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A global survey of more than 3,000 members of Generation-Z (ages 16-25), across 11 countries reveals Gen-Z expectations and preferences for the workplace. Companies looking to get the most from this new workforce can incorporate results from the survey into their recruitment, retention and training plans.
Conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, the full Meet Gen-Z Survey report is available online. Here are five key priorities for Gen-Z workers and my recommendations to companies for how to respond:
1 - Flexibility in their work schedule
Thirty-five percent of would never tolerate being forced to work when they don’t want to. Thirty-four percent would never tolerate not being able to use vacation days when they want to. Thirty-three percent would never tolerate an employer who gave them no say over their work schedule.
Flexibility also ranked as the number one priority in the Indeed survey of working parents. Companies who already have flexible work policies in place should highlight these in their recruitment branding. Companies who do not should prepare their managers for the potential of increasing requests for flexibility.
2 - Training in negotiation and other workplace-specific skills
The highest number of survey respondents (26%) would like more training in negotiation. Other learning and development priorities include networking (24%), speaking confidently in front of crowds (24%) and resolving work conflicts (23%).
Workplace-specific skills training can benefit all staff, not just Gen-Z. Companies should consider putting more effort and resources to soft skills training, given the hunger for communication and relationship-building skills.
3 - In-person communication
Though most of the survey respondents selected “digital generation” as the name that best personifies Gen-Z, a wide majority of that same respondent pool preferred to receive feedback from their manager in person (75% over 17% who preferred to receive feedback via technology). Forty-three percent prefer hands-on training and in-person orientation. Thirty-nine percent prefer to communicate with their team or employer in person.
This result doesn’t let companies off-the-hook on their technology, however. Twenty-one percent would not tolerate outdated workplace technology (this result rises to 37% in India!). Companies should continue to invest in technology, of course, but companies cannot rely 100% on online performance reviews, online training or other completely digital solution .
4 - Trust from their manager
Thirty-seven percent of Gen-Z survey respondents would never tolerate an unsupportive manager, and 32% are motivated to work harder and stay longer at a company if they have a supportive manager. So, what did the Gen-Z survey respondents prioritize for manager traits? Forty-seven percent selected “They trust me” as the most valued trait in a manager. The other top traits were similar: 40% selected “They are supportive”; 35% selected “They care about me”; 29% selected “They communicate.”
Managers, do you know how your staff would rate you on how much you trust your team, care about them, and communicate with them? Companies, are you giving managers training on how to manage – a completely different skill set than their day-to-day job?
5 - Clear career expectations and quick advancement
Fifty-seven percent of Gen-Z survey respondents expect to be promoted at least once a year. Forty-three percent prefer real-time feedback over a scheduled performance review. Thirty-five percent measure their personal success by how quickly they advance at work.
Companies may balk at having to promote their employees on an annual basis. However, real-time feedback is feasible and makes good business sense for everyone, not just Gen-Z. A clear career path and transparent criteria for deciding on promotions are also good practice anyway and can help manage expectations around advancement.
For companies looking to recruit and retain Gen-Z, the Meet Gen-Z Survey gives multiple ideas for what companies can offer or highlight among their existing offerings. Since many of the Gen-Z preferences make good business sense overall (e.g., flexibility, communication, workforce-specific training), adapting to Gen-Z can make companies more attractive to staff across the generations.
