Understanding Gen Z - BPMA’s Magazine

The latest issue of the BPMA’s magazine (Merch Magazine) launched today, check our conference write up  and download the magazine with the link below:

Understanding Gen Z

Gen Z are entitled, take too many sick days, have no resilience, and don’t know how to dress for work (onesies are not considered too out there apparently).

This was the opinion of an engaged audience for leadership consultant David Haylor who asked delegates to give their thoughts on an apparently much maligned group.

However, according to the military officer turned performance coach, the attitudes of Gen Z are an understandable response to a work environment that is increasingly hostile and where it is not at all obvious what is in it for them.

“They don’t know what career paths will be open to them – youth unemployment is 16% – so it’s not surprising that they want to grab what they can while they still can. It’s not ‘entitled’, it’s rational.”

The changes in technology that conference had heard about, combined with the fallout from Covid and an increasingly volatile world economically and politically, means Gen Z is less likely to bet the farm on having the kind of life that previous generations took for granted. Working hard and doing the right thing can look like a trap when nobody can predict what the next three years will look like, let alone the next 10.

“Everything is moving very quickly and our systems have been stressed by these changes. A group of people had to sit in a room for two years during Covid – that will decrease the level of psychological confidence, communication ability, and stability anybody has,” said Haylor. “I coach people who are in their fifties and sixties who are still trying to regain their confidence.”

The good news is that the skills that businesses and individuals need can be taught. Forward-thinking companies are investing in training their younger people in the abilities that they have missed out on developing, such as walking into a room and talking to people, or pitching to them.

When combined with an open company culture that welcomes input, the benefits of diversity allow anyone to come up with ideas that deliver growth.

That isn’t just theoretical. Haylor told of a 14-year-old FT intern who suggested to the big boss that the brand wasn’t doing enough to engage with the next generation. They loved the content, but couldn’t afford the subscription.

The result was more proactive engagement with schools and universities to build a pipeline of customers for the future. Because yesterday’s member of Gen Z is tomorrow’s business leader.

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