The Gen Z code of conduct

Employers of the next generation will be tasked with reimagining what it means to be an employee against an ever-evolving backdrop. They will need to be proactive to satisfy Gen Z’s needs, shifting tack to meet the cohort’s aligning mindset: one where health is maintained through mental, physical, social, financial, and environmental well-being.

“Organisations need to embed a new code into the workplace from the outset, with existing structures, ways of working and benefits ripe for retrofitting,” says The Future Laboratory co-founder Martin Raymond. “This shift is paramount to attract, retain and empower Gen Z employees, creating new workplace cultures that promote equitability, inclusion, optimisation, purpose, happiness and ultimately, the health of future employees and workplaces.”?

In this article, taken from the “Gen Z Employee Well-being Report”, The Future Laboratory and Cigna Healthcare, International Health have outlined ideas and expert opinions for a Gen Z Codes of Conduct to empower employers to meet Gen Z’s transformative needs and create a benefit offering that no longer treats health and well-being as a siloed metric.?

These five principles for future benefits design, workplace culture and organisational structure are designed to enable more equitable working environments to flourish, future-proofing organisations to attract, engage and retain the next-gen workforce. Here, we explore the principles leading the way.

1. Whole person health

The most diverse generation on record, Gen Z will shun a one-size-fits-all approach to health and well-being to welcome a new era of ‘Gen Me’. Inclusivity and choice will move from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘need to have’, tasking employers with becoming human-first in their offerings. A truly personalised approach to benefit design will take hold as organisations look to meet future generations’ diverse needs and preferences.?

A survey by Gartner (1) reveals that benefits tailored to employee needs can alone boost employees’ intent to stay by 11% and their output by 12%.?

2. Personal purpose

Gen Z is trading the all-or-nothing work advice favoured by previous generations, seeking meaningful work cultures and benefits more attuned to their long-term goals. Here, professional development is key to Gen Z’s sense of self, with finding meaning, learning and growing independently being key. Research from Deloitte (2) in 2024 highlights that the majority (86%) feel a sense of purpose at work is important to their overall well-being.?

The cohort refuses to leave their values or identity at the door, demanding organisations not just accept but actively facilitate their authentic selves. As Molly Logan, founder, Irregular Labs explains: “Gen Z’s career and their lives are really intertwined, but not in the same way as Millennials and generations before. They are not beholden to the job or willing to work all hours, but it’s an important part of their identity, and how they envision their future.”?

3. Longevity living

Gen Z is living wellness-fuelled existences, embedding health as a core tenet of work, leisure, and living. Next-gen health benefits will be tasked with embracing this holistic approach and creating offerings that redefine how the cohort takes care of themselves. This isn’t a generation that defines being ‘well’ from a lack of illness or ailments, but by the ability to live as, and become, the richest, most whole versions of themselves.?

Notably, Gen Z won’t be willing to wait for a specific diagnosis to be eligible for a physical or mental health benefit. Instead, they’ll expect full access to the benefits that keep them healthy as they define it. Faced with a socially unstable backdrop, younger generations will reorder their hierarchy of needs to reimagine calmness and stability as the ultimate marker of success - seeking products and services that make their immediate environments the healthiest place for them every day.?

‘‘Feeling like you have some sense of stability in your life is key for future generations,” explains Annie Auerbach, Co-founder, Starling Strategy & Author, ‘FLEX: Reinventing Work for a Smarter and Happier Life. “We’re all living longer lives and those lives need to be sustainable. We need to be able to keep going, not only in terms of health but also in terms of our meaning, our motivation, and our autonomy.”

4. Empathetic tech

Gen Z is embracing pragmatic technologies and is willing to exchange data for personalised and predictive health and well-being solutions while being acutely aware of the dangers of being ‘always online’. Next-gen organisations will combine digital capabilities with Emotional Quotient (EQ) to implement meaningful workplace boundaries. This will mean honouring time off and limiting after-hours work, creating workplace cultures that don’t just accept this but actively encourage it.?

This step change will prove key to meeting emerging workplace mindsets, with Gen Z’s digital citizenship giving rise to all-new lexicons around work, progress and success. Here, the prioritisation of rest is being reimagined, and employers can take the mantle to redefine these boundaries as key to healthy work.?

“Across the last few years youth culture has intersected with work culture in a completely new way,” explains Annie Auerbach. “Younger generations are showing a real engagement with what it is to work: the meaning of work. There are more reciprocal, honest relationships emerging as a result, and this requires employers to not think about benefits in terms of ‘perks’ they can offer to distract from a strained working environment, but the pledges they can honour to ensure these working environments are fundamentally healthy ones.”?

5. Collaborative Communication

From flat hierarchies to reverse mentoring, Gen Z is acutely aware that seniority doesn’t always equate to superiority. Often, engaging the cohort is as simple as asking them what they want and making it happen.?

Across generations, employees feel shut out from the benefits conversation, beholden to their employer’s choice. While just over one-third (36%) of respondents feel they have a say in their benefits package, almost two-thirds (65%) would value the choice, according to People Keep. The research also points to a disconnect between employer and employee perception, where half (50%) of organisations feel their employees do have benefit autonomy.(3)

Collaboration is key to Gen Z’s working mindsets. According to Inside Out Development, more than one-third (34%) think organisation hierarchy should be centred on team collaboration rather than top-down decision-making. To meet next-gen expectations, benefits design will heed this collective approach, enabling Gen Z employees to have their voices heard in securing the benefits that matter to them.(4)

For Annie Auerbach, this shift is key to making healthy working cultures for next-gen employees. “Psychological safety is extremely important to emerging employees,” she explains. “Individuals are empowered to challenge, to tell their truth, to not necessarily toe the line, to listen to one another and not to feel that there’s any retribution associated with speaking honestly about something. I think that’s a powerful signifier of a well culture.”?

How is your workplace making well-being work for Gen Z?

Get further insights in our Gen Z report - download the full report here.?

References

1.Gartner. April 17, 2023, Gartner Says Employees Are 12% More Likely to Leave Their Workplaces if Employers Don’t Establish Explicit Hybrid Work Norms. Accessed October 28,2024.

2. Deloitte. “2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey.” deloitte-2023-genz-millennial-survey.pdf. Accessed October 28, 2024.

3. People Keep. April 2024, Benefits Survey Report Part 1.pdf Accessed October 28, 2024.

4. Inside Out Development. February 19, 2024, What Gen Z Gets Right About Organizational Hierarchy: IOD Survey. Accessed October 28, 2024.