What
Employers Should Know About Generation Z
David
and Jonah Stillman discuss their book about managing Generation Z.
David Stillman and his Generation Z son, Jonah
Stillman, have written a book to help bridge the generational gap. They
discussed their book, Gen Z At Work: How the Next Generation Is
Transforming the Workplace, on the Knowledge@Wharton show, which
airs on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111. And
just who makes up Generation Z? While there is disagreement over the definition
of Generation Z, most demographers include people born between 1995 and the
early 2000s. In the United States, those years include nearly 79 million people
close to entering the workforce or in the first stage of their careers. But the
Stillmans warn that employers shouldn’t confuse “Zers” with millennials, who
are a generation older
The following are three key points from the
conversation.
1. Generation
Z is ambitious and hardworking.
Compared to the millennial generation, Gen Z is more competitive
and independent. Millennials were raised to believe in collaboration and
inclusion, which are positive traits that extend to their work ethic. However,
the view that everyone wins if everyone works together isn’t necessarily
realistic.
“I was told that there’s winners and losers, and if I’m not
willing to work my butt off there are 70 million other Gen Zers that are going
to come right up behind you and take your job,” Jonah Stillman says. “We are a
very competitive and driven generation.”
It’s important for millennial managers to realize they need a
different approach with their youngest charges.
“Now we’ve got a generation that’s going to be much more
independent and very competitive,” David Stillman says. “I think we run the
risk that millennials will dismiss this generation as not loyal, not team
players, and it’s just not true. They’re coming and looking through a
completely different lens. I think step one is that we need to train those who
are going to be on the frontlines just how different Gen Z will be from
millennials.”
2. Generation
Z babies are digital natives.
Employees who belong to Generation Z have never known life
without the internet or social media, and they are comfortable with rapidly
changing technology. It’s a trait that the Stillmans identify as phygital.
“Phygital has sort of
blurred the lines between physical and digital,” David Stillman says. “They see
no line at all. This generation has only known a world where their phones are
smart.”
Because Zers are digital natives, they can serve as authority
figures on the technology that is so imperative to the modern workplace. They
are quick to streamline processes, and they have less hesitation or fear to try
something new.
“One thing we heard again and again in researching for the book
was Gen Z felt the other generations over-thought a lot of things and took too
long,” David Stillman says. “So, they are going to be good to say, ‘Let’s just
try it, let’s get out there, let’s do it and maybe cut out a lot of the deep,
long processes.’
“At the same time, we have to be careful because this generation
can act too quickly. You don’t want them having a company spend all these
resources to move something that is only just a quick fad that came and went.”
3. Generation
Z is looking for alternatives.
Economic and political events — including Sept. 11th and the Great Recession — have
critically shaped the worldview of Gen Zers. While millennials are often
seen as having an undeserved sense of entitlement, Zers have an attitude more
in line with their Generation X parents. David Stillman describes it as the
difference between, “Wow, this job is lucky to have me,” and “Wow, I’m so lucky
to have this job.”
“That switch up, because of the Recession as well as Gen X
parents with some tough love, 76% of Gen Z said they are willing to start at
the bottom and work their way up,” he says. “I think it’s going to be great.”
Jonah Stillman describes his peers as the do-it-yourself
generation, partly because the internet provides unprecedented opportunities
for self-education.
“If I wanted to learn how to re-tile my bathroom floor or speak
Russian, I could do all of that and anything in between by logging onto
YouTube,” he says.
His generation is more willing to think beyond the traditional
path to that first job. Like Harvard-bound Malia Obama, more Zers are weighing
the idea of a “gap year” between high school and college to travel, intern,
learn a skill or simply hone in on what they want to be when they grow up.
The reason for the change lies partly with the increasing burden
of college debt. The younger set is hyper-aware of the debt that millennials
have, and they don’t want to be saddled with the same load. They want to find a
deeper connection between an expensive education and what they will do with it.
“We know that 75% of Gen Zs believe that there are other ways of
getting a good education than by going to college,” Jonah Stillman sai
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