The world has changed. Have the workplaces changed?

My son wears a nose ring. His arms are tattooed, and he carries the tattoos proudly. Rings embrace all the ten fingers of a colleague in my office. Another friend of mine colors her hair shockingly green and goes to work every day. Someone else whom I am close to works for a startup and his daily dress code is tattered jeans and flip flops.

This is the world of today. The world of Generation Z (Gen Zer), people born from 1995 to 2010.

Generation Z, according to Stanford scholar Roberta Katz is ‘the first generation never to know the world without the internet, value diversity and find their own unique identities.’

Katz further explains, ‘A typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership, and, while dismayed about inherited issues like climate change, has a pragmatic attitude about the work that has to be done to address those issues.’

Gen Zer and the workplace

With the world changed due to Covid and a new generation around, are the workplaces geared up to accept Gen Zer employees?

Let us take the embracing of unique identities. Universally, organizations are now more inclusive and welcoming towards the LGBTQIA communities and enabling them with a safe work environment. This is a generation that is passionate about its identity. And guess what, they are comfortable with having multiple identities. They do not believe in defining themselves in only one way. Stereotyping is boring for them. They believe in experimenting with different ways of being themselves.

Herein lies the challenge for organisations. While they may put in policies propagating inclusiveness, lot of work still needs to be done when it comes to sensitising employees to accept diverse people and make them feel safe and accepted. I know a colleague who stopped braiding his hair because he felt all eyes were on him in the office. Another friend changed her dress sense completely – the awkward glances of her colleagues were making her feel distinctly uncomfortable. It was either adapt or leave. With Gen Zer, organisations now have to grapple with ‘undefined ID’.

The other distinct feature that sets Gen Zer apart from the millennials is their razor-sharp focus on their own priorities and mental wellbeing. A big fat salary is no longer lucrative if the work culture is rumored to be toxic. This generation is open about mental health and seeks out an ecosystem that fosters overall wellbeing. Organisations need to design challenging jobs that will fuel this generation to stay and give their best. Gen Zer would rather take a less paying job but that is far more interesting versus a good paying but boring job.

Ethics play an important role for Gen Zer. This shows up in the causes they support and believe in. They have no hesitation in giving up allegiance towards their organisation if they think that the brand does not support their values and ethics. Organisations will therefore need to recalibrate their brands, products and positioning.

Finally, this generation is all about technology and digital. At ease with work from home and flexible working hours, they also cherish in person dialogues and conversations. Time bound work hours finds no place in their life. They are more realistic and pragmatic about life and what it holds for them. This is the generation that is at ease with an Uber or Ola and not keen on having a driving license and/or owning a car. Tide up with this pragmatism is the cause of climate change that is also very close to their heart.

Organizations would do well to make relevant and pertinent changes to harness the potential of Gen Zer and become more inclusive, ethical, digital and flexible.

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Sarita Bahl

Sarita Bahl is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Swedish Institute of Management Program. An experienced and versatile leader, she comes with nearly four decades of professional experience. She has over the years successfully overseen the communications and public affairs function and led the corporate social responsibility strategy for Bayer South Asia, Pfizer, and Monsanto, among others. Sarita has held multiple roles across diverse industries, the public sector, trade associations, MNCs, and the not-for-profit sector. Her areas of interest include advocacy, stakeholder engagement, sustainability, and communications.

As an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and Senior Practitioner (Mentoring) from the European Council of Mentoring and Coaching (EMCC), Sarita specializes in career transition, inner engineering and life issues. Sarita enjoys writing and is passionate about animals, books, and movies.