When I was 17, I felt the pressure of needing to know what my future looked like but had no clear career path in mind. Choosing a university was another hurdle – stay local or take out a huge loan to venture out of state.  I was an adventurer and ready to spread my wings, but the idea of spending a large sum of money on something that I wasn’t even sure about seemed crazy to me. Luckily my parents were open minded, and they suggested I take a gap year to New Zealand.   This was unconventional for Americans at the time but as a rebel to societies norms, I loved the idea of bucking the trend and headed off to Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud).  This was the best decision I could have made.

Twenty-five years later and I think I have finally found my calling. As I watch today’s young people in high school, I see the same anxieties that I had about needing to have it all figured out.   Many have witnessed their parents in stressful jobs, and they don’t want to have the same experience, and can you blame them? We haven’t exactly made it look easy. 

Gen Z have started entering the workforce now and they, along with Millennials are being labeled as the “entitled generation” with a perceived lack of work ethic.   Employers are struggling with how to integrate this new generation into their workforce and are largely unprepared for the societal shift. 

While I may not be an expert when it comes to Gen Z, I do have experience integrating youth into the workplace. In my previous role, a quarter of our staff were Rangatahi (age 17 to 24).  In addition to this I am a mum of two Gen Z teens. Yes, there are challenges, as there have been with every new generation entering the workforce, especially when we have up to five generations working side by side.

I have a lot to share on this topic, so over the next few weeks, I’ll touch on some key strategies that workplaces can adopt to prepare for and nurture these future leaders.  To start with:

Create Pathways – While retention strategies are important, long gone are the days of an employee staying in a role for 20 years. Instead, the average tenure of an employee sits between 3 and 5 years and for Gen Z its between 2 and 3 years.  The reality is that world has changed, and employees are less loyal to organisations. To address these issues, I believe a greater emphasis needs to be placed on career pathways within organisations. I have seen many young people come into an organisation and expect to progress quickly, making their demands vocal. They want to be paid and have the same responsibility as someone who has been with the organisation for a few years longer than them. Perhaps this is the reason that the term “entitled” is being used. I don’t necessarily think that this is the employees’ fault, however and these attitudes usually stem from poorly communicated expectations. A well-constructed clear and transparent pathway that outlines time frames and provides training plans for individuals will help to manage expectations if communicated from the very beginning.  By having a clear training and development plan, you also protect the organisation from having knowledge leave the organisation when a long standing staff member leaves. 

Prioritise Coaching – As digital natives our young people have had access to more knowledge at their fingertips than any other generation. The challenge is that knowledge does not necessarily make someone an expert and the information learned is not always correct or relevant to the workplace. To help our young people succeed I believe an emphasis on coaching is important. A coach can help our young people make sense of the constant influx of information, manage expectations, learn to engage with other generations and help boost their productivity amongst other benefits. Growing up with technology doesn't automatically equip our Rangatahi with effective self-management skills and it’s important to provide them with assistance in developing the right tools for success.

The world is changing and so is the nature of work and it’s important that as organisations we are adapting to meet the needs of this future workforce. We need to provide them with the opportunities to grow and the support that they need to succeed.