Why GenZ Is Being Fired + 5 Tips to Retain Talent
“1 in 6 Companies Are Hesitant To Hire Recent College Graduates”
A headline that fires me up more than any political clickbait I’ve seen lately.
“Generation Z (Gen Z) has a reputation for being challenging to work with and difficult to manage”(Intelligent.com 2024)
Intelligent.com found that almost 20% of companies say they've reconsidered hiring Gen-Z workers, noting management says younger career professionals aren't professional and don't know how to communicate.
While these statistics (you can read more here) are completely maddening…
GenZ being fired doesn’t surprise me. Based on my experience as a workplace communications professional, the reality is that organizations are having an incredibly difficult time training their younger workforce. GenZ has entered the workforce in a vastly different reality than their older counterparts. Boomers and GenXers never had to learn a job through a computer screen. They had hands-on training alongside shadowing and mentorship.
Fortunately and unfortunately for GenZ, they have entered a remote first, hybrid, distributed workforce.
While GenZ is struggling to adapt to the traditional corporate world, older generations don’t have the patience to train them OR the resources to do it well. Boomer, GenX, and even Millennial leaders don’t know how to train or enable success of GenZ in the current structure of the workforce. It is irresponsible to fire talent without proper professional development.
So what can you do to retain this fast-growing segment?
Well, for starters, I’d recommend you start working with a workplace communications professional (hi, it’s me). Then, companies need to adopt modern onboarding plans and invest in robust soft skills training like email communication and meeting etiquette, relationship building, and executive presence. Without it, both companies and Gen Z employees are left frustrated.
Onboarding plans -
Onboarding, everboarding, and professional development plans should be continuous. Take a look at your current onboarding plan through the eyes of your younger employees (ask for their feedback too) and integrate microlearning, collaborative learning, hands-on learning, mobile learning and personalized learning.
Email communication -
73% of business is done via email and yet - no one is taught how to effectively communicate via email. Train GenZ (and all staff) on the best practices of email communication.
Meeting etiquette -
Create explicit guidelines, rules, and best practices for meeting etiquette and expectations when running in person meetings, virtual meetings, client meetings, and internal meetings. GenZ needs a playbook. Give it to them.
Relationship building -
Give GenZ a reason to feel a sense of belonging in the workplace. While GenZ is reliant on technology, they are also susceptible to isolation and loneliness. Curate opportunities to build professional relationships and facilitate relationship skill building.
Executive presence -
Teach GenZ how to have executive presence. GenZ knows their value but they struggle to communicate it (and how to communicate it humbly). Younger generations always think they are better than older generations. While they have a lot of learning to do, they also have good ideas too. Teach them how to convey their ideas in a productive way and watch the innovation of the company progress.
Firing GenZ so quickly is a huge, short sighted mistake that will ultimately harm future business innovation and productivity. You cannot ice out an entire generation so it's necessary companies learn how to professionally develop them rather than fire them.
