Managing employees from different generations can be difficult. The term, Gen Z, is often spoken about and covers people born from the mid to late 90s to the early 2010s. In this article, Scott Greenberg, a speaker, writer and coach who helps leaders grow their business, talks about how companies have developed training and retention practices that have increased their influence over young workers and boosted team performance. He explains how their secret is rooted in employee experience.
“So, what’s the most stressful part of running your business?” I pose this question to audience members before every conference keynote. Most answer the same: “Employees.” High turnover, frequent call-outs, apathy – many employers just can’t get the stability and performance they need from their Gen Z teams.
For more than a decade, I led teams of young workers in my Edible Arrangements stores, and I also struggled. Years of working as a motivational speaker didn’t help. But it did add some pressure. Not only did I have to save my retail business, but I also had to save my reputation.
Through a lot of trial and error, we began to make progress. We improved retention and employee satisfaction. Our online customer reviews got better, as did sales. We won awards for customer service and management and became one of the top locations in California – all with the help of our young team.
Since then, I’ve come across many organisations who’ve cracked the code with Gen Z employees. They’ve developed training and retention practices that have increased their influence over young workers and boosted team performance. Their secret is rooted in employee experience. Here are a few ways they do this:
- Mind the gap. Generation Z is different. But it’s your relationship with them that makes the difference. Many complain that Gen Z lacks a strong work ethic and is unresponsive to traditional workplace expectations. ‘Kids these days’, they say, echoing the same grievance employers have said for centuries. Generation gaps have always created tension in the management-employee dynamic.
Top employers reduce the gap by putting their opinions aside. They instead make objective observations about young workers and adapt to their needs. They don’t coddle or enable them. They just seek to understand them and manage accordingly, just as they seek to understand their customers and serve accordingly. They recognise Gen Z values life balance more than ambition. They realise they’re more emotionally attuned (sensitive, but also empathetic). They respond to their need for a lot of feedback and, when earned, positive reinforcement.
Your criticism about Gen Z may be correct. But it’s not helpful, not if you want to manage them. Put your judgement aside and try to better understand them. Manage them as they are, not as you think they should be. Then you’ll get them to where they can be.
- Identify and meet their ‘soft needs’. Most organisations focus on hard needs – the tangible things people want from a job. Primarily this is money, but it may include other benefits. It’s what employees get in exchange for their work. ‘Soft needs’ refer to their emotional desires. These include respect, praise, personal growth, safety (including emotional safety) and a sense of belonging. You can’t pay younger workers as much as those with more tenure. But you can still provide a better work experience. Their soft needs may be different than yours and from each other’s. While one person may appreciate schedule flexibility, another may be desperate for a pat on the back. Some may just want to be someplace less toxic than home.
The more management can determine what drives individuals, the easier it’ll be for them to motivate their teams and win more loyalty. Money alone won’t do the trick. Employees should be paid fairly, but those workplaces which also strive to elevate the emotional experience of the workplace (just as you strive to elevate the emotional experience of customers) will become employers of choice.
- Bring culture down from the mountaintop. Mission statements are often broadcast to the world but aren’t instilled in employees. They’re worded beautifully but communicated poorly. Sometimes they sound more like marketing jargon written to impress customers rather than to inspire and guide employees. And some are so grand that hourly workers dismiss them altogether. If the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation declares: “Our mission is to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life,” I believe them. They’re doing that kind of work and operating on a global scale. When a small frozen custard business states they want to change the world, I don’t see how they can, and neither will their hourly employees. The mission statement is out of proportion to the work being done. Delighting a customer with a frozen treat is wonderful. It’s even important. But it’s not going to change the world. Speaking in those terms may lose you credibility with less trusting Gen Zers and prevent you from legitimately inspiring them with the work they actually do.
In the above example, you could use a toned-down version of the mission statement, such as: “We use frozen custard to create moments of joy.” The new statement is still aspirational and it communicates the why behind the work. It reminds employees they’re doing more than serving frozen dessert. But it’s also grounded in the work they’re actually doing. That’s the real function of a mission statement – to connect the work being done with a higher purpose. Help your employees be proud of what they do without pretending they’re doing more.
It’s also important to ground your stated values. So often they’re way too abstract to be meaningful. Are you sure your young employees know what you want when you preach ‘integrity’? Do they know what it looks like when demonstrated? Make your values more tangible for them. For each value you have, come up with a list of behaviours, essentially dos and don’ts that reflect that value. For integrity you might say:
• We always tell the truth
• We follow through on our commitments
• We admit our mistakes
These specific agreements reflect the value but are easier to understand. It also makes it easier to hold employees accountable.
Describe your mission, values and culture in a way that’s meaningful for your inside team. If they understand and connect to these higher principles, their work will have more impact for the outside world.
You may not believe it’s possible to build a strong, reliable team of Gen Z employees. I sympathise, but I can’t ignore the results I’ve gotten or those of the many diverse employers I’ve observed. They’ve proven it’s possible. You can transform your team from your biggest challenge into your greatest asset. But only if you’re willing to provide them with the greatest management.
Scott Greenberg’s new book is called Stop the Shift Show: Turn Your Struggling Hourly Workers Into a Top-Performing Team.
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