Gen Z Solutions no.5 - Enable opportunities to contribute and collaborate
Over the course of these blogs and through the talk I have put together I explain
how and why Generation Z is different, naming seven key characteristics
the challenges for leaders and organisations
five solutions not only to overcome those challenges but ensure future prosperity.
Click on the link to book Alex to speak at your event about Generation Z
Do you want to be a dictator? Do you only want to move from the top? Do you want an organisation where it only lives and breathes and successes and dies by your word? If that's the case, then good luck to you. But there's no way you can have a workforce that is productive if you do.
Gen Zer
Feedback whether you want it or not
We live in an age of perennial, endless feedback. Comments are invited on every article and social media post (half a million per minute on Facebook alone). Your input is ‘invited’ on every online purchase, printed on restaurant receipts and requested in one email after another.
Generation Z has grown up with this culture. Like everyone else they may turn down the vast majority of opportunities to give their viewpoint, but when they do want to give it they expect to be able to do so. This also applies to the workplace.
Leaders and their organisations are going to receive feedback from their youngest employees whether they ask for it or not. Given this, they need to ensure those channels are open and well advertised.
Some take a while to arrive at this position. I have CEO coaching clients who can be incredulous to receive an unsolicited, informal email (‘Hi FirstName!’) from someone two weeks into their job who has various ideas about how the organisation as a whole could be improved.
“I wouldn’t have dared to communicate with the boss directly in my first proper job at all, let alone that soon” is what I hear. When I ask what they made of the ideas they receive, my general impression is that they have not even considered them.
The world has changed. The old adage that if you want commitment from people then they need to be involved has never been more true. You have to make it clear that you welcome their input, no matter how much of it there might be and how often it might arrive. Without a sense of ‘you-said-we-did’ a lot of your potential future leaders will wander off very quickly, and often to a rival.
Even then channels are not enough. You have to go past welcoming whatever arrives to actively seeking it. The ‘town hall’ meeting, the workshop, the survey, the working party are all key component parts.
Boundaries
If this is making you uncomfortable, then I recommend you go a little further. As I have said elsewhere in this blog series - Always. Be. Retaining. Your employees may well have chosen to apply to your organisation on the basis of your values and policies. There are benefits to asking them if their experience has lived up to what you advertised. If it has not it may only be a matter of perception but it may also tell you something about your organisation and the people in it that you really needed to know. Just because they are not happy with everything does not mean they will instantly leave, but they are more likely to go sooner without an opportunity to express it.
This does not mean that you need to be available to everyone at all times to hear what they have to say, but if you do not set some boundaries that is where this leads. As I have advocated elsewhere be really clear about the boundaries. For example:
When is your office door open or closed?
What should go to their manager and what should go to you?
Are the feedback channels easy to find (and how do you know they are)?
Who replies, and how long does it take to receive a response?
Will everyone receive a response?
Will others see your idea and what happened to it?
And so on.
When you are clear in this way, and authentic about how you express it, not only will you receive the feedback your employees want to be able to provide but you will also get the ideas you really need. They may be ones which would not have come up around the C suite table, but add huge value, or the ones which provoke the idea which then does gain traction. Perhaps it could be the potential side-effect which had not been anticipated but would be very pricey to fix.
An organisation which welcomes feedback enjoys the luxuries of both avoiding the most expensive mistakes but also a workforce alert and bought in to the idea they can shape its future direction. If you want to grow your own future leaders what else could you ask for? This is more than a feedback loop; it is about driving culture change, sharing skills and improving retention. It can be a wonderful tool for the multi-generational workplace.
Feedback and dialogue is not restricted to that between employer and employee. It is the opportunity to work and collaborate with others. Many of the best ideas you might receive are not the work of one person. It might be a single individual who sends the email but it will often be couched in a ‘I was talking with X last week and…’ or ‘at the workshop last week I discussed the issue of A with Y and Z and we came up with this’.
Gen Z psephology
2015 was the first UK general election in which any Gen Z could vote. The oldest Gen Zs then found that two further opportunities to vote in general elections followed soon after in 2017 and 2019. I will go through the relevance of this in a moment.
Note the trends in the graph below.
Turnout fell from 2017 to 2019 in the oldest five age bands, but not for the youngest two.
Turnout for 18 to 24 year olds rises as more Gen Z become old enough to vote. By 2019 they form the whole of this age group.
It remains true that age is a significant factor and, overall, the older you are the more likely you are to vote.
BUT by 2019 the pattern was broken in that a higher proportion of Gen Z (18 to 24) voted compared to the younger millennials (25-35).
High levels of turnout have not been restricted to general elections. In the 2016 Brexit referendum turnout for the under 25s (of which a majority were still millennials, but even so it reinforces the trend) was 64%, almost the same as it was for 40 to 54 year olds at 66%.
I do not take these trends as an indication of support from Gen Z for their political institutions, but I do take it as evidence of their propensity to participate and use their voice in general and also a pragmatic step to hold on to whatever level of influence they can given the extremely poor financial situation they have inherited.
Participation and taking action
There is good evidence that both millennials and Gen Zs are more likely to take particular kinds of action than previous generations at the same time of life. It is also more than possible that this will be a habit that sticks as they go through life, not least because the means of doing so in this day and age makes it far easier. This has also led to accusations that electronic activism is actually ‘slacktivism’ or ‘clicktivism’ (although note that this can still be highly effective).
Deloitte’s 2022 survey not only shows the different forms of participation but also that Gen Z are more likely to do so than millennials, a similar trend to that in the 2019 UK general election. The only category, out of eleven, where Gen Z are behind is the one which requires a financial commitment.
There is an argument that the opportunity to participate is greater when you are at a stage of life with more time on your hands, for example before parenthood. As I have said elsewhere the need for multiple sources of income to pay the bills also acts as a severe drain on time so I am not convinced by that argument.
Having said that, the two areas in which Gen Z is furthest ahead are also the ones which require the biggest time commitments, volunteering and campaigning. This is also further evidence of their commitment to their values, and perhaps a tendency towards altruism.
These activities also show how Gen Z can contribute to the success of their organisations if given the opportunity. Attending public meetings, running campaigns and creating content (amongst others) not only shows an inclination to contribute and collaborate but also a set of skills which can be utilised to good effect in the workplace, including in management positions.
Support networks
Support networks in the workplace also provide opportunities to collaborate and contribute. The same applies to the social side of work, an important support network in itself.. By that I do not just mean the after work drink and the staff restaurant meal (although great ideas can certainly come from those occasions), I also mean the water cooler conversation, the canteen queue and the conversation which strikes up in passing.
The topic of productivity in the remote workplace needs a blog series in itself (this is worth a look). For this blog I will only mention that creativity is a key part of productivity and the scope to collaborate at length over time is a significant aspect of that. This means having access to peers, and colleagues who may not be in the same team but the opportunity for cross-pollination offers much.
On the theme of topics which cannot be covered in any detail here, but which contribute to strong contributions and collaboration, others include mental health, professional associations, professional development, reverse mentoring and employment assistance programmes.
And finally…
Gen Z’s propensity and desire to participate is only part of the story. The brands, influencers and organisations which matter to them have reached their level partly through the engagement of others. A company which does not value contributions or collaboration will neither be seen as one they should want to join nor one which is likely to thrive.
Other blogs:
Click for the first blog summarising who Gen Z are and why they are different.
And then for the Key Characteristics:
no.1 - Well-Behaved
no.2 - Prudent
no.3 - Pragmatic
no.4 - Diligent
no.5 - Apprehensive
no.6 - Diverse
no.7 - Patience
Accompanying videos are all here and also on YouTube
Click on the link to book Alex to speak at your event about Generation Z.
