Gen Z: What Every Hiring Pro Needs To Know

4 themes that form the building blocks to create a foundation for Gen Z's recruiting success

The emerging workforce - those workers who have either recently graduated college or are just launching their careers - are already impacting the workplace, a trend that should only continue as these early career professionals become increasingly prevalent in the world of work. 
 

With them come a divergent set of expectations, values and work styles that significantly differentiate these emerging professionals from other generations at work, from retiring Baby Boomers to mid-career Millennials. 

Perhaps nowhere are these differences more noticeable than when it comes to the seismic shift employers are already seeing when it comes to attracting, recruiting and retaining these emerging workers. 

A recent LinkedIn study found that over 9 in 10 companies plan to hire or currently have open postings for positions requiring less than two years of experience, a significant bounceback in demand for a cohort who suffered the biggest pandemic-related decline in overall employment numbers for any demographic. 

With this increased demand, however, came some unique talent acquisition challenges, as both workforce participation, as well as educational and career attainment for workers under the age of 25, have significantly declined over the past 3 years. So, if you’re in the 90% of employers who want to recruit top emerging talent, then you’re going to have to start rethinking, redefining and reinventing your recruitment function today for the talent of tomorrow.

So, let’s take a deeper dive into this slightly enigmatic, but essential, cohort of emerging talent better known by the catchall term “Generation Z” (or Zed, depending on where you’re reading this).

Here’s what talent pros need to know.

Generation Z: Meet Your Future Workers

While the generational theory has both prominent proponents as well as detractors (see: anything related to “Millennials”), Generation Z can be broadly defined as those workers born between 1994 and 2010. 

Unlike Millennials, this generation is principally characterized by their lifelong connection to the internet and social media, among other technological advancements; Gen Z has never known a time without Uber, without Facebook, or without Spotify. 

While they do share some characteristics with Gen Y workers, particularly in their stated preference for social responsibility and collective consciousness, as well as their proclivity for immediate feedback and validation (as one would expect from a generation raised on TikTok and Instagram), there are a few defining factors that distinguish them from other generations at work. 

If you’re looking to recruit Gen Z talent, here’s a short run-down of some terms you might want to target while developing candidate personas; however, we’d like to caution against age-based stereotyping, as these workers constitute a protected class and as we all know by now, sweeping generalizations work better in content marketing than human resources. But, here are some of the more common factors you should consider. 

Gen Z talent is likely to be:

●    Self-confident
●    Team-oriented
●    Seeking happiness at work
●    Requiring job security
●    Desiring independence over authority

This generation is ready to work - and work hard - to achieve their goals, but they also expect quick upward mobility and more regular individual recognition or praise, despite the fact that they often lack specific job-related experience or expertise. 

Of course, this skills gap is largely related to the fact that they have limited job experience of any sort, and the “everybody gets a trophy mentality” is likely the result of wanting to know that their performance is meeting expectations and to ensure alignment with their managers and colleagues.

So, they’re pretty much just like everyone else beginning their careers, generational identities aside. They just need a little bit more guidance, direction and support.

Perk Up: What Gen Z Workers Want from a Job

Because Generation Z tends to be extremely ambitious, an ambition that as yet far outpaces their specific skill sets and professional experiences, alignment is essential - and getting on the same page between what you need now and what they want next requires an increased focus on training and development. This is likely one of the more valuable (and salient) perks employers can offer. 

Therefore, HR professionals and talent leaders seeking Gen Z talent may want to consider implementing technologies like learning management systems (LMS) into their core work tech stack to facilitate both skills-based training as well as providing exposure to upskilling and advancement opportunities that allow them to learn on the job while gaining the skills necessary for their next one. This is a win-win for companies and emerging workers; developing talent in-house is linked to improved performance, retention and employee engagement, while the ambitious nature of Gen Z, and their preference for continuous learning and advancement opportunities, can easily be met by integrating LMS technologies and upskilling capabilities into the core employee experience.

As easy as it is to stereotype Gen Z as a bunch of wanna-be influencers with a crippling addiction to their mobile devices, the fact is technology has always been an integral part of their everyday lives; their expectations of work are no different. To compete for top Gen Z talent, employers must embrace best-in-class, consumer-grade technologies - or at least, not appear like they’re still stuck in the Stone Age. 

This means any manual or paper-based processes have to go (and should have, if we’re being honest); cloud-based solutions, particularly those with capabilities such as social network integrations, elements of gamification or total immersion (think VR, AR, or online gaming) will demonstrate to Gen Z applicants (and other workers who are probably already over your legacy systems, for that matter) that your organization is not only forward-thinking and up-to-date, but embraces the kinds of work styles and innovative thinking that the emerging workforce expects from an employer of choice.

Other workplace features that you may think about redesigning and redefining for Gen Z include:

• Less email, more texts and instant messaging
• A robust employer brand across social networks
• Cross-functional teams and projects that facilitate multicultural experiences and interactions with coworkers beyond the scope of their immediate team
• Regular, standardized feedback that’s constructive, didactic and personalized
• Transparency in business processes and practices, and the ability to have some sort of open dialogue with senior management and company leaders so that they feel recognized and valued.

Gen Z relies more heavily than other generations on their jobs for self-actualization and personal fulfillment, so employers should intentionally create experiences that facilitate these outcomes. 

While it’d be misleading to say money doesn’t matter to the emerging workforce, or that they’re not as title sensitive as previous generations, the fact is, things like the ability to travel or work on different projects or gain exposure to other business units or functions are even more valuable than compensation when it comes to recruiting and retaining Gen Z workers.

Closing Time: How To Make Generation Z Hiring Happen

Like so much else in talent acquisition, success at recruiting emerging workers starts with the most fundamental and foundational part of TA today: the much-maligned, but empirically essential, job posting. 

When creating requisitions or writing job descriptions targeting early career professionals, it’s important that employers highlight 4 elements that must be a part of every JD: career path, individual development, benefits and total rewards and social media acumen.

These four key themes are the basic building blocks for creating a foundation for Gen Z recruiting success. Let’s break each of these down a bit.

1. Career Pathing

Generation Z is often more motivated by job satisfaction and career prospects than a high salary. This group is looking for a meaningful experience that will progress their overall life goals. Thus, it is vital for recruiters to include information about possible career paths and upward mobility within the organization. 

2. Individual Development

Use the job description to demonstrate an investment in their future. Highlight any opportunities for continued training and development. Many job seekers will appreciate any opportunities to improve their skills in the evolving job market, where many are left in the dust when it comes to their skill sets. 

Generation Z is very aware of the issues caused by the skills gap, so it will be essential for employers to showcase any training or educational programs. 

3. Total Rewards and Benefits

Generation Z is motivated by opportunities for exciting life experiences. To attract this generation, employers may consider offering benefits that allow for greater work-life balance. Such benefits might include flexible scheduling, more paid time off, and remote/hybrid work. Highlighting flexibility will go a long way in making your job descriptions stand out to young job seekers. 

Of course, competitive salaries will also be a huge factor, even if this generation is characterized as valuing experiences over monetary gain. 

4. Social Media Acumen

Having a presence on social media is crucial for recruiting the younger generation. Social media impacts many of the decisions people make today, including where to work. A job seeker may look to your social media pages to better understand what it’s like to work for your organization. 

Social media is also where many will assess your company’s values and social impact. Thus, maintaining a social presence and managing your reputation online will be a huge part of recruiting from the emerging workforce. 

The Future of Talent Is Now

Even if you’re not currently hiring for open early career positions or actively targeting the emerging workforce, the fact of the matter is that today’s entry level hires are the talent your company will need tomorrow to survive, and thrive, in the rapidly changing world of work. 

If you haven’t yet had the need for Gen Z talent, just wait a year or two - they’re expected to make up a majority of the overall workforce by 2027, which means that Gen Z is the future of talent acquisition and hiring, a demographic inevitability that every employer should start preparing for right now. 

While it’s unlikely that Gen Z workers will shift or dramatically adjust their workplace expectations, values and professional aspirations anytime soon, the good news is that it’s relatively easy for employers to do so to sufficiently attract top Gen Z talent over the short and long term, too.

Simply start with the four key areas outlined above, and remember: age is nothing but a number, but so too are talent analytics. And how your recruiting team - and company - perform over the coming months and years will be measured by how well you’re able to attract the top talent of tomorrow, today. 

And that’s the bottom line.
 

Author Bio

Ben Tuttle is a Product Manager with Proliant, Inc. Ben has over a decade of experience working with HR professionals and HR Technologies. He has helped hundreds of organizations find HR technology that suits their business needs.  Connect Ben Tuttle Follow @ProliantInc