Jason Dorsey’s Post

Transcript

For the National Association of Colleges and Employers says in six years, Gen. Z will make up about 30% of the American workforce. And that's about 50 million jobs across the country. And as the workplace evolves, a resume builder study shows 3 and 4 managers find it difficult to work with Gen. Z. Let's bring in Jason Dorsey. He's a generational and behavioral researcher and co-author of the book Zucconi, How Gen. Z will change the future of business and what to do about it. Jason, thanks for taking the time to be with us. Today, the generational thing, sometimes it can be the **** of jokes, but but it's very real. It is very much having an impact on the workplace. How are you seeing? Why might an older manager find it difficult to work with a member of Gen. Z? Yeah, it's having a massive impact on the workplace. We can't actually overstate it. You have this new generation coming in with a very different way of learning, communicating. When we think about Gen. Z, they're entering the workforce later than previous generations, which means that their current age, they have less work experience than other generations did, which creates a whole new set of challenges. And what really seems to frustrate managers today is that Gen. Z maybe doesn't want to change to adapt to those managers. And the managers are going, but do I have to adapt to them? And so the answer is somewhere in the middle. What we find is that managers today need to see that Gen. Z is different. They've come of age through COVID, which completely changed how they learned, where they learned so many things. They've grown up with digital devices, so they're constantly getting feedback all the time. So they expect that they learn through a small screen, which is completely different than what other generations did. Gen. Z also cares deeply about social causes, and they expect companies to care about those as well. So it's it's a much different generation than the way many managers were taught to communicate lead. Recruit and retain. And that is what's frustrating those managers. And can we, it's only getting worse, which is why managers are finally saying, OK, what do we do that's not coddling? We don't want to give them trophies. We know that doesn't work. What can we actually do? Because I remember everybody, I mean, I'm a member of the millennial generation. And I remember there was, it felt like the similar kind of here's the young people coming in, they're all about themselves. And it feels similar to the criticisms of genes. Is Gen. Z really all that different from any other? Any other generation that's entering the workforce and is certainly has had different experiences than those who have been there longer. Yeah. So there's really 2 great points on what you said. So every new generation that comes in frustrates the generation before it. Like every time at Boomers were the same thing, like every new generation does that. The difference here is we're not seeing the Gen. Z saying, oh, I need to adapt to everybody else. In fact, Genz's going well, I'm probably going to be working forever. I likely won't get Social Security or some other government safety net. I've been through all kinds of things that other generations haven't, whether that's COVID or even school shootings or variety of other things that are happening right now. We also see Gen. Z coming of age completely dependent on their mobile devices for learning, entertainment, connection, communication. And remember, communication is really what connects people within a workforce, particularly now that we have in person, hybrid and virtual. So is this new? No, this happens with every new generation. But what we see is the smart companies today and the wise leaders are saying, OK, what do I need to do in order to get the best out of this new generation without changing or compromising my values, how I view the world? But we've got to be able to adapt in the smart, right? Ways that actually drives results, which I think is a healthier version of the conversation. And by the way, I talked to Gen. Z all the time. I speak at all these companies conferences and I'm like the gens ears that do adapt to the other generations have a massive head start, right? You don't need to learn worship. It's going to be OK, but but making eye contact and learning how to, you know, participate well in a meeting really can get you a big head start. So it's really A2 sided conversation where we need Gen. Z and their managers both to realize that we can learn from each other. Of course, we all remember when a cursive made the world. Ben or at least we were told that when I was in elementary school. Jen Ziers, They, they're also, I think when I think of Gen. Z, you think of people who want the better work life balance. They prioritize mental health. There are many older bosses that that frankly may roll their eyes at that. But how can those perspectives actually help a workplace? Yeah, absolutely. What we see is that there has been a big shift around many of these things. For example, we know that Gen. Z expects free mental health services from their employer. That is very new. That is a completely new benefit. But we're also finding is employers that offer that have better retention, better engagement, better communication than healthier work culture. So offering something that's not very expensive has this big positive impact. And it turns out that other generations want the same benefit too. Gen. Z's just the driver of it. So that's an example of. Gen. Z bring something positive and that work life balance that you and I sort of joke about as millennials and fellow millennial here is actually what we learned from those baby boomers and Gen. Xers. We saw their work lifestyle, we saw that their identity side to work. We saw and we see right now that they're still working and Gen. Z's going, no, I don't want that to be my life, right? If I mean, I like to think about it this way, If you're 25 years old and you really believe you're never going to get to retire your work for the next 60-70 years, do you think you want overtime? No, on Fridays off, right, you're going to be working forever. And and I think that's a healthy shift. And we're seeing many employers are also starting to move in that direction because they're realizing it doesn't necessarily cut down on productivity. If I start to communicate a little bit differently, it turns out people on it. So great opportunity with Gen. Z right now for every employer that makes the move. It's a fascinating dynamic that's playing out. Jason Dorsey, always great to have you on a generations of behavioral researcher. We appreciate your time.