How To Prepare Your Organisation For Gen-Z

Just when you thought you had millennials figured out, Generation Z is now entering the workforce. A whopping 72.8 million individuals are included in this group born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.

Are you ready? While we have learned how to create a culture where millennials can thrive, what Generation Z needs can be quite different. Here’s the line-up:

What does this mean? 

Safety, belonging, and mattering are essential to your organisation’s culture and the ability for your team to perform at work.

For millennials, the greater the feeling of mattering and being seen for their unique gifts, the greater the feeling of connection with others, the greater the feeling that they are in this together and that they belong together.

Thus, the greater the feeling that they personally matter and make a difference and are contributing to the greater good, and the greater the success of the organisation and the team. 

As leaders, mattering means creating an environment where they can be seen, acknowledged, appreciated, and their unique needs are honoured.

For Generation Z, safety means that they are looking for stability and that opportunities to advance within a company are based on performance. They want to know what the rules are, and that they are fair.

They’re okay with taking risks to stretch and grow. Is it safe to take risks at your company? 

They need an environment where they can be independent, competitive, and are very territorial. Roughly 35% of Gen Z-ers would rather share socks than office space.

Gen Z-ers are very entrepreneurial and want to ‘own’ their projects and areas in the organisation ‒here’s where the mattering comes in.

They see their peers experiencing mattering every day in their social media feeds, so recognition needs to happen on a regular basis; once a year is not going to cut it. Does your company culture work this way?

Tying it together

Both millennials and Gen Z-ers can be happier, more productive, more efficient, and more effective as team members now that you have identified which primary need – safety or mattering – is programmed into their subconscious mind so powerfully that they literally crave it.

What are you doing in your organisation to prepare for Generation Z?

Christine Comaford is a leadership and culture coach. She is best known for helping her clients create predictable revenue, deeply engaged and passionate teams, and highly profitable growth. To get in touch with her, e-mail us at editor@leaderonomics.com.