For HR professionals, Generation Z is a nightmare: they sign a work contract but never show up. "They don't even cancel," reports Sonja Schloemmer, managing partner of the consulting firm Schloemmer & Partner, which offers HR services, coaching, and training. "Z for Zombie" is also the first chapter heading in the book "Generation Z," where Christian Scholz, then a professor at Saarland University, first honored the generation born after 1995 entering the workforce. Like zombies, they would infect the older established generations in companies from Baby Boomers to Generation Y (see Box on page 64) with the Z-virus - thus changing the entire work culture.
To traditional HR managers and conservative leaders, Generation Z truly appears as a vision of horror. Their general attitude towards well-educated young professionals is critical: they are only partially fit for the traditional corporate world. Their tolerance for frustration is low, and they lack perseverance because their helicopter parents solved all their problems for them. Consultant and coach Benedikt Ahlfeld even warns twenty-somethings entering the workforce of an existential crisis - the Quarter-Life Crisis. Raised in a perfect social media world full of idealized and filtered images, shielded from competition and only exposed to positive feedback from education and parents, the harsh reality check in the job often comes as a shock. Ahlfeld says, "They are disappointed. But most do not communicate this because negative messages are taboo on social media. They believe it only happens to them because no one shares such experiences on Facebook. This leads to alienation and subsequently to burnout, depression, sick leave, and resignation."
For supervisors, it seems that critical feedback bounces off Generation Z. Many employers see them as disloyal and unreasonably demanding. "We leave this generation out," Schloemmer has heard from HR managers. Employers do not express this so directly in public. After all, there is a shortage of skilled workers, and they do not want to alienate the younger generation. "Young academics enter the application process with high expectations," says the recruitment manager of a local service conglomerate who prefers to remain unnamed. "Apparently, graduates at many educational institutions are led to believe that they are something special with their degree. They expect a red carpet, when what they really need is someone to bring them back to reality."
Are completely foreign worlds colliding here? Or is it just another young generation different from its predecessors, leading to the classic conflict between young and old?
According to the current student study by consulting and auditing firm EY, nine out of ten students in Germany expect to find a job quickly and easily. However, instead of focusing on their careers, they prioritize their personal lives. Family, friends, and leisure time hold a higher value than professional advancement and a good salary (see Box on page 69).
TRUST CRISIS
"They do not think for the company. What they do must make sense to them personally. Social projects or a Gap Year can fulfill this," says Schloemmer about the young generation. The trust crisis is not one-sided. The attributes of disloyalty, fickleness, and unreliability attributed to them only reflect the behavior of companies in the past. Ahlfeld adds, "They have seen that their parents were always reachable and available for work. And they saw that this did not bring them security during crises. That's why they insist on a clear separation between leisure and work." They are skeptical of promises made by companies. "They are the first generation that can really say no," Schloemmer notes. Generation Z does not find it necessary, for example, to work overtime for a car as a status symbol. "Perhaps they anticipate that they will work until they are 75 and that the old work style is not sustainable," she speculates, looking far into the future.
"Staying until the boss leaves is a thought that no longer exists today," says Lucanus Polagnoli, Partner at start-up investor Speedinvest, observing the change compared to his own generation. He is 39. "Seniority or a sense of obligation beyond one's own area is rare. What is explicitly demanded is what happens," he characterizes the younger employees. As a result, Speedinvest established Speedinvest Heroes, a company that helps young businesses change their processes to identify candidates who are determined and show initiative.
Indeed, there are such individuals who are willing to work very hard. However, they also want to shape their working conditions, as shown by the example of editor Helene Gahr, who reduced her working hours to be more productive (see profiles). Or software developer David Pichsenmeister, for whom the location of work is not important as long as the results are satisfactory. "You never work as hard as on projects you are truly passionate about, that genuinely interest you," says Iris Zajac, who transitioned from an auditing job to self-employment. At 36, Katharina Steppan is slightly older but a trendsetter for Generation Z in terms of mindset. Taking breaks is essential for all of them, even though a generation of bosses who worked their way up with evening meetings and weekend shifts may find this surprising.
MEANING AND CAREER
"It is almost essential to sometimes do nothing," says Speedinvest Partner Polagnoli. "However, the desire to be entrepreneurial is much more pronounced than before because the desire for freedom and self-determination is greater. Many young founders realize after a year or two that they are missing certain things and then bring in experienced managers to introduce 'old' virtues like processes or discipline," the start-up investor observes. To attract and retain these fickle young individuals, companies must convince them of the meaning of their work, a recurring theme in strategy and HR circles.
Under buzzwords like "Purpose" and "Why," many traditional organizations are currently engaged in intense discussions about purpose and mission. While this may be beneficial for the companies' own orientation, it may miss the mark on employee engagement - especially concerning Generation Z.
For them, the meaning of work does not necessarily relate to the company's purpose but rather to their personal values, individual life situations, and current needs. No matter how noble, good, and sustainable a company's purpose may be, personal needs ultimately take precedence.
These needs can indeed be career-oriented. Julia Zdrahal-Urbanek, Managing Partner at the executive search network AltoPartners, talks about the "Gen Zs" in her environment: "At their age, they are not yet executive search candidates, but they move with high speed and great motivation towards that. After graduating, they do not go on an Interrail trip for fun but engage in several 'meaningful' internships, for example, with a leading auditor in an international metropolis, then volunteer at an orphanage in a developing country, where they develop and implement a new drinking water supply concept, followed by various international study preparation courses or language exams."
Roland Falb, Managing Partner at the international strategy consultant Roland Berger, also finds the young generation similarly ambitious: "We do not observe laziness or lack of willingness to perform, as this generation is often accused of. On the contrary, we notice that the young generation is even more demanding in terms of agile work. The graduates who come to us want to work internationally, be challenged, and experience various industries and tasks early in their careers."
However, Falb also notes that the competition for these top talents has become much more international, and the consulting industry now has to compete with digital giants like Google as well as start-ups.
Yet, the pool of ambitious young individuals they are all fishing from is not expanding. The latest Integral study on Sinus youth milieus indicates that the growing future milieus among young people are not the ambitious "Performers" focused on traditional corporate careers and material success, but the more unconventional new elite of "Digital Individualists" (see Box on page 67). Another insight from this and previous studies suggests that it is becoming harder to find ambitious young professionals willing to take on expatriate assignments: while in 2001, 78% of young people in Austria could imagine living abroad for a while, by 2011, this number had dropped to 59% and in 2016, it was only 51%.
CULTURAL CHANGE
Regarding communication technology and culture, the young generation is likely to propel the working world of long-established companies into the 21st century. "The high level of professionalism with which they handle tools in their personal lives is characteristic," says Christoph Magnussen, founder of the digital consulting and cloud service partner Blackboat, supporting companies in digital transformation. Dealing with modern technologies and young people, he notes that outdated technologies are no longer accepted by the young at the workplace. Smartphones, cloud services, and open chat software are standard tools for them. They do not operate offline. This changes the culture, according to Magnussen: "Of course, questions arise about how to handle it when a younger person criticizes an older one in an open chat. But this dynamic is invaluable. Once Generation Z is involved, they change a company. It is challenging, but not bad."
For Beatrice Verdino, Managing Partner at the digital agency Asoluto, the change brought by the younger generations is already a reality: "Flexible working hours are normal for us. However, the organization
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