Young-Gen ( a composite term to indicate both the Millennials and Gen Z
) have a new world outlook, maverick ideas of workplace and careers.
The best employers know that millennials and Gen Z need to be
considered as "young adults." Not to mention, both generations
are highly connected to technology and the internet. The Smart Phone with 24/7 internet, Social Media Google have been making them occupied and 24
hours/day is not at all sufficient for them.
Several old workplace
norms are not in consonance with the preferences and aspirations of a young workforce
(Gen Z and Millennials) Workplace
4.0 will see a younger rebellious
workforce characterized by streaks of entrepreneurship and go-getting . Their
list of aspirations for a “dream
job” indicate a widely differing values and assumptions about work. The “talent stars”
and Young-Gen ( a composite term to indicate both the Millennials and
Gen Z ) want meaningful, rewarding work,
on-demand customer service, simplified transactions, and instant access to
information.
BALANCING DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY IN THE WORKFORCE- A contrarian trend is members of the earlier generations remain very active and
are
increasingly prolonging their working life. Their value is never to diminish. The
differing needs between the different
age brackets in the workplace has really made the issue of balancing
demographic diversity more complex . The
moot question: In what aspects do the earlier generations and the new ones coincide in their interests, and
at
what points do they differ or oppose one another? In what aspects do the Young-Gen present radically different employee profiles, and are these differences sufficient to force TALENT 4.0 to reinvent its vision, approach and
communities?
SOLVING PROBLEMS AND PERFORMING TASKS COLLABORATIVELY
is a new challenge with Young-Gen They
are peculiar in their demands and forceful in
having a voice. Technology will allow organizations to conduct opinion
polling and this will be a
gamechanger in the Workplace 4.0. The aspirations of
Young Gen @ Workplace 4.0 are clear…. WE WANT TO BE INVOLVED NOT MANAGED. They will be
better informed, technologically adept, and skilled
at ongoing experimentation.
Many
employees today seem to be searching for “more” than they are able to draw from their
work experience. Growth will increasingly
emerge from
experimentation and innovation that comes from
this bottom-up collaboration – driven by engaged employees, partners, and even customers.
In the changing landscape
of fluid roles, WFH, upskilling and
reskilling, man-machine interface the concept of a career path or development is very different and much hazier. While previous generations continue to think more in terms of a
defined career, Generation Y wants to learn and progress continuously. Young Gen has a strong emphasis on opportunities for
growth and development; varied career paths
which means recognition of talents not necessarily related to the professional sphere and
the
realization of personal aspirations and ideals. Recent surveys have
found that young gen workforce prefers a
flexible workplace culture support greater productivity and employee engagement
while enhancing personal well-being, health, and happiness This vision is further reflected in their desire for responsive management in which they are given immediate and continuous feedback.
Going forward, the existing approach to hierarchical promotion will not
be possible. There will not be enough upward positions
possible to provide the workforce with sufficient numbers of opportunities for variety, learning or increased compensation linked to performance and results especially since retention a major
objective becomes difficult since the young-gen is more eager for frequent change and less willing to remain in one position for extended periods of time.
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The learning organization now means unlearning the past. Young-Gen does not favor the linear career path but want new learning avenues in line with changing interests and
aspirations. |
Knowledge workers today are everywhere and
the learning opportunity is the real employee experience. In a world that is
constantly changing, the most important skill to acquire now is learning how to
learn. learning will be just not at the
individual level but team learning and organization wide core competencies need
to be development to become the competitive edge in a world where research and
knowledge will trigger innovation. It is the foundation of value creation in organizations
where ‘intangibles’ drive sustained strategic success. Gig workers have no job security other than their knowledge edge!!!
Teaching the Young
Gen-Z is a challenging task; because the
intellectual grade of the Young-Gen is better than the previous age bracket due
to the abundant resources available around them to enrich their knowledge base
(especially in the digital heavy company) . The traditional methods of teaching
like theoretical lecturers, power point presentation etc. no longer have been
considered as valuable by this emergent talent group. The focus has shifted to
learner-centred initiatives; experimental learning ; individualized packages
and one-to-one coaching. Reskilling now a strategic initiative, will be both learner-centered and employer-enabled to be in tandem with the
hyper-speed of change ! Companies will find their knowledge and
learning department more in demand to play an
active role in creating a workforce with the skills and capabilities required for today’s economy. A new
vista is opening for human resource
departments
