It seems like the workforce was just introduced to Millennials – how can Generation Z already be bursting through the seams? Millennials are no longer the youngest generation in the workforce, Gen Z is; those born between the years 1995-2010. By 2020, Gen Z will account for over 20% of the workforce. With Gen Z getting ready to be the forefront of the business world, as clients and employees, it’s better to get a head start to make your company Gen Z-friendly while the oldest members are just now graduating college. Over the next few weeks, I will be discussing why it’s time to start caring about Gen Z, how to get Gen Z’s attention and keep them interested as clients, and what Gen Z is looking for in future employers.
Gen X raised millennials to practice their free speech and to think outside the box. To travel as much as possible and settle down later in life. Gen Z is acting more like Gen X, driven to work extremely hard from the beginning, going straight from their college graduation to an entry level job. You may have more in common with Gen Z than was originally thought. 77% of Gen Z believe that they need to work harder compared to those generations before them in order to have a fulfilling and successful professional career. This hunger to succeed is what will separate this generation from anybody else.
Gen Z has grown up in an extremely advanced technology world around them as opposed to millennials. Millennials grew up with the up and coming technology, watching phones go from bricks on the wall to weighing less than a television remote. Gen Z can multitask unlike any generation before because they have grown up having to learn how to multitask using different types of software and technology. They’ve always lived in a connected world, being able to switch from app to app, task to task without so much as a twitch. This multitasking stimulus comes naturally to those in Gen Z and will benefit them in the workforce, allowing them to be able to stay on task and move to different responsibilities seamlessly. While millennials want a job that they are passionate about, Gen Z finds a higher significance in being in a position that offers them more than happiness, job security and offering a competitive environment. Challenge them and use their tech-savvy brains to help make the most of your practice.
Your Gen Z clients won’t need you to walk them through how these different software platforms work, they will need you to offer a genuine advising role. They will have easy access to information on how to import data, keeping track of spending/costs and how to use all of these add-on apps to make their business accounts easy to use, but they will need help analyzing this data and what this means for their businesses. They may be young – but they get how technology works and they learn quickly. Offer your services to help them understand at a deeper level, something they can’t watch on YouTube.
The bottom line is, Gen Z is here and here to stay, it’s time to get ahead of the curve. Learning what exactly they are all about and how to shape your growing enterprise to accommodate this up and coming generation will only further your chances of continuing to grow your practice.
Annie Macklin
Author Bio: Annie Macklin is a senior at the University of Alabama, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies and a minor in Criminal Justice in May 2019. She was a Student Ambassador for Panhellenic Recruitment (Sigma Rho Chi), a volunteer for the B+ Foundation, a nonprofit that helps children with cancer, and a current member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority; all while being on the Dean’s List at Alabama. Annie is currently an intern for Insightful Accountant.