Human Resources
THE GENERATION Z WORKFORCE Understanding Them Might Ease the Labor Shortage and Make Companies Stronger BY CAROLINE K. REFF
W
hen my son graduated from college a few years ago, the keynote speaker at his graduation was Mark Stoever, former CEO of Monster.com. Stoever told the graduates that they would most likely have as many as 20 jobs in their lifetime. Twenty jobs! His point — to an admittedly tech-based group of graduates — was that there were so many opportunities out there at the click of a button that they would continually have opportunities to try something new. It was still a startling statistic to most of the Baby Boomer and Gen X parents in the crowd who had worked for two or maybe three companies in their careers. But, to the eager graduates, it was an exciting possibility. While this was a few years before anyone could have imagined that a global pandemic would dramatically change the way people work – maybe forever – it does ring true, more so today than ever, as a labor shortage has given employees the ability to ask for and expect higher wages, greater perks and a greater sense of work-life balance because they know there are so many other options out there right now. If they don’t like one, they can quickly move on to the next. But this type of work environment has also caused frustration for companies across every industry, including dairy, as companies do all they can to not only attract but retain quality employees. In talking to some of our own members in the dairy or related industries, the topic of labor shortages always seems to come up. We simply can’t find anyone to fill these jobs – even though we are paying higher than normal wages. We hire people, and then they just don’t show up. People simply don’t seem to want to work hard. The employees we do have are simply getting burned out. While the labor shortage is a cross-generational, societal problem, it is apparent that the group just starting to enter the job market, born between 1997 and 2012 and labeled “Generation Z,” does have some new expectations when it comes to entering the job force. Does everyone agree with them? No. But, has it become necessary to make changes to a workplace environment in order to keep them? It certainly seems so. 56 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.
According to Lynne Vincent, assistant professor of management at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, organizations in every industry need to prepare for Generation Z. Vincent asserts that members of Generation Z are entering the workforce with less work experience than previous generations because they were raised to focus on extracurricular activities while in school, rather than encouraged to take on part-time jobs at the local scoop shop or restaurant. Many have been raised by so-called “helicopter” parents, who brought them up in a “culture of safety” that revolved around protecting them. While intentions were good, this has left this generation “without a lot of practice being autonomous, independent individuals.” As a result, Vincent said, these new employees may need some help learning the skills necessary to hold down a job – whether it be in a dairy manufacturing plant or in an accounting firm. Many truly don’t have the knowledge of essential job responsibilities. (Note: While this is a research-based observation, it is not intended to portray everyone in this group but is instead a generalized overview.) To overcome this deficit, Vincent suggests that employers take it upon themselves to give new employees an onboarding that includes a candid preview of job expectations – not only the positive aspects but also the challenges. Gen Zers needs to be told the essential job responsibilities, the expectations for hours worked, what tasks they are really going to be asked to do, that they are expected to show up every day, and even basic things like what to wear to work – whether it be the safety requirements of steel-toed boots or the concept that athletic wear is not appropriate for an office environment. Employers also need to let these new employees know that failure is, in fact, an option. Vincent suggests making checklists of what is expected of them the first week, the first month and the first year, so that they get a sense of what they need to learn. Employers who take the time to facilitate such a process will likely have a much better rate of retention. Gen Zers tend to think that work will always be “interesting and meaningful,” according to Vincent. And, while that’s the
