Being a business leader today requires the ultimate balancing act, and managing Gen Z talent during a return to the office is no exception. A recent KPMG survey showed that 62% of U.S. CEOs expect their employees to return to the office full-time within the next three years.
At the same time, they are trying to figure out how to engage with Gen Z employees, who have different definitions of success and ambition and are not interested in climbing the traditional career ladder.
How can leaders ensure their offices are attractive to Gen Z and help them excel in their careers? This is a question many business leaders are asking.
“My concern is career,” Etsy chief human resources officer Kim Seymour said during a panel discussing working with Gen Z. wealthThe Most Powerful Women conference takes place Monday in Laguna Niguel, California. “I work in HR and I worry about careers and progression and who’s next because I’m sure the next generation (of leaders) won’t emerge from the couch cushions.”
Offer “carrots” and avoid “sticks”
Many companies may already be implementing a solution: attracting younger workers into the office. The same KPMG survey found that almost all (90%) CEOs also plan to reward employees for coming to the office with raises or promotions.
For today’s youngest working generation, offering a “carrot” is far more effective than threatening a “stick”, the panellists said.
“I think a generation like Gen Z doesn’t want to be told what to do. They’re not looking for a stick,” said panel moderator Maryam Banikarim, co-founder of NYCNext, founder and managing partner of MaryamB.
She recalled recently working with the nonprofit Partnership for New York City to help revitalize Midtown Manhattan and bring workers back to the office, noting that leaders would use company cars to commute to the office while telling younger workers to take the subway to and from get off work.
“Make it fun to come in and find ways for them to experience what we all have, which is you get to hear things that you otherwise wouldn’t have and you get more creative and then you have The desire to come in is the opposite of that feeling, and that’s what you need to do.”
Get creative with Roblox
Roblox Chief Partnership Officer Christina Wootton likens interacting with these employees to interacting with your audience, and asks what benefits you can offer your audience that they can’t get elsewhere.
“Like an employer or a manager, if they come into the office and sit at their desk and just work on emails, why are they in?” Wooten said.
Instead, employers can focus on offering something different than what employees are getting at home, whether that’s participating in leadership groups or interacting with cross-functional teams. “It might not be every day, but it’s just different than when they’re home alone.”
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