Show
you care.
That's the message to would-be employers gleaned from
recent research into what Generation Z individuals seek in a job – the majority
wanting a workplace which is socially and environmentally responsible.
While Generation X individuals and the Millennials
pushed for things like planet-friendly recycling, the recent look into what
drives Gen Z shows they are focusing on the world stage, according to findings by Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp.)
“There is no denying the Gen Z employee is looking
through a completely new lens at a radically changed and changing world,” i4cp
researchers state in its report Generation Z: What Employers Need to Know.
The generation – 73 million individuals born between
1995 and 2012 – has never known life without Internet and has been inundated
with many events which impact its view of the world.
Of 600 high school seniors surveyed at Minnetonka High
School, Minnesota, 93 percent say a workplace's impact on the world affects
their decision to work there.
“Like every generation before it, Gen Z has had its
own events and conditions resulting in a shared experience that shapes its
unique personality,” states the i4cp research. “One shared reality that impacts
virtually every member of gen Z: The world is a scary place.”
That contention created by growing up in a post-9/11
world is bolstered by the war on terrorism, school shootings and global issues
like climate change. And it leads to a number of personality traits identified
in i4cp's white paper, a collaborative study with generational expert, David
Stillman, and findings with the high school students' focus group.
Unlike the generation before them which strived to be
part of the “robust middle class,” Gen Z individuals are said to see the “need
to be smarter and more strategic about planning for their future and achieving
any level of economic stability, let alone affluence.”
While the population tends to be “realistic, pragmatic
and very competitive,” like the Baby Boomer generation, it also shares
characteristics from Gen X like being environmentally aware and tech-savvy.
About half the group surveyed stated they are
competitive or extremely competitive and will be less team oriented and more
independent, with 21 percent saying they would like to work from home and
nearly half of the respondents saying they want their own office.
More than half those surveyed say they want a long
career with one company.
While 44 per cent say they check on social media at
least hourly, speaking to the reality many in this generation suffer from “an
intense fear of missing out,” findings also show 78 percent want face-to-face
communication with their boss.
One unique finding is that Generation Z workers will
want highly-customized jobs rather than generic posts – something would-be
employers would be wise to acknowledge and work with, according to i4cp, a leading
human capital research firm which helps organizations build and sustain high
performance bottom line business results.
By Nadia Moharib
Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.
