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HR Party of One is brought to you by BerniePortal.

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It’s them—the enemy. Or so some people may believe—but just like other generations,

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Generation Z has much to add to your organization. However, they may require

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more preparation to coach effectively. Gen Z is the term for the people born roughly

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between 1997 and 2012. Some common images of Gen Z are teens glued to their phones, scrolling

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social media. Or how the word ‘viral’ became commonplace and the rise of ‘influencers.’

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That’s how many people think of Gen Z. While every generation has its perceptions,

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Gen Z is significant to you because, pretty soon, they may make up the vast majority of

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your candidates. This generation is bringing change full force to the way

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companies function, from recruitment to offboarding. But they aren’t the enemy,

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even though I, too, want to say “Get off my lawn!” to them sometimes.

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You might be thinking… but aren’t you Gen Z? I am! But I’m in HR. So,

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my approach considers business needs and what people my age think about their employers. While

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my experiences are different from the norm, I had my own struggles adapting to full-time work. This

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helps me coach Gen Zers in my own organization. I’ll also include some recognized experts in this

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conversation so what you learn today is backed up by the stats and experiences of others.

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So in this episode, let’s cover:

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What to Know About the Newest Generation in the Workforce;

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Does Gen Z Have Unrealistic Expectations?; and, How to Coach Gen Z Effectively;

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Let’s get started!

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What to Know About the Newest Generation in the Workforce.

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Did you know Gen Z will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025? And according to Deloitte,

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Gen Z accounts for 1/4th of America’s population.

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This is a massive set of people at 69.5 million. And they have very little in

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common with the Millenials that preceded them. Gen Zers don’t remember life before 9/11—they’ve

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always taken their shoes off in airports. They never used typewriters and likely didn’t have

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to learn cursive. Devices with flat, black screens are their technology wheelhouse.

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Gen Z does not know life without the internet. The World Wide Web and its

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billions of data points are commonplace to my generation. I’m on the older side of Gen Z,

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so I can remember when WiFi wasn’t pervasive, but now you can access city WiFi in parks.

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Someone here at BerniePortal taught freshman English at a major university,

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and she described how many students use libraries as social study spaces and not for research. The

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school’s entire catalog, for the most part, plus tens of thousands of other resources,

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are all available in an online database. She didn’t teach the Dewey Decimal System—she taught

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her students how to identify trustworthy sources online. And she’s Gen Z, too!

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This group is notable because they are the first digitally native generation. They pick

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up tech quickly, and may teach others in your org a thing or two. That’s a great benefit,

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and I’ll get into how to take advantage of it

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later. But their native understanding of technology doesn’t come without a cost.

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Due to increasing automation and self-development opportunities available at their fingertips,

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Gen Zers don’t hold much stock in the traditional entry-level position. They

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expect to enter the workforce at a higher rung than the bottom of the ladder. This is

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the most educated generation; it is also the generation with the most education debt. So,

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the stakes are high for them and employers.

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HR should get ready to face some unrealistic expectations. For the “generation Zoom” kids,

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life is very different from what it was like ten years ago—or even last year.

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Does Gen Z Have Unrealistic Expectations? Some of Gen Z’s assumptions about working

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are very different from what they will, or are, experiencing. However, that doesn’t mean they are

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all unrealistic. HR pros should note that those expectations aren’t from thin air—they are born

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of what Gen Z experienced during an incredibly tumultuous time. So, when considering some of

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the things a 23-year-old asks about or does, place it within the context of their history

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so you can more effectively coach them to a point of mutual understanding.

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I mean, think about it: the entire world shut down. Life continued, but it was virtual. We wore

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pajamas to meetings. Some college lectures didn’t even require your camera to be on. This casual,

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relaxed approach made an impact that some people struggle to move past.

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Many in my cohort anticipated remote learning becoming remote work. However, that is far from

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the case. In fact, most major corporations are well into their return-to-office plans.

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Used to the flexibility of online classes, Gen Z doesn’t always understand the insistence on

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being in-person every day. Many don’t know what they’re missing. In-person collaboration

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was imitated with virtual meetings, but it falls short of the real thing.

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One interesting point is that while Gen Z prefers flexibility, they also want to pursue higher

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salaries and upward mobility. For new employees, meeting others and identifying ways to utilize

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different teams' and leaders' experience and insight are key to growth. While this is possible

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to do online to a degree, in person collaboration is much easier when people are in the same office.

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While Gen Z doesn’t think highly of the entry-level role, it’s important to ensure

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Gen Z employees understand that entry-level is not a title but a measure of experience.

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And experience is earned—you can’t discount experience even if the talent is exceptional.

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Gaining experience, and thus recognition and upward movement,

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often depends on key social factors for many industries.

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What Did Gen Z Miss Out On? High school and college are uniquely

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designed environments. Education experts carefully consider the developing brains

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of people in those age groups and build class etiquette requirements, workloads,

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schedules, and more to impart a different kind of education. So when life unexpectedly moved online,

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Gen Z missed much of the learning intended to prepare them for the adult world.

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All of them spent formative years interacting with their peers through a screen only,

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and we won’t know the long term effects of that for a while yet. They missed out on

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vital experiences, like team sports, clubs, and adapting to the routine where personal

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responsibility is critical to success. So, knowing about that information gap

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is vital to coaching the Gen Zers in your organization. Let’s cover that in more depth.

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How to Coach Gen Z Effectively

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Someone’s struggle is your opportunity to coach them to be more successful.

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Employers around the nation have noticed is that Gen Z doesn’t have an innate

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sense of the ‘rules of engagement’ in a professional setting. For example:

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When and how to interrupt others. Instant messaging garners an instant response most

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of the time, so given the opportunity to get an even faster answer, Gen Zers tend

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to approach someone at their work station. That’s fine to do, and encouraging to see

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employees interacting and working well together, but some Gen Zers have yet to

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adapt to the art of interrupting others correctly. There is a way to do it!

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Appropriate noise levels for an office environment. Some people play music,

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talk loudly, call out to colleagues with questions—and wow, I want to ‘shush!’ them

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like an old-school librarian. When you can mute yourself in an online class, you lose track of

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how loud you can be. I WANT open collaboration! But they can do it more effectively by walking

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to each other’s desks rather than yelling across the room when I am handling tricky AR cases.

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Attentive listening in meetings. I hate to rag on my own generation, but the data doesn’t lie:

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Gen Z struggles to pay attention. I see people fidgeting, moving to check their phones, doodling,

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and on and on. It isn’t intended to be rude, but the fact of the matter is that it often is.

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So, how can you reframe these struggles as opportunities? Here’s how I instruct managers

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on coaching their Gen Z team members: Struggling with interrupting? We include

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language in our Culture Guide, which everyone reads, that informs new hires on preferred

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communication methods. They can read it whenever they question something by opening it in our

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compliance feature. This cuts down on non-urgent issues halting someone’s productive time. Also,

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it helps ease new hires into the professional environment by laying out what to say,

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how to say it, and when to say it. I also encourage managers to cover examples. Think:

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Anna is typing an email at her desk. Mary sent a message with an urgent

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question, but it’s been 15 minutes, and Anna has yet to see it. So, knowing the topic is

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important to a project and seeing that Anna is typing an email and not meeting with someone,

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Mary approaches Anna’s desk and asks, “Hey, can I interrupt you for a second?”

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Perfect execution. 10/10 necessary interruption. Mary identified Anna’s current task, measured it

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against the urgency of her question, and attempted to first message her before interrupting. The

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situation isn’t always so clear-cut, but this example lays out the framework for how people

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should decide to interrupt someone working. This framework also develops a pathway for

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critical thinking. How do employees balance their needs against the time of other individuals? The

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answer to that question is key to success. Struggling with noise levels? Set expectations

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on Day 1. A strong onboarding process should reveal to new hires what other teams do daily.

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Affirm the need for respectful cognizance of other individuals who may be taking calls or

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discussing important matters. If someone tends to get loud on a call, walk them through the

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process of reserving private meeting space so they can preserve their rapport with clients

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while minimizing distractions. If someone is still struggling,

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approach them directly to discuss the issue. -Struggling with inattentive attendees? Being

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productive in a meeting isn’t necessarily an innate skill, and teaching others in your org

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how to do is beneficial. For Gen Z, whose spent time working more independently due

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to the online nature of the pandemic, may be unused to a different meeting environment.

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Spend some time adding a new chapter to your onboarding process: how to set, run,

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and attend meetings that achieve your goals. Reframe meetings as an action

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that promotes organizational success. At BerniePortal, I ensure managers guide

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team members in creating an agenda for a meeting, send it to the invited parties,

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and follow up with a summary. Everyone is aware of the next steps, interesting points, and assigned

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responsibilities. It might be useful to request a Gen Zer to be the notetaker for a meeting to

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provide a goal for their listening to achieve. When someone is new, they can practice attentive

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listening in a small-scale environment in their performance management feature. Direct reports

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send an agenda for their weekly meetings with their manager, and the manager responds

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with their own agenda. Afterward, the direct report recaps the meeting so the manager can

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check that they effectively summarize their time and understand what was discussed.

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Really, I encourage all levels of management to do this with your direct reports, regardless

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of tenure. It’s a great way to track goals and improve performance. I’ll include a resource on

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optimal meeting strategies in the description. While there are challenges to coaching Gen Z,

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there are some great benefits to hiring on the newest workforce members. We have

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mentioned some of these benefits, but let’s recap and share a few more:

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Native tech users: Gen Z grew up on technology and expects rapid-pace advancements. They also

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have much more familiarity with AI, and considering how much artificial

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intelligence impacts the world today, that’s a massive bonus to hiring this generation.

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-Fresh ideas and perspectives: Gen Z is the most diverse generation yet,

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and they approach their roles with creative solutions born from their backgrounds.

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Adaptable outlooks: due to the way the world has changed,

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Gen Z has learned how to adapt quickly to new challenges.

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Gen Z has much to add to an organization. Their native understanding of technology,

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ability to teach themselves using resources, and interest in collaboration make them great

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employees. But, like every other generation, there are certain approaches you may need to

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curate to recruit and manage Gen Zers effectively. Remember—your role is as strategic as you make it!

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That’s it for this episode! Subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to

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get notifications about our newest episodes,

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which are released every Tuesday and Thursday! As always, thanks for watching.