They are too relaxed, have fun and are only interested in the salary: these are the pivotal experiences of employers regarding Generation Z, i.e. today's 10- and 20-year-olds.
They still have to be attracted to the labor market somehow.
The Diakónia Foundation of Sepsiszentgyörgy organized a training entitled Open Mind - Generation Z and workplace turnover for institution managers, HR managers, interested parents and teachers to discuss how to build a bridge between Generation Z and Generation X of employers.
Torma Vera, the director of Diakónia's children and family support department, welcomed the attendees as a personality developer at the Friday training held at the Írisz Ház. As he said, he himself was often looking for reliable and devoted colleagues; he also talked about the fact that the foundation also helps young people who have graduated from vocational high school find a job, and often negotiates with employers.
His colleague, trainer Andrea Nagy, helps him find and train future colleagues, and at Friday's event he was tasked with
present the generations on the current labor market, i.e. the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, the next generations X, Y, Z (followed by the alpha generation, the generation of today's children).
Different worldviews
Depending on the situation in which they were born, as a result of their lived experiences and social changes, these age groups, which can be separated into fifteen years, have very different worldviews and characteristics:
the baby boomers are the employers currently in a strong position of power, who do not really want to let this power and control out of their hands.
They are the ones who allowed their children to manipulate them and in whose personality development audio-visual devices were not yet important. Boomers brought up in the Prussian school system are digitally illiterate, while today's fifties, generation X of the regime change, are already technology-oriented and have learned to use digital tools. Generation researcher Krisztián Steigervald, who has written several books on this topic, characterizes them as careerists. Compared to them, the self-centered Generation Y who grew up on the Walkman (portable music player) are quite late workers, but they are creative, innovative, and at the same time undisciplined.
Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2009, who grew up on the Internet, talk back to teachers, but
they are alienated from too much online activity and have difficulties with real communication, and their long-term memory is very poor. However, their self-confidence and sense of justice are strong.
Adults are critical, but they also admire Generation Z
After the presentation, Torma Vera asked three present (company) managers to answer quick questions about their experiences with Generation Z. Zoltán Demeter, the production director of the Chocopack chocolate factory in Sepsiszentgyörgy, Tilla Beder, the owner of the employment agency Tilla Connexion in Kovászna, and Péter Makkai, the director of Írisz Ház, the initiator of several innovative Trioszé social services (home care, employment of adults with disabilities) complied with the request.
Among other things, we learned from them that
they are best covered when a generation Z forgets two out of three things during the job interview, because he is actually less interested in the job opportunity, he only left because he was "sent"
or his first question concerns the salary, or he might leave the workplace he doesn't like so casually that he doesn't even inform his boss about it.
In relation to influencers, the interviewees belonging to the Y and X generations admitted that they actually have admiration and "holy envy" for them, because they can build a large following in a short time, and at the same time, they take advantage of the opportunity to use their influence for a good cause, for charity. You can have a good conversation with these young people about digitization (you just need to know how to ask) and they can contribute to the development of the company in related activities, and being in a digital home can make them flexible and learnable. Their virtue is that
they can bring momentum and freshness to the operation of the company.
Labeling removes people, warned Andrea Nagy, following sociologist György Csepeli. For this reason, Torma Vera also asked how and with what tools it is possible to bring the generations together in a workplace, as almost every company or organization manager has to deal with this.
In this regard, Zoltán Demeter remarked that there are differences even within a generation, but they can be bridged with a lot of personal conversations. This was agreed by Tilla Beder and Simon Edith, the principals of the Áron Berde Vocational School of Economics and Public Administration in Sepsiszentgyörgy, who together with their colleagues build the bridge to the students, Generation Z, on a daily basis. The high school students present themselves testified about how they could contribute to the operation of a company: volunteer work, team management, creativity, image building in the digital world, flexibility.
In the end, the participants reached a consensus in two working groups regarding what makes generation X and Y feel good in a workplace, and the protagonists, the students of generation Z, said that
fulfillment, stability, "belonging to a big family", flexible program and good salary can keep them from emigrating.
