DECEMBER, 20229 collaboration compared to their Millennial counterparts, and love being tasked with a challenge that they can drive themselves without distraction. So, if your company has a mix of Gen Z and Millennials, please don't bundle them together!Younger employees in the workforce are really taking advantage of this moment in time and catching employers off guard. Their long list of expectations on salary, titles, perks, and working environments are exceeding what most companies are capable or willing to deliver. Even when companies are making large layoffs of staff, other companies snap them up in a matter of hours. It's brutally competitive in the market for talent right now and will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. Over the last couple of years, I've seen a sharp increase in new behaviours which for a lot of leaders Gen X and Baby boomers would find quite disrespectful. For example, the "Boomerang employee", whereby a candidate accepts a job then days before their start date, send a text advising that their existing employer decided to give them a pay rise, so they don't need the job anymore. Quite frustrating for my hiring managers who have gone through the recruitment process and have burnt a whole cohort of potentials and must now start the process again. "Quiet quitting" is also making headlines and its where younger employees have been posting online videos of them ignoring after-hours messages from their boss or at 5:01pm disconnecting from Slack. Some people are even posting how they are working from home doing everything other than work, suggesting that they have quit without their bosses knowing. It's pretty bad form, but realistically- it comes down to ineffective management and a disengaged employee. As a leader, you should have the tools to measure engagement and a strong enough connection with your employee that your employee trusts you well enough to share any concerns with you. As a leader, this is your responsibility, even if it's the employee who's deciding to disengage. So how do we better engage and motivate younger employees using technology? Well to start with, make sure you get the basics right and for Gen Z and Millennials it comes down to respect and treating them as equals. If you're a leader in your organisation, talking to them like subordinates or hiding information from them will only lead to distrust and disengagement. So, if you decide to utilise technology to facilitate productivity, communication and engagement, make sure you give your younger employees a voice and focus on transparency. If you're considering technology to measure and track engagement, be clear on your definition of success and make sure it aligns with the values of both your company and your employees, including your younger staff. Your technology systems and platforms should be an extension of the relationships and positive working environment that you have designed and not just a tool to `fix' disengagement. Organisations are only now understanding how many more dimensions employees measure the companies they work for. If you want to be an employer of choice, start by listening to your workforce then act. In the same way you would use voice of customer feedback to drive decision making, your voice of employee data should drive your decisions. It's a great opportunity for people leaders to consider technology to scale their engagement and be better a collecting feedback, data and even using predictive modelling to further enhance their engagement capability. If you're serious about change and recognise the importance of creating strong working relationships with your younger employees. It's time to acquire a Bluetooth connection with them, because until you have a connection, there isn't much you can do or say, they will always be disconnected. Your younger employees have high standards and the days of expecting your staff to just do their job because you pay them are long gone and if you don't put in the effort, neither will they. IF YOU WANT TO BE AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE, START BY LISTENING TO YOUR WORKFORCE THEN ACT
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