Three ways that Gen Z are redefining workplace norms

We know that Gen Z are digital natives, and the first generation to truly live and breathe technology. As a result, it’s no surprise that they approach the world of work differently. 

In our work with young people, we observe first-hand how Gen Z thinks differently. Whilst this can occasionally be challenging, there’s also huge benefits and opportunities from the fresh perspective they offer businesses. But we’ve also observed a big disconnect between employers, and the way they view this generation as a whole. This brings us to our mission: to provide insight on Gen Z, and help employers understand how to engage with young people to unlock their enormous potential. 

Here, we discuss three things that Gen Z do differently, offering our advice on how you can turn these features to your advantage to engage young people in your products and services, or employer brand.

1. Young people don’t read books

To older generations, the idea that Gen Z don’t read books can come as a mighty shock. But recently an article in the Atlantic confirmed that an increasing number of university students, even at prestigious universities, are struggling to make it through their assigned reading. 

The cause here is that after only ever being tasked with short poetry and excerpts at school, a full book is simply too much for them to digest, and even if they want to read, they struggle to maintain the required focus. 

With the average Gen Z racking up six hours a day on social media in a typical day, you could argue that there simply isn’t enough time to read. With nearly three hours devoted to short-form content and videos that are less than one minute long, anything you want Gen Z to engage with needs to be snappy. 

So what does this mean for you? Clearly, it’s in an employer’s best interest to reconsider lengthy application forms and keep it short and sweet. One study found that 60% of Gen Z-ers want an application process to take no more than 15 minutes. Offering different formats is also useful, as well as using the options available on social channels to present opportunities, as these tend to be easy to click through. 

For your young customers and service users, it’s important that you ensure your organisation’s key messaging is simple to find and review quickly in short-form, or even better, as a video. Plus, think about your user journey through your owned channels, and don’t overwhelm them with too much information, or they’ll disengage. Focus instead on the most important things they need to know and distil these into bite-sized chunks.

Ultimately, to effectively recruit and retain a generation that doesn’t have the time or focus to read a book, or to get them to buy into what you do, making all processes as slick as possible is the key.

2. They will ghost you

A recent survey by Indeed found that an overwhelming 93% of Gen Z job seekers in the UK have ghosted a scheduled job interview, and 87% admitted to ghosting after accepting a job offer. We also know from speaking to young people and employers that they’ll even ghost you after starting the job if they feel justified. 

Before letting that sink in, understand that when you’ve only built a relationship online, and haven’t spoken to a human on the phone or in person, it feels less real. It’s a lot easier to let someone down when you have the safety of hiding behind a screen. 

Gen Z has an urge for instant gratification. If your job offer has taken too long to come through, or their feedback at work has taken too long to be implemented, they could already have disengaged before hearing the result. Online anonymity has given them the ability to avoid uncomfortable conversations, and so they’re unfamiliar with having them. Many will take the ‘easy’ route and simply ghost you instead.

Not only is this frustrating and costly for employers, but potentially worse, dissatisfied Gen Z employees will also openly complain about you online and can cause huge damage to your employer brand. According to statistics shared by Owl Labs, 1 in 3 workers (34%) have posted negatively about their jobs or employers on social media, and this number increases to almost 1 in 2 (48%) for Gen Z. 

So how can you avoid this? 

1. Establish a real, person-to-person relationship. Strengthening their connection to the role and the organisation is a way of getting increased buy-in. 
2. Be open and honest throughout the hiring process and beyond. This will develop a mutual understanding and respect.
3. Give them the opportunity to share their feedback with you, and show you’re acting on it, or at the very least, listening.

3. They use AI WAY more than you think

Whilst most Gen X and Millennials are still only really just becoming aware of the uses for ChatGPT, it’s firmly embedded in the way Gen Z interacts with businesses. A study by EduBirdie revealed that 36% of Gen Z feel guilty about using ChatGPT at work, even though 23% actually admitted to using AI to help them get hired in the first place. Although they may not always admit it, Gen Z are repeatedly turning to AI tools such as ChatGPT for answers and advice, and even to write their CVs and cover letters. 

With its ability to create intelligent and personalised responses instantly, ChatGPT is capable of putting together a seemingly considered and detailed CV or application, seeming like an easy win that can save time and brainpower. Job seekers using AI are able to mass-apply for vacancies, resulting in a 53% higher likelihood of landing a job offer than those who don’t use AI. You can see why this might seem like a no-brainer. 

The first challenge for employers is that as AI becomes increasingly intelligent, it can be incredibly difficult to detect, and thus doesn’t really give you a clear picture of what the candidate can do themselves (although you could argue that if the CV content, such as qualifications and experience, is correct, then the candidate is still being truthful about their achievements). 

The second is that if young people are not taking the time to properly research and apply for your role, and are churning out lots of applications to other places, you end up with thousands of applications to sift through, from candidates that are not all that invested and could easily drop out through the hiring process, wasting your time. 

Here’s what you can do to combat this:

1. State upfront that the use of AI won’t be tolerated. This won’t stop everyone from using it, but the quality applicants who really want to work for you won’t want to run the risk of losing out. 
2. Fight AI with AI. If you’re being bombarded with a lot of resumes, get AI to do the hard work and sift through them for you for the top talent. 
3. Use a human element early on. Ringing individuals to check they’re genuinely interested in the role can save you time and hassle later. 

Employers need to continue adapting their approach to keep Gen Z engaged. Streamlining processes, engaging in meaningful interactions, and staying up-to-date with tech are key. Ultimately, you need a bespoke approach that takes into account your unique organisation, and the unique needs of the young people you want to engage with, whether that’s working with you, using your service, or buying your product, to truly bridge the generational gap on an ongoing basis. If you need help charting that, you know where we are. 

To understand how your organisation can better engage young people, reach out to our team today.