For many companies, engagement with Generation Z remains elusive. The importance of this and some of the strategies that need to be adopted are set out in a report by loyalty, engagement and recognition provider Rymax. The report is titled “The Pharmaceutical Executive’s Guide to Engaging Generation Z: How Understanding the New Generation of Young Professionals Can Help You to Better Retain and Mentor Top Talent.” Although the report is targeted at pharmaceuticals, the findings are applicable across most industrial and service sectors.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Generation Z is entering the workforce, and their goals and motivations are distinctly different from their predecessors. Commentator Janet Adamy writes: “Gen Z” encompasses the post-millennial generation—the estimated 67 million people born from 1997 through 2012. About 17 million Gen Zers are entering the workforce now, with many more expected in the years to come.”
This generation differ to millennials, in that they are more likely to be risk adverse, seek financial security, and be more likely to seek employment than having a desire to run their own business.
GenZ are also willing to travel more and are more likely to seek employment with a company that they care about and with brands that they value. What does this emerging trend mean for the pharmaceutical sector? The Rymax report, based on a series of surveys, provides some answers.
Understanding workplace priorities
The report states that employers need to get into the heads of GenZ. This means understanding their main goals and drivers, which are summarized as:
Generation Z’s workplace priorities are: career growth (64 percent), an honest boss (38 percent) and the ability to mentor someone (21 percent).
41 percent of Generation Z described mid-size organizations as the ideal work environment, followed by large organizations (38 percent) and only 14 percent cited startups.
The top three Generation Z job search priorities are: growth opportunities, generous pay and making a positive impact.
28 percent of Generation Z view balancing work and personal obligations as their top career concern, followed by making enough money (26 percent) and finding a stable job (23 percent).
These statistics indicated that GenZ are a “generation of self-starters, self-learners and self-motivators.”
Need for employee engagement
The report recommends that to attract top GenZ talent, pharma companies need to focus on “developing effective employee engagement programs can create an appealing work environment, which will positively impact employee productivity, retention rates as well as HR costs and overall profitability.”
In order to make this new workforce feel part of the company, organizations need to effectively communicate objectives and provide a strategic direction. This means that GenZ expect regular acknowledgment of their contributions to the company.
New reward systems
GenZ are less likely to favor one big annual bonus, but instead prefer frequent recognition of their successes, often in the form of non-cash rewards. Therefore, Pharma companies should, the report recommends, create a reward system that will appeal to GenZ employees which is non-cash based. Instead GenZ employees are more likely to react to having the opportunity to win items such as Alexa-enabled speakers, noise-canceling headphones, and Wi-Fi home security cameras, as well as being regularly recognized for their efforts.
GenZ employees who work hard would also prefer the opportunity to select the rewards that interest them the most; the idea of choice is seen as important.
