Understanding zoomers’workplace behaviour

A zoomer’s innocent or reasonable tantrum while having a dialogue on a virtual platform with her team leader: “I thought that this company is employee-friendly, but it is a myth. You, being my team leader, must work on engagement strategies and employee experience.” Are organisations ready to unlearn the traditional workplace ethos and reinvent the employee engagement practices?

What is Gen Z?

According to Beresford Research, the people born between 1997 and 2012 belong to Gen Z and these people have heralded their professional journey. The professional journey of Gen Z has generated multifarious criticisms or accusations from previous generations. These criticisms are based on the values, beliefs or behavioural patterns of Gen Z.

However, sadly, zoomers are misinterpreted or assessed by the compatible scales of previous generations. Indeed, organisations may be doing a great injustice to the promising generation if they are compelled to align with previous generations’ fossilised or fossilising beliefs, values or workplace traditions.

Sui generis of Gen Z

Gen Z has its own beauty of diversification and individuation compared to the previous generations. For example, the millennials or Gen Y were driven by financial success and invested more time in gaining the labels of excellence. Indeed, the generation was self-centred, so it was also called the “me generation” whereas the paradigm of Gen Z is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or ‘World is a family’.

According to a McKinsey report published in 2018, Gen Z is the game-changer, and they are adept at living mixed realities which no other generations could do. Besides, Gen Z has been redefining the workplace processes through their ingenious behavioural patterns and this is also leading to Generation conflict.

Behavioural traits of Gen Z

The high tides of technological development influenced the behavioural and lifestyle patterns of Gen Z. Due to the proximity and accessibility to various technological platforms, Gen Z has reengineered its social, academic, and personal lives. The screentime of Gen Zers has enormously increased due to their active positioning on social media or knowledge-oriented platforms.

This has reduced their one-on-one conversations with personal or social circles. An article published in the European Journal of Training and Development in 2021 infers that Gen Zers prefer to have workplace engagements on virtual platforms than personal conversations in the office. Besides, the virtual platforms and lifestyle patterns have irreversible conditioning on Gen Zers’ values, beliefs, and ethics.

Gen Zers at work

Some of the studies imply that Gen Zers may be an asset to an organisation due to their sophisticated competencies. However, fortune comes with pre-existing terms and conditions. The corporate corridors may require new floor rules to drive these champions. The managers must know the triggers through which they can propel workplace productivity.

Work martyrs: A story published in the New York Times said that the title work martyrs are conferred on Gen Z due to their obsessive workplace engagements and they are aggressive in workplace delegation. Malcolm Harris in Harvard Business Review opines that the millennials were not as aggressive as Gen Z and were more servile. Gen Zers display significant citizenship behaviours at their workplace on the condition that they are not micromanaged.

Communaholics: Gen Zers strive to build a nexus of virtual and real-world relationships and prefer to have friends beyond their social or economic boundaries. A recent survey published in Forbes infers that Gen Zers prefer to work in organizations that exhibit high levels of community service, and their community concern is adorable.

Dialoguer: Gen Zers prefer to avoid conflicts at the workplace as they do not find any value in irrational and unproductive engagements. Another McKinsey report from 2021 portrays this generation as an Apostle of Universalism, and they live the truth of accepting workplace diversity. They believe in solving workplace conflicts with mutual respect and discussion rather than carrying forward wounded emotions.

Flexible and realistic: Gen X and Gen Y (Millennials) have branded Gen Zers as frivolous having no purpose in life. However, the study published in Forbes infers that this generation is more flexible in terms of workplace behaviours. Millennials were more career-oriented, but Gen Zers have been living multiple realities with diversified dreams. However, they exhibit serious concerns about financial stability.

It is time to redefine organisational practices and learn to embrace and celebrate the beauty in Gen Zers and make way for the flow of new and rejuvenating ideas and beliefs.

(The author is a behavioural science

professor, MAHE, Bengaluru)