As a business owner, you’re often wondering how to inject fresh ideas and perspectives into your venture. Depending on the line of business you’re in, it might even be essential to keep up with the current rising and falling trends. Perhaps you’re afraid of getting swept away in the appropriately named “Silver Tsunami” and getting stuck in a “we’ve always done it this way” work attitude.
Whether it’s a fundamental need for your business or whether you’re apprehensive of the statistics of the aging workforce in the US, you need to get young blood flowing through your company.
Here are 7 tips to attract Gen Z workers to the workplace that you need to know:
Technology First Approach
Gen Z was the first generation that grew up with the ubiquity of the internet and mobile communications. It’s basically an extension of their identity. To attract the best talent, you have to go where that talent is. When you cast your net, make sure your job description and pitch is short and catchy. You’re going to be dealing with a generation gullible to clickbait and short attention spans. Make it easy to apply for the job via mobile devices.
Sell Them The Idea of Working For You
Your company’s core philosophies should be appealing. Gen Z abhors the idea of working for a living. It is not an ends to a mean. They’re excited by the idea of working toward something. Analyze what your company does and frame it in a way that showcases the good that you do. Let them know what value you are adding and how your work is going to make the world a better place.
Give Them A Piece of The Pie
Healthcare and benefits like work from home options and modern workplaces are mandatory to attract the best talent. That is non-negotiable. They’re already struggling with crippling student debts and the prospect of one bad accident inviting bankruptcy. Freedom from traditional office dynamics should be an underlying theme of your pitch.
Respect The Hustle
Having entrenched themselves in technology and embraced the gig economy, the hustle is the name of the game. Their value is found in more than their resume and their soft skills are determined by more than just their work experience.
Find self-starters and workers with the entrepreneurial spirit. Don’t shun candidates that don’t fit your mold of an ideal employee. They will bring more value to your company than anyone else. They are good at multitasking. Use those abilities to your advantage.
Guided Career Choices
Gen Z, though hungry for proving themselves, are also confused and misguided in a sense. Even the best talent won’t know what they want. They need mentors and guides to put them on the right track.
Give them direction and they will reward you with loyalty. Give them an assurance that you have a plan for their career. Show them the doors that you can open for them. Convince them that you are the best choice they have at being someone.
Trust Them
Having been smothered by helicopter parents all their life, they need someone to trust them with important decisions to give them some agency. Let them know that they will make decisions that matter. Give them some leeway to fail at the job by mitigating your risks. Your job pitch should almost be like a safety net.
Don’t scare them even if you plan to push them into the deep end on the first day of the job. The top talent in one field is not going to be an employee with strong overall personality development. They have spent years investing their time into something specific.
Growing up takes time. Expect that when you hire them. That doesn’t mean you have to put up with slouches. Just keep in mind that the metrics you use to determine productivity should be more than just the time that they spent in the office. Don’t expect brown-nosing from them either.
Respect The Culture
The world is a different beast now. Regardless of your political beliefs, safe spaces and political correctness are the norms now. Treat your employees with respect. Listen to them on issues you might not agree with before making up your mind. Create an inclusive environment. Your employees will thank you in return.
Hiring is changing. Company cultures are changing. As Bruce Lee says, be like water and go with the flow. There is a lot of value to be had from Generation Z. You just have to adjust yourself a little to take advantage of them.
