Preparing the Workforce For Success

“Every generation has been maligned for something.” Tara Ceranic Salinas, Ph.D. (Wilkie, SHRM, February 9, 2024)

I grew up in the 70's and 80's, the youngest of five siblings who are cross generational. My four older siblings all fall within the Baby Boomer generation and I proudly represent Gen X. So from the get go, there was bound to be friction because as we all know, each generation is compelled to complain about the others, whether the ones before them or the ones after them. I suppose I was destined to do work that works to bridge the gaps between generations because I've spent my life experiencing that within my own sibling group.

According to a recent article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), "By 2030, Gen Z—born from approximately the mid-to-late 1990s to the early 2010s, depending on the source—will make up 8.3 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on data from a recent Glassdoor report, the number of Gen Z members in the workplace will overtake the number of Baby Boomers this year. Globally, Gen Z is poised to represent 27 percent of the workforce in leading Western countries and a full one-third of the global population by 2025."

Now, before all the Millennial, Gen X, and Baby Boomer readers go into a frenzy about how this influx of Gen Z workers is going to be the downfall of the world, I'd invite you to stay with me in exploring this a bit.

Why do non-Gen Z generations experience such a visceral reaction to this younger group in the workforce? Is it really because we don't think Gen Z is capable of being contributing members of society and the workforce? Or is it because we have developed a well-worn pathway in our brain about them and it's hard work to create a new pathway of thinking? My instinct is that it's the latter. Shifting our beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions about people is like trudging through 3 feet of snow to get to the mailbox. We don't want to make the effort because it's hard.

But what if there was a $5000 check for you in that mailbox? Would you make the effort to push through the snow to get there? I would. Not just to get the $5000 check, but also KNOWING that the walk back to my front door would be easier because I could walk in the path I had just blazed in the first trip to the mailbox. The next day, the path to the mailbox would be easier (unless more snow came....) because I had already walked it twice the day before.

This is how we create new ways of thinking in our brain that can shift our beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions - it takes experiential practice.

And I believe this is a vital capability for our workforce if we want to make our organizations as powerful as humanly possible.

So how can we prepare future generations to be successful in the workforce?

• Let go of beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions that create barriers to connecting with co-workers from other generations. This is the first step into the snow towards that $5000 check in the mailbox.
• To quote Ted Lasso quoting Walt Whitman - "Be curious, not judgmental." When you find yourself wanting to lecture a colleague from another generation, pause and remember that like you, they have their own life experiences that have shaped their world and the way they do things. Curiosity opens the door to understanding and understanding opens the door to connection.
• Provide professional development of essential relational skills for younger generational workers to gain the capabilities to help them succeed in the workplace. If you find yourself frustrated with the amount of time younger workers spend using technology, why are you only providing them with online learning for professional development? What if investing in hands-on professional development is the path to developing skills like interpersonal communication, conflict management, influencing, critical thinking and problem solving?

According to Michelle King, PhD, who conducted a survey of Gen Z workers in the U.S. and U.K. in 2023, "there is an ambiguity paradox facing younger generations as workplaces become more informal in terms of structure, processes, bureaucracy and how people collaborate. Yet, at the same time younger generations’ ability to navigate both tasks and social ambiguity is declining.” She goes on to state "managing ambiguity in social situations means knowing how to interpret other peoples’ feelings and intentions so they can manage informal interactions.” (Wilkie, SHRM, February 9, 2024).

There was a time earlier in my life when I didn't know what I know now. I got to where I am now by having people who had lived more life than me provide guidance on how to grow my capabilities as a leader and co-worker. The people who provided that guidance from a genuine place of connection were far more influential than the ones who shamed me for being born after them. I also heightened my ability to manage ambiguity through experiential leadership development with horses, who are the opitomy of interpreting the intentions of others.

If we want Gen Z to be successful in the workplace, we have to provide them with learning experiences that develop the interpersonal skills they need. Yes it's hard. And, like it or not, we owe it them. They didn't create the technology that has been part of their lives since birth. And the reality is that they WANT to contribute to the betterment of the world. Let's start walking alongside them to do that.

Ginny Telego is the President and CEO of The Collaboration Partners, a boutique consulting firm that provides equine experiential leadership and team development to help organizations harness the potential of all of their people. www.thecollaborationpartners.com