How To Attract Gen Z Talent: 4 Things That Matter to Young People In The Workplace

By Helen Wada with Georgia Prichard

For the latest episode of Human Wise, I sat down with Georgia Prichard, Civil Liberties paralegal. Georgia recently passed the LPC (Legal Practice Course) with a distinction.

In our exploration of what it means to be human at work, we must consider generational differences. And with Gen Z coming into the workplace, how might they influence the corporate world many of us have known for decades? What will they expect from businesses? And how can employers attract – and retain – the talent of this generation? 

I thought it best to hear from someone on the ground directly: a young person coming into the workplace, just starting out on their career journey.

Here’s what I learned from Georgia about how Gen Z are shaping the working world, what matters to them, and how we can attract young talent into our businesses.

An insider view: what employers need to know about Gen Z

1 – The power of mentors 

Contrary to popular narratives, Gen Z are not afraid of hard work. They just need the right guidance, mentorship and engagement if they are to build trust and commitment. They value a strong work culture and seek to build careers with trusted advisers and sounding boards that allow them to ask “why?” and “how?” when learning new skills or processes.

Georgia: “The kind of relationship that I would want…is the student/teacher mentor relationship... In my experience so far it has been hard to find and you can get so much from that.”

In fact, Adobe surveyed over 1,000 Gen Z employees with over three years work experience, and found that “83 per cent said mentorship is crucial for their development, but only 52 per cent reported having a mentor.” Furthermore, 48 per cent of respondents said they “wanted more training on the hard skills related to the job.”

2 – They value work-life balance

Hybrid and flexible working is attractive to younger generations. As the above point shows, this generation prioritises learning and being a part of a team – they’ll go where the learning, collaboration, stimulation, and mentorship is.

A survey by Axios offers support to this theory, finding that “when asked what they’ll miss out on if continuing to work remotely, 74 per cent  of young people said the office community, and 41 per cent  said mentoring.”

In fact, a recent survey also found that Gen Z had the lowest percentage of respondents saying they’d prefer to work from home, with less than 29 per cent of Gen Z respondents choosing this option – the lowest percentage in any of the age groups surveyed.

The point is, Gen Z values flexibility (this doesn’t mean remote working all of the time): according to a study by Deloitte, “75 per cent  of Gen Z respondents said they would prioritise a job with flexibility over one with a higher salary.” 

3 – Diversity and inclusion

Gen Z wants to be part of a workplace that has a diverse culture and that values the input of all people, regardless of age, experience or background. Gen Z looks for employers who recognise the unique perspective of their employees and encourage them to join in with discussions around strategy.

Georgia: “You want to have as many diverse people around the table because if you all have the same backgrounds, the conversation and the ideas and strategies that you're putting forward are going to become complacent.”

A survey by Monster found that “83 per cent  of Gen Z candidates said that a company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is important when choosing an employer.”

4 – The human experience

Gen Z values the human side of business. They want to get to know their employers and colleagues on a personal level. Of course, there are professional boundaries that they recognise, but there’s also an acknowledgement that developing these human relationships with the people we work with is the best way to build trust.

Georgia: “You have to know a person to be able to trust them. So it goes hand in hand with bringing that human experience into the workplace – it’s going to help develop trust.”

In a study by the Springtide Research Institute, which involved nearly 6,900 people, it was found that 73 per cent  of people surveyed said they are “motivated to do a better job when they feel that their supervisor cares about them.” In addition, 82 per cent  said they would “prefer to work under a boss who cares about them and can relate to them on issues beyond work.”

This proves that there is a business case for getting to know your employees on a personal level, and for acknowledging the fresh, modern perspective that young people can bring to a workplace.

As this dynamic generation enters the business world, the demand for mentorship, learning, and flexibility takes centre stage, underscoring the need for companies to adapt their business models to be more human in order to attract and retain Gen Z talent. 

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Episode 3 of Human Wise is available here.

For more information on Georgia, find her on LinkedIn.

Human Wise releases new episodes bi-weekly and is available on all major podcast platforms.