Managing Gen Z Employees: A Detailed Guide

If Gen Z employees are the latest hype at the workplace, then people who handle them are probably going to be the most successful employers ever.

But what if they don’t want to be handled?

Then, you start managing them.

Well, easier said than done. Even though Generation Z is marking its presence across various platforms, hiring and managing them is still considered a gruesome business. Their need to constantly be socially connected and post everything on the web, get paid accordingly,  limited authority intervention and never to jeopardize social and cultural integrity has been frequently questioned by those in power.

But, is there more to their emotionally hyperactive brain and how are they making significant contributions, after all, let’s find out.

Advantages Of Recruiting Gen Z Employees

Gen Z employees might have certain characteristics that seem to be very unprofitable at first, but when used properly, these features can help you grow your organization.

Extremely Competitive

Gen Z, unlike millennials, keeps a keen eye on their competitor and how they can combat extreme competition. They are constantly looking for better practices to enhance efficiency in the organization. This can help the organization to grow at an unprecedented rate.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Gen Z experienced their loved ones getting affected by the great depression of 2008. This made them rely more on themselves and develop entrepreneurial skills. This skill set allows them to look for income sources in the most scarce conditions.

In fact, according to research, More than 60% of school students prefer entrepreneurship over being employed by someone else. The primary reason for this sort of inclination is the high rate of dependency on jobs experienced by the millennials in the past. Getting a job straight after college did not only increased the competition but also increased the chances of landing with no job at all.

They Are Influencers

Gen Zs are not like any other generation of employees when it comes to impacting their environment. They are far more concerned about their workplace and they make sure that their voice is being heard. They are not looking for credits, all they wish to experience is a change in a positive direction. They would prefer thrift stores over high street brands, and won’t take a second call before calling out a brand for adopting unclean practices.

Like it or not, millennial’s might be socially connected but they cannot still act as influencers on social media platforms. With a large following, Gen Z brings with itself an army of dedicated followers for your brand and make sure to display their influencer skills.

Negligible Reservations

Gen Z acts on emotions and is constantly discovering ways to find peace in what they do and once, they have found their drive, there is no looking back. They commit to their work, irrespective of the time it demands.

One of the prime accusations levelled against Gen Z employees is the high pace of hopping from one job to another. This is because of a lack of satisfaction they derive from their work. Once they enjoy the tasks they are assigned, they can arch over their boundaries easily.

They Are Waiting For Constructive Criticism

Due to their competitive spirit, they value every constructive criticism that they can get hold of. They are not just dedicated, but make sure that they are headed in the right direction.

Feedback once in a week enhances employee retention. Gen Z wishes to be heard and seen through their work, and feedback gives the same impression from the organization’s side.

All these traits can be well embedded in a profitable organization if recognized and harnessed in the right way. Given below are some of the ideas which can be adopted by managers while handling this hyperactive generation of bellwethers.

Effective Ways To Handle Gen Z

Gen Zers had a tough time dealing with parents who had to face acute economic slowdowns. Further, the boost of the startup ecosystem provides hope for a better future.

So, expecting them to do a job in the same manner as it has been done since the past 50 years is a blot on their superb capabilities. Here are a few quick ways to manage them effectively.

1) Let Them Decide The Manner To Complete A Task

As much as big brands want to hold onto their great grandfather practices, now is the time to start deviating from this strategy. Allow the Gen Zs to find their methodology or own process to do their thing. You can, however, pull the strings back while negotiating the time frame to assess their methodology.

Head To Teamwork If Necessary

If you are not sure about a particular employee, you can form groups that are headed by a senior employee. This will have a lot of advantages

1. Communicating within a team working on the same task is much easier than turning to an entire organizational hierarchy.
2. Employees will be able to recognize the importance of teamwork.
3. It will save a lot of time as unnecessary doubts can be resolved within the group under a supervisor.

Allot A Time Frame

If your tried and tested method takes a month to yield results, then provide Gen Z employees with a time frame of 3 weeks to design the entire strategy. This will not only challenge them but also help them to work on their skills.

However, managers need to put this idea on hold, in case they are dealing with a newcomer. Proper time should be given for them to understand the organization and how it operates.

Ask Them To Stick To The Core Principle

Organizational principles should be appropriately communicated while allowing Gen Z’s to devise their strategy.

For eg, if they wish to increase the price of an essential commodity produced by the company’s during a food crisis, then the company’s price policy should abstain from doing so. Communicating this policy, hence becomes important.

2) Go Flexible With The 8-Hour Schedule

Millennials have always been wanting to get rid of this conventional on desk face time practice, which keeps an eye on the number of hours dedicated. Gen Zers are looking forward to putting their focus on productivity rather than the time dedicated to the job.

Managers need to understand this trait and get a bit flexible with the timing.

Sync In The Availability

First and foremost, managers need to make sure that there is a proper communication channel between employees, task leaders and employers sometimes. Even if it’s not all the time, a common time of availability can help to clear major doubts and send all the necessary instructions.

Work In Shifts

Don’t allow all the employees to do work from home. Some shall stay put in the office, while others get the comfort of their house. The pattern and the employee can change each time.

Schedule Days For Work From Home (Or Remote Work)

For organizations working from office for years, shifting to ‘work from home’ criteria can impact the psyche of the employees. Hence, going for a few days of work from home can result in positive results rather than going full overboard.

3) Diversity – Not A Goal But A Need

Gen Z employees have been treading the borderlines since school. They intend to make friends beyond a certain group, region or nationality. Hence, to crave their need to identify with a diverse group, companies need to focus on engaging employees from all walks of life.

Create Groups With Sufficient Diversity

Forming groups that consist of members from different backgrounds can help the gen Z feel much more comfortable in their new space. This will also allow the entry of different perspectives for each project, which will be an insight for someone fresh.

Honour Various Cultural And Religious Practices

Floating holidays should be the new norm and employees need to be given the chance to celebrate and share various cultural and religious practices. This will promote a diverse culture in the workspace.

Gender Pay Inequality Is A Strict No

Gender pay difference is one of the chief reasons for women to either resign from their positions or give up completely. Equal pay will foster a strong work spirit among all the genders and will ensure proper coordination.

4) Get Personal With Perks

A universal pattern of offering greater time controls might have worked 5 years back. But, Gen Zers are not identical twins and their needs and wants to differ from each other, with so much on their plate.

Hence, now is the time to start identifying what everyone wants from their job and start honouring those as perks.

Steps to put this in practice include

1. Start identifying the motivation behind every employee’s work
2. Make it a part of the product strategy to gain more productivity from employees
3. Ensure that the perks are communicated in advance to get positive results at the end of the day

For instance, if an employee has a wedding to attend and needs extra pay, then you should allow him to work in advance or indulge in overtime and then pay him in advance for the purpose.

However, a different employee might require a holiday for the same wedding purpose. You should then allow him/her to complete the assigned task in advance to attend the wedding.

5) Explore New Areas Of Social Interaction

If brands are ecstatic about how Gen Zers conduct their social gatherings online, now is the time to address this issue. A weekly informal dinner or a monthly social gathering for the employees and a few dignitaries might give them a chance to address their quench more effectively.

Karaoke Night

Even though this sounds purely informal, it will give all the employees a chance to look at the creative side of one another. Although, it is advisable to keep it at a bare minimum, organizing it can prove to be a major step in team building.

Professional Workshop

A workshop intended for a special purpose can help Gen Z’s feel much more included in the organization. This will also help them to expand their interaction across people of much expertise.

Volunteer For A Cause Together

Companies are already aware of their social responsibility. Even though these are for various causes, it’s time that firms start looking at it from an organizational perspective. Using the fund and volunteering for a common cause will help Gen Z employees to get some values from their millennial supervisors.

They will also be able to understand how their day to day work is having a positive impact on their surroundings, leaving them with utmost satisfaction.

Final Word?

Gen Z employees are a huge asset to any company. They don’t just look out for new opportunities, but they can invent even more for others.

Companies today’s, in such a globally competitive world, are much more sensitized about the requirement of such employees. Hence, it’s better to help them explore their avenue under your umbrella rather than letting them decide themselves, and then further increase competition in the market.

Go On, Tell Us What You Think!

Did we miss something? Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on Managing remote teams better in the comments section.