations with no
access to emails or company phones and helping Gen Zers pay off their mounting
student debt. Employers can help by offering access to platforms like Student
Loan Genius to help them pay off their loans in a contribution scheme similar
to the way retirement plans work.
In summary, our
report shows the similarities but also the crucial differences between
generations. It is crucial for firms and leaders to understand these
differences so they can make better decisions about training, leadership
development and culture-building for a multigenerational and diverse workforce.
Henrik Bresman, INSEAD Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, and Vinika Rao, Executive Director of the INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute | January 24, 2017
Read more at
http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/making-the-workplace-work-for-gens-x-y-and-z-5171?utm_source=INSEAD+Knowledge&utm_campaign=b5041b5634-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_02_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e079141ebb-b5041b5634-249840429#hXAhKezEVO4kG1sD.99
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