The new EY Global Generations Report 2024, based on a survey of over 22,000 individuals across 22 countries, offers critical insights into the evolving ambitions and workplace expectations of Gen Z (those born between 1997-2007). Inside a challenging job market, where both employers and students are questioning the value of a college degree, a non-traditional career path is emerging for high-growth organizations. For business leaders, and Gen Z job seekers, a roadmap to the future of work is being brought to life via a revised understanding of the authentic desires of the youngest generation in the workforce. For companies that want to create greater employee engagement and retention, particularly when working with Gen Z, these three critical elements are where the conversation begins.
That’s according to Marcie Merriman, EY Global People Advisory Services Leader. In an exclusive interview with Forbes, she shared what organizations are missing, when it comes to Gen Z – and how the youngest generation can still find ways to realize their career goals. “The ambition of Gen Z extends beyond material possessions,” she says via Zoom, referencing the EY study. In the survey, only 31% of Gen Z respondents feel financially secure – but there’s more to the story. While nearly 9 out of 10 respondents prioritize financial security, less than two thirds want to “get rich”. Indeed, wealth can be measured in many ways – including some things that money can’t buy. Understanding the values of Gen Z is crucial in the hiring process, for forward-thinking leaders today.
Designing the Future of Work for Gen Z
“The Gen Z cohort measures success by their mental and physical health, the impact they make, and their ability to live authentically,” Merriman says. For Gen Z, this means seeking out roles and cultures that genuinely support their holistic well-being and allow them to connect their daily work to a larger purpose. For organizations, generational expectations demand a rethink on incentive structures and career paths, emphasizing training, leadership development and growth. Contribution, challenge and personal development are places to concentrate. Fostering environments where employees feel genuinely valued, challenged and fulfilled beyond their paychecks isn’t easy in the age of AI – but difficult is not the same as impossible. Here are three critical elements that employers need, in order to attract and retain the brightest and best:
- Connecting Purpose and Transparency: Gen Z, having grown up inside a digitally-connected world, has an expectation of open communication – and a curiosity to learn exactly how things work. “Gen Z has a deeply ingrained desire for transparency, whether it’s about company purpose, motivations, or fair and equal pay,” Merriman says. Organizations where leaders are open about challenges, decisions, and even compensation structures are places built for the future of work. “Our research shows that 71% of Gen Z workers trust their supervisor a lot, or completely,” Merriman shares, emphasizing that the trust gap between employees and employers looks different than what many believe. EY says 84% of survey respondents believe it is highly important to be authentic to one’s true self. Are leaders connecting purpose to transparency, in the interview process – or making “feel good” promises that lead to disappointment? Another way to say “connecting purpose and transparency” is: walking the talk. Actions speak louder than words, and transparency means that employers have to get clear on their objectives and goals – not just their marketing messages – so that the hiring decisions are made with clarity for everyone involved.
- Redefining Success Beyond Traditional Metrics: Gen Z measures success holistically, according to EY. That means that retention and engagement depends on offering opportunities for personal growth, exploring things like purpose, values and well-being. Focusing purely on career advancement or compensation is an incomplete approach for forward-thinking organizations. Merriman reflects on her extensive consulting experience, and how she redefines “feeling good” at work: “Gving new employees responsibility, giving them challenges, pushing them. Gen Z folks tell me all the time: they want to be pushed, they wanna get better. For leaders, understanding those drivers – and accepting them – can be the key to success.” She says that employers that provide growth and challenges turn Gen Z employees into your personal army of recruiters.
- Stop Hiding the Ball When It Comes to Money: “Growing up, there were things that our parents kept from us,” Merriman shares, speaking to the Millennials and Gen Xers in the hiring process, “especially around money.” That’s not a perspective that Gen Z shares, as they lean in on full disclosure. There’s an expectation around money matters that older generations don’t always see. Namely, that it’s OK (and necessary) to talk about things like compensation. Not because cash is king, but because transparency is. “Employers need to recognize that greater wage transparency is part of the future,” Merriman says. Creating connection between the generations is often a communication issue: what it is that we are willing to discuss, and how, determines our success. Indeed, when we choose to hide the ball around money, or goals, or expectations, teamwork erodes and victory becomes more difficult. What’s that candid conversation you need to have at work – and what would have to change in order to start the discussion?
The Mindset Shift for Gen Z in the Hiring Process
For Gen Z job seekers, Merriman offers this critical mindset shift for career success: move from a supported to supportive mentality, at work. She says we have to let go of preconceptions around the way the world is supposed to work, so that we can really get to work on what matters. “Gen Z has lived in a world where the world was designed around serving them,” Merriman says. From parents who tried hard to avert every crisis (including COVID, but it hit us all nonetheless), the feeling that the world is supposed to come to you, support you and protect you is an outdated idea. “The mindset is, “’I’m supposed to be taught, I’m supposed to be educated.’ So whether it’s middle school, high school, college, this world is here for my benefit,” she explains. The hard part is shifting into the understanding that the employer is not here for their benefit. ”When you go into an interview, go in with the mindset that you are here to support that employer,” she urges. “In the process of asking questions about what the employer needs and wants, plus how they work, it gives you the opportunity to learn whether this is a place that fits with your values – what a Gen Z employee is looking for.”
The interview process, Merriman says, is filled with people jockeying for position – not positioning themselves around authentic and clear communication. And that clarity needs to come from both sides of the desk (or screen, as the case may be). The blueprint for navigating the interview process is leading to disillusionment and frustration, for new hires and hiring managers alike. “Gen Z’s not getting what they thought they would get,” Merriman says. “Maybe they have a mentality that they could fix it and change it. The employer’s not getting what they wanted because they’ve sold something different. Often they’re selling a different value proposition than what they’re delivering. There’s also a requirement of that paradigm shift around honesty: why you are in that space and is that reason a good fit with what you want as an individual?” she explains.
Acceptance, Authenticity and Adaptability for Gen Z
Acceptance, for employers and Gen Z workers, is key. From an understanding of what’s expected, needed and required, the best companies arrive at the ability to navigate the future of work. And that acceptance goes both ways, when new hires don’t reach into a bag of “interview tricks and techniques” in order to get the job, because they can accept the importance of serving and supporting an employer. If you are presenting an interview persona, and not an authentic person, the hiring process is not going to lead to aligned outcomes for either party. Authenticity is key, for employers and employees at every level. Being able to authentically accept who you are (as an organization, as an employee) and express those puts and takes with acceptance, candor and courage is vital to effective communication. And for Gen Z in the workforce today, adaptability begins with deeper understanding of what employers really need.
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