Onboarding a New Gen Z Employee

I consider myself a forever student, always observing, learning, and looking for ways to apply everyday occurrences into a story, teaching, or training. 

Today, I was working from one of my favorite coffee shops - the dining/coffee area of a local Kowalski's (a market for those of you not familiar with the midwestern brand/label). This is my "secret" go-to spot when I want to focus, create, and generate a little extra inspiration in myself. 

As a generational consultant and trainer, I find myself intrigued by generational interactions. Today, I observed a manager/trainer at Kowalski's training in a new employee. The trainer was either an older Millennial or a Gen Xer. So tough to tell age at a glance, and well...if I aged this team member down a few years, I bet the individual would smile from ear to ear! The new employee who was going through the onboarding training was the newest generation to enter the workforce - Gen Z.

I happened to catch this duo throughout the market and then again in the coffee area, where I was camped out - eventually writing this article. So, what inspired me to post about this duo? It was what the manager/trainer was doing that was so on-mark with the research and training we conduct. What we know about Gen Z, is they want, need, desire, and well let's just say crave the need for specific instructions and direction.

They don't want to be told to do something, they want to be shown how to do it!

This manager/trainer shadowed the new employee throughout the store and the tasks they were completing. They showed the new team member how to pull out a high top table to wipe off the ledge behind it. (Honestly, as a grown individual who has been cleaning my home for many years, I'm not sure I would have known to do that extra step myself!) They showed the new team member where the corners and nooks were that dust or dirt typically accumulated. The manager/trainer didn't do the work but demonstrated the "how-to" part of the job. They watched, provided immediate feedback and coaching, and even took pics with their phone to help demonstrate how the area should look once completed if the new employee needed a reference point in the future.

As a generational trainer, I work with organizations big and small, and two of the most common requests are 1) How to onboard Gen Z to make sure they have the skills and generational insights to understand the "why" behind the "what" of an organization, and the multiple generations they will be interacting and working with. 2) How to help leaders understand, lead, and manage the traits, characteristics, and needs of the newest generation appearing in their workforce.

If you ever wondered if Gen Z has different ways or preferences of communicating, interacting, collaborating, and showing up to work - the simple answer is yes, yes they do! Generational insights can help bring positive value to an organization, its workforce, and the customers they serve.

A shout out to the manager/trainer and new employee at Kowalski's Markets for demonstrating your new employee onboarding so well that even a customer noticed!