44 | theceomagazine.comZ
These bright-eyed, screen-worshipping graduates, only now joining the employment
market, will form just the first wave of an enduring assault on the workforce,
quickly becoming a not-so-silent majority. And like any majority, they will
be seeking to change a company’s culture rather than conform to
the existing one.
“The starting point is simply to understand the data,” McCrindle
says. “And the employment data is showing that currently Baby
Boomers and generation X workers comprise the majority of the
workforce. However, within a decade, by 2025, generations Y
and Z will together comprise two-thirds of the workforce. So
they’re quickly entering the arena and will soon become not
just the majority but the vast majority.”
Research suggests this new wave of workers will be looking
to be more than just a cog in the machine, no matter how
successful that machine is. They want to engage and be engaged,
and to feel like they are personally making a difference.
“If you can bring in a leadership style that is more participative and
collaborative than perhaps the autocratic style that used to dominate,
that’s going to really engage with the younger worker,” McCrindle says.
“Moving away from the command-and-control model to one that’s flatter
in structure, one that involves the younger generation in giving a bit of a
shape to things, that’s going to work. That speaks their language.
They’re hitting their early 20s as they launch into a career, and
they’re ready to roll their sleeves up and get involved. They
feel pretty empowered, and they want to have a bit of a say
and to influence something.”
And that’s not all, says McCrindle. They also want to
make a difference. They don’t just want to be an employee
and be told what to do; they want to feel engaged and like
they’re having an impact. “We have to tap
into that. What a great resource to have- you’ve got a motivated and activated
generation that wants a seat at the table.
That should be every employer’s dream.”
The downside, of course, is that if you
don’t engage them, they’ll leave. The idea
of a ‘job for life’ is about as outdated as
typewriters, with the average high-school
leaver today expected to have 17
different employers over a lifetime.
(BORN 1996 AND BEYOND)
Self-reliant, engaged, wants flexibility
GENERATION