The Thinking Behind the Future Workforce - #GenZ

It was noted in an article from Inc.com:

"According to research from Bloomberg, Gen-Z will surpass Millennials in 2019 as the most populous generation, comprising roughly 32 percent of the population."

Your organization is going to have to brace for the impact that GenZ will have on your workforce. Consulting firm BridgeWorks estimates that GenZ accounts for 61 million people in the U.S. and they have now entered the workforce.

The Center for Generational Kinetics published an article that shows how frequent GenZ is on their smartphone. The numbers are astonishing, but what is more astonishing is how the information received is re-directing their thoughts and causing them to run on autonomous decisions that negatively impact their results.

We live in a world of massive information re-directing our thoughts. This will be the focal point in helping you to understand the GenZ mind and how to effectively leverage technology to empower them at your organization. You will find that there are a few vital ways to empower them, and fortunately for you, there is technology that was designed with this in mind.

The story below will help you understand the impact just one re-directed thought can have in their daily routine.

Yesterday, I was reflecting on all of the silly decisions I had made, and some of the thoughts that lead to making those decisions. Don't laugh at this one, because I know you have done something similar. In fact, it is how we are wired.

I was running errands for my wife and the task was to pick up syrup for my daughters freshly made pancakes. Simple, right? As I was searching for the isle that had syrup, my phone rang. That conversation lead to an array of different thoughts. I hung up the phone and the thoughts lingered. They were important to me so I began challenging my own thoughts (remember this point).

During this time, I grabbed the syrup with my autonomous thought being, "Find the best organic syrup for the cheapest price." I scrolled through the prices on the shelf and snagged the bottle at the cheapest price. I proceeded to the checkout thinking about the thoughts that stemmed from the phone call.

After returning home, I walked through the kitchen and handed my wife the bag of groceries. She opened the bag and looked at me completely puzzled...

If you are married, I know you have witnessed this look before too....Uh oh, what did I do wrong?!

"Why did you get organic Honey? Where is the syrup?"

Organic Honey? When did I grab that? As you can imagine, I even puzzled myself. After some reflection, I realized that I had looked at the first price on the shelf and I had verified it was the organic syrup section. Little did I know, honey was right next to it. No wonder it was the cheapest...either way, pancakes with Honey doesn't taste too well.

Here is the point to me telling you that story.

Until we challenge our thoughts, we will automatically take actions on those thoughts that might not necessarily get us the results we truly seek.

This is one of the most powerful perspectives to consider while dealing with the GenZ workforce.

BabyBoomers dealt with this while they sat in front of their TVs. Millennials dealt with this while they sat in front of their computers and laptops. However, GenZ is dealing with this everywhere they go, including the workplace.

The scary part is that their thoughts are assaulted each day on Social media by the comments of the masses. Unfortunately, it appears to have taught them to defend their thinking instead of challenging it.

David J. Schwartz, author of The Magic of Thinking Big, said it best,

"The thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you may have."

This is the underlying current that is impacting the GenZ workforce, and if you want to empower them at your organization you will need to fundamentally engage them differently. As you see new tech being released, you will notice some are designed to do just that.

So what is guiding the GenZ thoughts? Today we live in a world where ideas and information is spread like a wildfire through mobile devices.

"In fact, we found in our 2018 State of Gen Z? study that 95% have a smartphone. And, 25% had a smartphone before the age of 10! Being connected 24/7 is their norm." (https://genhq.com/how-obsessed-is-gen-z-with-mobile-technology/)

Talk about extreme thought re-direction. How much of their daily work activity is done through autonomous thoughts, like my "cheaper price" decision?

What this means is that the next generation is going to be really good at the tasks that align to their passions, or another way to say it is they will excel with the thoughts they care to challenge the most, but may suffer to excel at the basic of tasks to accomplish.

A note to self, don't just tell them one time to do something. Leverage technology to keep it in front of them throughout the day.

What does this mean for the workforce of the future? This means that organizations are going to have to engage this workforce in a way that systematizes and organizes their non passionate tasks at their job, and helps them to create roles within the organization that empowers them to live out their most passionate thoughts at work.

If HR wants to help their organization achieve its business objectives, they will need to design a world at work where the GenZ employee is empowered despite the massive thought re-direction.

How can you do that? Give them a real mobile experience.

This means more than just allowing them to check their pay, benefits, and time-off. Provide them the mini-apps to succeed in the areas that matter.

First, give them an app that makes them feel they are adding value and feel appreciated & encouraged by their leader(s). The reason this is so important is that they will get lost in their thoughts, make a few poor decisions, and their self-belief diminishes. Nothing is more thought provoking than providing them with real evidence that their leader believes they are adding value.

Second, the ability to help them make data-driven decisions and provide push notifications to their smartphones with that data in a written language they understand (yes, Artificial Intelligence will rule the future with them), as you now know the results if you solely rely on their autonomous thoughts while their thoughts are constantly re-directed.

Third, put them in multiple teams. Most importantly, allow them to select at-least one of their teams. This way their day is spent on the team that allow them to challenge the thoughts they are passionate about.

In the end, you will see pockets of the 61 million GenZ workforce empowered by technology. They will be unleashing their potential at organizations and helping them achieve businesses objectives much faster than their competition. The question is, will they be empowered through technology at your organization?