Recent studies have shown that Gen Z employees are difficult to work with, due to the perceived lack of legacy technological skills, effort and motivation.
While it is easier to remove Gen Z employees from an assignment or worse – a company – ever wonder what companies can do to retain them instead?
Arabian Business reached out two experts to understand what UAE companies can do to bridge this somewhat dreaded generational gap.
Step 1: Addressing the misconception around UAE Gen Z employees
While it is easy for employers to disregard Gen Z workers as difficult, these experts believe an intolerance stems from a misconception of how Gen Z employees were raised.
“This misconception often stems from generational differences in communication styles and work expectations,” said Noona Nafousi – Founder of Neo Noor.
Nafousi explained that Gen Z employees are not embedded with the concept of staying a one particular role for 20 years, as they grew up in a “digital, fast-paced environment, influencing their approach to work and collaboration.”
“They are very open about wanting to have a balance between their personal lives and work and are vocal about their wants and desires. They want their work to be related to their values, want to earn money doing things that they enjoy and have a higher purpose. This is a very new concept for those of an older generation who worked as a means to an end to pay the bills,” she said, adding that senior leaders from different generations may lack familiarity with modern concepts like boundaries, mental health, burnout, and work-life balance.
“So of course there is some degree of misunderstanding, which can lead to the perception that they are difficult, when in reality, it’s a matter of aligning expectations and communication methods.”
Echoing the sentiment, Polly Williams, Managing Director, TishTash Communications added that most employees in managerial and senior positions are “predominately Millennials or older,” which is why they often do not understand how Gen Z workers operate.
“They are the first generation to live with social media, with technology being part of their entire lives and they have lived through multiple recessions. They approach the world with an intense realism that means they approach work and life differently to any other generation before it,” she explained, adding that at TishTash, these employees go through a reverse mentorship programme, where a younger member of the team (Gen Z) is paired with a more senior member of the team to share their views on life, what makes them tick, and enable a cross-generational understanding.
“It empowers the younger members of the team to take ownership, arranging a time to meet, a place for lunch or something to demonstrate what matters most to them. As we become fully immersed in a digital era it is very important that all members of the team keep up to date with how this generation is being motivated,” she added.
Step 2: Training and development
However, for Gen Z employees to be motivated, both experts advised companies to provide professional development opportunities, such as a training programme, and through the use of modern communication tools.
“It is really important to consider what will attract and make a difference to Gen Z employees when putting together a training programme. Employers should be frequently asking about their training needs, either during meetings about their performance and goals or it could even be through frequent and simple bite-sized polls,” Williams said.
She added that through mentorship programme, Gen Z are “given the opportunity to open up about where they want to develop, enabling direct coaching on what matters most to them,” as they partner with senior employees who are not their line managers.
Gen Z’s unique attributes and perspectives are crucial for effective workforce integration. Employers who understand and adapt to their needs, values, and work styles will attract Gen Z talent and benefit from their innovation, social awareness, and tech proficiency, Nafousi added.
“This generation is revolutionising the future of work, one that I am so excited to witness and companies willing to evolve with them will flourish in an intensively competitive and diverse global market. Being digital natives, Gen Z responds well to technology-integrated work environments; after all, it is their first language. Companies can do this by leveraging modern communication tools, excellent online collaboration platforms, and digital learning resources to engage and retain Gen Z workers effectively,” she said, adding that anything outdated, slow or difficult to use will be “a big turn-off” for Gen Z.
Step 3: Workplace benefits
Like all employees, benefits and perks play a crucial role in retention. However, there are some ways for employers to retain Gen Z workforce, according to both Nafousi and Williams.
“The perks that companies offer to attract Gen Z must mirror their values and lifestyles,” Nafousi explained. This includes, having an onsite counsellor they can speak to for their mental health or having a mental health well-being advocate in the company will be a big selling point to Gen Z’s.
“Offering flexible working conditions and making it easy for them to have a balanced work-life balance will be very attractive for them. They will also want to see what their opportunities for professional growth are. Customising benefits in these areas, coupled with a strong focus on environmental and social responsibility, will captivate them,” she said.
According to Williams, some popular benefits and perks include:
- Enhanced holiday entitlement
- Work from home country
- Hybrid working models
- Early finish
- Good health insurance
- Regular/ consistent performance reviews
“A lot of these benefits like holiday entitlement and working models are simple for businesses to review. Post Covid-19, many companies chose to switch up their working models in order to attract and retain talent, however, giving employees to work where they want to is a really empowering tool and one that shouldn’t be underestimated,” she said.
Step 4: Ensuring work-life balance
As Williams said, Gen Z workers look forward to an “early finish,” which translates to completing tasks at the set work timings. This is because Gen Z workers often prioritise their life outside work by taking time to focus on their hobbies and other interests.
“A balanced work-life equation is essential for Gen Z retention,” Nafousi explained adding that they are of the belief that you cannot be good at your job if you are burned out.
“They value their mental health so for a company to keep them and retain them they must demonstrate that they value this as well. They favour a job that complements their lifestyle, not governs it. Employers can endorse this balance by providing flexible work arrangements, prioritizing mental health, and respecting personal time. It could even look like team bonding days that involve outings or something adventurous. Something that values bringing human connection to colleague,” she said.
Statistically, Gen Z’s are struggling with anxiety and stress more than any other generation, Williams added, attributing this to the generation’s comfort in discussing and being honest about mental health.
“Either way, work flexibility is one of the very simple and effective ways to provide support in this area. Flexibility shows an acknowledgement of this ‘always on’ lifestyle and in my experience is a very valued part of creating a strong work culture for the Gen Z employee.
“A hybrid approach to work is far better than fully remote working. It is essential that Gen Z are able to have face to face time with their team, in order to build those deeper relationships with peers and seniors, and to ensure a happier employee,” she said.
Step 5: Feedback and recognition
Like Nafousi and Williams explained earlier, Gen Z employees were born at time when technology was booming. According to a Deloitte report titled Welcome to Gen Z, “Gen Z cannot remember a time before the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror. Its members were born after the collapse of communism and witnessed the meteoric rise of China in the global economy. It came of age in a world where content and information is increasingly free and shared, where the body of human knowledge has expanded with mapping of the human genome and where one-click online purchasing is taken for granted.”
Due to receiving instant answers to their concerns, Gen Z workers “thrive” on feedback and recognition, Nafousi said, calling it the “fuel that drives” them.
“They have grown up in an immediate connection era through social media. This means that they thrive on immediate, constructive feedback and the acknowledgment of their contributions. By cultivating an environment of open communication, employers can meet these needs head-on.
“Leaving something for a week or-of-month meeting is not something that will suit Gen Z. Sending an email to the team to congratulate a success will do a long way with Gen Z or celebrating them on social media through a post for example,” she said.
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