My 12-year-old told me that a robot named Sophia had been given citizenship in Saudi Arabia. He had read it on Inshorts, which is his daily go-to newsfeed. He then went on to update me on a host of home assistants that I could buy, right from Amazon Echo to Google Home, and also gave me his recommendation, in case I was interested.
It should be clear from this interaction, that it’s not about natives or adopters any more. There is no classification between digital and non-digital. It’s about ‘digital’ — period.
A 15-year-old girl writes a novel and puts it up on a story-sharing site (Wattpad), and before you know it, the novel has millions of views and the young girl is signing book deals. A 17-year-old creates and sells an app to Yahoo for $30 million. A 13-year-old, delivers a TedX talk about his home-schooling experience that goes viral.
All of these events are real, and happened in the last five years. These are but a few examples of how digital technology is empowering the young to change the world.
Entering workforce
Looking at the Gen Zs, who ‘have it all’, have you ever thought about how organisations will change once this generation of digital doers enters the workforce? HR teams and organisations need to think about how they can tap into the potential of the only generation that was born during the internet and social media boom, and which doesn’t know a world without them.
How can you do that? By understanding the characteristics of this generation.
It goes without saying that Gen Zs are the most digital generation ever. Digital and social tools are something they grew up with, unlike Gen Xs and Gen Ys, who were exposed to technology and then embraced it.
Irrespective of whether organisations see them as prospective employees or customers, they will have to meet Gen Z where they are — on digital and social platforms. If you are not tech-savvy, then the next generation talent has already lost interest in you as an employer. If you don’t have a mobile marketing platform, this segment of customers may never see you at all.
Needless to say, this generation is quite different from the previous one. Here’s how:
Creators
Gen Zs are entrepreneurial, probably more so than any other generation. They’re innovative, enterprising and have a vast sea of information and data at their disposal. They are self-starters (better known as ‘influencers’) and like to create new things. They think of themselves as limitless.
This generation of employees will be the ones to make Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence commonplace. Organisations that aren’t prepared for Big Data and AI will likely lose out in the marketplace, at least to next-gen talent. They will need you to listen to their ideas, support them and allow them the freedom to ‘create’.
Learning
Gen Zs also have a different perspective on learning. They believe they can learn almost anything online, right from programming languages to data science and analytics. And they like to learn things that interest them, which may not necessarily be restricted to technology, medicine or management.
Think of how Sal Khan has impacted the learning ecosystem since he started Khan Academy. Organisations need to provide a digital learning ecosystem, where collaboration happens without boundaries.
Benefits
Gen Zs look at benefits differently. They are born with a sense of entitlement. There is never enough recognition, rewards or benefits.
Benefits in the traditional form are long dead. Today, they have to be customised, interesting and, importantly, in vogue. What also matters is how different it is from what others have to offer, be it ‘pawternity’ leave, leave donation, a trip to Machu Picchu or tickets to next big music concert.
Challenging conventions
The digital generation will challenge the conventional ways in which businesses are conducted and organisations will have to be prepared for it. It is, however, important to be aware that we now have a multi-generational workforce. Three, four or, in some cases, even five generations are working with each other. Gen Z are not going to be the dominant generation for a few years.
We will do well to remember that generational characteristics have a profound influence on generational preferences. HR teams, when designing benefits or policies, have too often relied on the one-size-fits-all view. It is time for them to revisit their approach on not only how to manage this multi-generational workforce, but also on deriving the best business outcomes through them.
The youngest generation to enter the workforce is one of dreamers who know how to use a network of like-minded people globally to collaborate on ideas. The older generations can not only benefit from this, but also guide Gen Z to success and, in the process, create a better future for their organisations.
(The writer is the Chief People Officer at Aviva Life Insurance)