Career development: Getting Gen Z employees off on the right foot during a pandemic

The COVID pandemic dealt a fatal blow to the traditional view of the 9-5 office job. After two years, companies are just starting to develop a solid foundation for what the new paradigm of work will look like. Workers of all generations are also finding their place in this new order (or opting to pursue alternatives), but some might have a more difficult time than others.

Gen Z in particular, lacking the support systems and wisdom of their more experienced counterparts, may be more vulnerable to feeling lost in the new world of work. Employers looking not only to engage the newest generation of workers but to cultivate and nurture their skills will need to very intentional about their company policies and culture.

Joe Du Bey, CEO and co-founder of Eden Workplace, recently shared with BenefitsPRO some thoughts on what employers can do to foster the next generation of workers.

What do companies need to keep in mind when supporting their younger (Gen Z), remote workers?

Companies need to remember that Gen Z is far more holistic in their work identities than past generations and expect their companies to offer not just fertile ground for professional success, but also personal growth and societal impact.

While previous generations were more comfortable separating work from personal life, Gen Z wants to work somewhere that allows them to express themselves fully, from discussing issues of social justice to pursuing avenues for volunteering.

One way that companies can help create an environment for Gen Z to thrive is by allocating time for employees to come together to discuss key items such as diversity, equity and inclusion in a safe environment.

How can companies show their support from the get-go, especially for workers going through training, introduction, mentorships, etc. remotely?

It is still possible to build strong rapport during virtual onboarding, especially for Gen Z employees that may be experiencing the onboarding process for the very first time. Key tips to do so include: having a very structured onboarding plan, a friendly welcome guide to the company that starts with a letter from the CEO, a new hire buddy system where each new team member is assigned one or two colleagues throughout the organization to serve as a go-to and introductory connection during their first few weeks, and weekly 1:1 meetings with a manager.

What policies, nuances and/or plans can companies implement to ensure young workers are thriving both in the office and remotely?

Young workers crave flexibility to work from home as well as an office setting. This can confuse employers, who end up choosing a policy that is too far on one side or the other and doesn’t take into account their employees’ preferences. According to Eden Workplace’s data, while 90% of Gen Z employees want their employer to grant them access to an office, a majority still want to work from home at least one day each week.

With this in mind, what is most critical for employers is to implement a hybrid work policy that provides flexibility above all and, ideally, access to an office. Other key tips include implementing people operations software that surveys employee sentiment to monitor the happiness of your team. This will also notify you of issues before they snowball into a regretted attrition.

What can companies do to encourage employee relationship building and co-worker support while in a hybrid work setting? What happens if young workers don’t have this sense of “friendship” in the office?

Companies can help build community in a remote or hybrid setting, though it can be more challenging than in an in-person environment.

Key paths for success include a buddy system for new hires that can be both on their team as well as in different parts of the company, a randomized “coffee chat” system that enables people to opt in to Zoom coffees with various team members each week. Additionally, weekly 1:1 meetings with a manager, team meetings with icebreakers, periodic local meetups for locally-based employees, and at least annual full team retreats where folks can spend time in-person will build community and lead to overall company success.

There is a common expression in the world of HR: “employees join companies, but leave managers.” I think this can be expanded past managers to “leave their team.” Building a healthy relationship with a manager is key, but friendship with colleagues is also essential for employees to build a fulfilling relationship with work and remain at an organization long term. If you do not foster relationships at work, you create a transactional environment, and your team will leave for a place where they can find meaning.

What do companies need to watch out for in young employees as we enter a third pandemic year?

While COVID vaccines have provided an atmosphere of greater normalcy, we are still in challenging times, so companies need to keep talking about mental health and providing resources for their teams. Organizations should remember that networking and community-building is especially important for their youngest workers, who are often in major periods of transition in their lives. Some may live alone, while others are in shared spaces with roommates or their families. In other cases, these younger employees have moved somewhere new and may have few roots to this place of residence. Fostering a community, ideally in-person, is not only going to help these younger team members, but it will also create goodwill within the company.

It’s also important to remember that for many Gen Zers in the workplace, remote work in the COVID-19 era is all they know –– and the office is unfamiliar territory. Companies planning to return to the office in 2022 will likely need to figure out ways to orient this younger generation of workers, many of whom graduated college and went straight into remote work, to an office environment. Training on office protocol, in-person meeting etiquette and how to work productively around others in open office settings are all factors to consider building into return-to-office plans.