Meet Gen Z: How to reach them with new tools and new approaches

The Gen Z cohort of Americans, now coming into the workforce, have grown up in the digital age, which may be hard to relate to for older workers, but they also are highly collaborative and are driven to find purpose in their work.

This description of Gen Z was part of a webinar hosted by Travelers Institute, which sought to provide insight into the generation of workers who will be a big part of the workforce in coming years – and a generation that brokers will need to reach with new tools and new approaches.

“Meet Gen Z: Your Next Customer and Colleague,” explored the unique aspects of this generation (defined as Americans 10-25 years old), which has grown up in a world that is markedly different than that experienced by older generations such as baby boomers.

Technology is a key part of that generation’s development, but other factors, such as changing demographics, social upheaval, and a trend toward inclusiveness also played important parts in shaping these younger workers.

The goal: understanding, not judgment

Jacqui Heidelberger, assistant vice president of enterprise market research at Travelers, noted that we live in a time when American society often seems fractured and divided. But she added that every generation has its differences and should be understood as a product of circumstances over time.

“Just as the pace of technological change has accelerated, so too has the pace of cultural and social change,” Heidelberger noted. “And because of that, it’s getting harder and harder for us to rely on our own individual experiences to guide business strategy. And we are finding ourselves needing to be more and more empirical about it.”

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The biggest factor is technology, which has made interacting with the world a much different experience than it was for earlier generations.

“Their world is increasingly digital and virtual,” she said. “From the mundane to things that were seemingly impossible, more and more of Gen Z’s life is occurring in digital or virtual settings. Cashing a check, hailing a cab – Gen Z doesn’t know a time before this was done online.”

Technology has changed human interactions

Heidelberger pointed out that the use of technology is changing how people interact, and nowhere is that truer than with younger people. The digital and virtual world makes it possible for people to have not only digital interactions, but online group interactions. She pointed out that many younger people watch movies, sports, or even concerts together online, as a group.

This new world has shaped a generation that is very comfortable working collaboratively, the data suggests, and which does not have to be in geographic proximity to work together—an interesting development for brokers who might find their clients are comfortable meeting and working with them online rather than in person.

That same technology has broken down other barriers too, as younger people live in a world that is more diverse and less reliant on authority or other more traditional channels — they go to YouTube or Instagram to learn how to navigate daily problems, from home repair to researching work benefits.

Heidelberger noted that surveys showed 40% of younger people preferred to search Instagram or TikTok rather than Google for information.

“That’s a huge shift in a long established cultural norm in terms of where we go for information,” she said. “It can be very easy to write these off as silly distractions, but for a generation living an increasingly digital life these are incredibly impactful platforms where they can not only learn the latest TikTok dance but also learn about things like the stock market, managing debt, and even insurance.”

New generation, new attitudes

This lack of reliance on older channels of information is not only creating challenges with how to reach Gen Z, it results in a generation that is less likely to accept the status quo.

“Gen Z is growing up in a world where societal distrust is a crucial issue,” Heidelberger noted. “From a young age they have been inundated with stories about police brutality, mass shootings, the Me-Too movement. They are also more likely to be in a historically marginalized group — they are less white, and less gender conforming. They are more likely to have personally faced systems that have worked against them. All of this makes trust increasingly rare.”

For the business world in general, and for brokers specially, this means that trust has to be proactively earned, Heidelberger said. At the same time, the amount of upheaval and instability in their world means that Gen Z members are more cautious and risk averse.

In a related area, Heidelberg discussed the fact that younger workers want to find purpose in work—an impulse that drives not only Gen Z, but millennials as well.

“They want to do work that matters at their company. They want to know how and why their work is important,” she said. “It also means that they want to work at a company where the culture, day in and day out, aligns with their values. Things like diversity, equity and inclusion; individual expression and collaboration. These are ways they feel connected at work, which is another big part of how people find purpose at work.”