The new generation of employees
During a few decades, the world passed through peaceful times, disregarding some places like the Middle East, the majority of the world was living in times of prosperity, growth and peace. This stable environment brought to the generations a sensation of safety and trustiness in the whole system, consequently taking humanity straight to the comfort zone.
The generations Y and boomers were born and grew up in this safe garden, where job opportunities and careers drew the ideal life standard and life goals. The economies of developed countries were passing through prosperous times after the II world war. During this growth period, the lifestyle of going to college, graduating and getting a job in an office, working hard to get promotions and finally retiring, became very popular and desirable.
On the other hand, the newest generations were born during hard times. Events like the September 11th, 2008 crisis and now SARS-Cov pandemic, destroyed the idea of a “meritocratic” system, unmasking and exposing the failures of this traditional formula of success in the capitalist world.
During the post world war, Europe and the USA started to grow very fast. The population which was working in the army or in industry started to migrate their jobs to companies and offices. Consequently, the military and industry mindset migrated to companies too. In a simple comparison, we can identify elements of a military hierarchy and industrial delivery sistem even inside the offices: things like the office times (9 to 5 — monday to friday) and promotions based on how much time you are in the company drew the scenario of post war job positions.
The mindset of career as a Fordist production line endured through the decades, but in the past 20 years this way of dealing with career does not fit with the actual economic reality. The population growth versus the technology and automation, created an abyss between stable careers and unemployment. This adverse and constantly modified environment revealed a new mindset for the new generation of employees: According to a recent Nielsen study, about 54% of Gen Z indicated they wanted to start their own company — Forbes
This dynamic environment revealed new trending business models like ‘’distributed and sharing economy’’. Businesses like Uber, Airbnb, Fiverr and the brazilian startup Triider based their business models to fit with the new economy. These companies structure their business to provide platforms, connecting the main workforce directly with the consumers. Uber drivers do not have bosses, or working hours, their success depends entirely on themselves.
Thinking about the next few years, we can realize that we are going to face big challenges related to the balance of job offers and employers. Therefore, companies in general will face a deal due to the next generation’s mindset, which they do not want to work to the old standards. We can conclude also, that driving your business to fit in sharing and distributed economy models it is an urgent necessity.
Bonus: five tips to fit your business with the new generation of employees:
- Job offer rotation opportunities: One of the keys to keep in your company with the new generation is to understand and provide flexible job activities and leadership. The new generation already knows that probably they will have more than one profession in their lives, then providing a structure where they can be able to switch positions and experience different responsibilities inside a project makes the environment more difficult to be boring.
- Share the profits: As this article explained before, more than 50% of the Z generation wants to have their own business, therefore one way to connect employers to your company is to share not just the proffits, but the whole company’s financial stats. Make them think they are your partners.
- Flex hours: A Bentley University study indicated that 77 percent of millennials believe that a flexible schedule would make them more productive. Nevertheless, we can conclude that flexibility will be a very important thing for the next generation of employers.
- Challenge them with goals: It does not matter to just share the profits and company´s health. It is very important to clearly engage your employers to define realistic and bold goals for themselves. They need to feel challenged by this, at the same time they participate and feel committed to it.
- Supporting causes: according to the last tips, this one is very important especially because the new generation of employers understands that they will spend most of their lifetime in their jobs, then they realize that they need to be proud of it and get along with the company’s beliefs.
