For Generation Z, the online world is their natural environment. Respondents rate their ability to navigate the Internet (50%) and the freedom to use new technologies (40%) as the highest.
According to experts, thanks to these competences, the youngest generation not only adapts to companies, but also actively creates the organizational culture, instead of just adapting to existing norms. They contribute to teams high professional mobility, creativity and natural ability to quickly process information.
However, it is technologies and communication style that are one of the main sources of misunderstandings between generations.
Flashpoints: hierarchy and time organization
Despite a generally good assessment of cooperation (81 percent positive opinions), the everyday coexistence of different generations creates friction. Until 74 percent respondents witnessed tensions resulting from intergenerational differences. The most demanding areas include:
- Organization of working time (33%).
- Approach to hierarchy and authority (29%)
- Financial expectations (27%)
The issue of “claims” also remains an important element of the dispute. It is indicated by 25 percent. respondents, although younger employees usually emphasize that they want clear rules of cooperation, regular feedback and a clear development path. In practice, this is often the case a dispute about labor standards, not about the attitude of Generation Z.
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Loyalty is in question
There are also doubts about long-term commitment. 56 percent respondents do not believe that representatives of Generation Z are capable of long-term work in one company, and 25 percent calls younger employees downright disloyal.
However, for Generation Z, loyalty is becoming more and more common conditional — depends on the meaning of the tasks performed, development opportunities and the quality of relationships. TThe shift in emphasis is part of broader changes in the labor market, where a sense of influence and transparency are becoming more important.
The clash of two work models
The collected data shows that tensions around Generation Z are systemic. They concern not only individual differences, but also different approaches to issues such as hierarchy, work organization or communication.
In this context, the presence of younger employees highlights broader changes taking place in the labor market, including the greater importance of transparency, partnership relations and clearly defined principles of cooperation.
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A task for employers
The study identifies a set of actions that reduce intergenerational tensions. The most important are:
- clearly described communication rules,
- mentoring and implementation support,
- precisely defined roles and responsibilities.
It is not fitting into one generation that is the challenge, but organizing work processes and standards in a way that is understandable to everyone.
Generation Z in the workplace turns out to be much more complex than memes and social media comments suggest. The data also shows a high level of satisfaction with cooperation and clearly defined areas of conflict.
In practice, it is not Zetki that are revolutionizing the labor market – only they they accelerate changes that were inevitable anyway.
