Clarity and authenticity is required to engage Gen Z

Gen Z is ready to be engaged, but are you ready to engage them?

The youngest generation in the workplace’s propensity to be engaged at work is often underestimated by organisations.

I am frequently told by employers that their young staff do not stay a minute longer than they have to, that they can present as entitled and are often unproductive during the working day.

After a little enquiring I tend to come to the same conclusion.

They have appointed the wrong people.

The right people, with the energy, ability and positive attitude they desired, were not sufficiently impressed and they applied elsewhere.

How can organisations change this so the very best Gen Z (years of birth 1997 to 2012) want to join and stay?

Clarity and detail: The twin bedrocks of trust

We live in a world saturated with information, where discerning truth from falsehood requires significant mental energy.

Those in their twenties have grown up through a time where they are filtering thousands of marketing messages every day.

They have also inherited a complex world where the biggest issues such as economic instability, climate change, and the pressures of an aging population will likely be theirs to solve.

The journey from know to like and, eventually, trust is more precarious than was ever the case.

It is far harder for a message to cut through, including about whether an organisation can be trusted or not.

Employers who provide absolute clarity in all aspects of the employment journey is not just good practice, it's a fundamental prerequisite for building trust.

This means ensuring that every piece of information a potential or current employee might need is readily available, easily accessible, and presented in a digestible format.

I am not saying that you need to be emailing large zip files but you do need to consider the questions a curious and discerning Gen Zer might have and proactively address them.

What standard of clarity and detail should you be looking for? 

The collective body of information across all platforms – from your website and recruitment materials to induction packs and training modules – must be comprehensive and well-organised.

Crucial information should not be buried in small print but brought to the forefront.

The format of information matters significantly. Slide decks and videos might take time and resources to put together, but if you make them accessible and attractive you should expect them to be of interest amongst your target audience.

Do not worry too much about getting every last bit right; the fact that you have made the effort to be transparent will count for something. There may even be an advantage in it not being too shiny and precise, it presents as a little more human.

Whether it is the job description, person specification, level of flexibility, leave arrangements, training opportunities or benefits and perks you should aim to be as clear as possible in as short a time as possible - but make sure the wider detail is available for anyone who wants it.

Many organisations may believe they already address these points adequately. Unfortunately they often make a judgement based on their own experience and not through the eyes of the 22 year old looking for their first professional job.

The extent to which you have been effective in communicating what the job is about, and what you are like as an employer, is for the potential recruits to judge.

Authenticity Counts: Walking the Talk

The battle for retention begins the moment a Gen Z employee joins your organisation.

They need to experience the reality that aligns with the promises made during the recruitment process.

To attract high-quality Gen Z talent in the first place, careful consideration must be given to who communicates your message and through what channels. Having grown up with clickbait and online manipulation, Gen Z requires more convincing that your claims are genuine.

My generational peers often have a view of marketing that it needs to look shiny, sleek and relentlessly positive. For the youngest generation in the workplace, this tends to be a real turn off.

They want an authentic view from those who already work in the organisation, not a second hand source. They want to see if the experience of current employers matches up to the words on the job details.

Anyone can pull together electronic words on digital paper and attribute it to a recent recruit. The visual nature of social media, particularly video, offers a powerful tool for conveying transparency.

Organisations must be willing to go beyond comfortable levels of openness and transparency, even embracing a degree of vulnerability. Acknowledging weaknesses and inviting Gen Z employees to be part of the solution can create more interest than you might imagine.

In an age of information overload, cutting through the noise and maintaining a consistent, authentic presence is a significant but essential undertaking. Even with this, words alone are insufficient; these messages must be consistently demonstrated through action.

That level of alignment, along with a clear and unambiguous set of materials relating to a job, gives you a much better chance of engaging the best and brightest Gen Z.

What changes could you make within your organisation to make it happen?

Alex Atherton is an expert in the multigenerational workplace with a particular focus on Gen Z. He is the ex-secondary school headteacher who heard the word ‘snowflake’ once too often to describe his former students.