Managing Gen Z in the Workplace: 9 Strategies (Part 3)

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Nine Strategies to Help You Manage Generation Z. That's what we're looking at in this series of podcasts. In the first cast, part one, we talked about general characteristics of this generation. In the second cast, we started taking a look at the first three strategies to help you manage them. And today we're going to look at several more. Number four in this list is to establish purpose-driven progression paths. Establish purpose-driven progression paths. So Gen Z desires a roadmap for growth.

They're ambitious. They're future-focused. And so they want to see where they're going in your organization. In fact, research shows that 65% of Gen Z is eager for career growth and professional development. They seek clarity on the skills that they're going to need to advance through the organization. They like to have definitions of success, and they want to see potential career trajectories, where they potentially could go.

And they don't want to just see one path. They like to see multiple ones, if that's available. Providing structured development plans and discussing career paths early and regularly reinforces this need of purpose and investment in that generation. Leaders who work with their teams to identify visible and attainable growth opportunities will provide both better performance and much better retention if they pay attention to this particular strategy. Okay.

Number five, hold regular check-ins. This is going to come as no surprise to many of you who listen to me. This is just common sense from a management standpoint. Gen Z values ongoing two-way dialogue.

Much more than they value infrequent performance reviews. That's just not going to work for Gen Z. So short, consistent check-ins like weekly one-on-ones allow you to offer them real-time feedback, recognize their achievements, if they made any substantial ones, and what impact they had on the organization that week, and to make timely course corrections if you see them moving away from being maximally productive.

These conversations reinforce that leadership is truly invested in their growth and development while simultaneously showing that leaders are open to the new ideas that they bring to the table. So regular touch points enhance clarity, support accountability, and deepen the sense of connection between employees and leaders. So that's number five, hold regular check-ins.

Hold regular one-on-ones, weekly or bi-weekly at the most. Number six, prioritize autonomy, trust, and accountability. So this generation seeks autonomy in how they approach their work, but they also expect a strong foundation of accountability as well. Leaders should clearly define the what and the why while giving employees the freedom to determine the how. Let them determine how they're going to get there as long as you've told them

what to do and given them a sense of the why behind it. Note that both autonomy and accountability hinge on the high level of trust. I mean, trust is very essential. That's where holding regular one-on-ones will help you develop that trust and rapport that's so vital and essential here. When extended thoughtfully, it encourages ownership and innovation. But autonomy must be accompanied by clear expectations, by follow-through, and by consistent standards.

A high trust, high accountability environment will foster confidence, discipline, and very strong performance out of this generation. At a time in which Gen Z lacks trust in most institutions, leaders can make a major difference here for this group that generally finds authority figures to be, quote, sus. Now, that's Gen Z speak for suspicious or suspect. We can help them by finding opportunities to demonstrate and to extend trust.

So again, they have kind of this natural inclination to not trust authority. As managers, we can help them get over that. And by doing so, we'll greatly improve our ability to manage them well. So whether you're keeping commitments, practicing active listening, clarifying expectations. Being accountable for your own results, or just showing that your faith in the team's abilities, you can more readily build trust that Gen Z needs to come into their own at work.

So the last strategy we'll tackle today in this cast is to facilitate collaborative environments. So number seven, facilitate collaborative environments. Gen Z thrives in collaborative, team-oriented settings where new ideas are encouraged and innovation is a shared responsibility. They're energized by environments that emphasize connection and collective problem solving and are generally drawn to environments that aren't really limited by hierarchical structures.

You probably heard a lot about flat organizations over the last 10, 15 years, the flatter the organization, the more likely Gen Z is going to feel like they fit in. So while it's important for leaders to set realistic expectations about their organizational structure, they can foster collaboration by supporting project-based teamwork. Cross-functional teams, creating open communication channels, and involving employees in decision-making when possible.

When Gen Z feels like their voice matters and their input shapes outcomes. They're more invested, they're more creative, and they're more committed to team success. And of course, any talk about collaborative environments coming from the Franklin Covey organization, you're obviously going to hear a lot about the seven habits, especially habits four, five, and six, which are the collaborative, other-oriented habits, right?

First three habits or intrapersonal things that you can do yourself that, The next three, four, five, and six, are things that you do with others. And so habit four, thinking win-win, that's the principle of abundance. That principle which says that there's enough for everyone that everyone can win. You don't have to look at anything through a naturally competitive lens that all of us can really grow and develop.

And there's enough of that to go around for all people. And if we have a growth mindset versus a scarcity mindset, then we're much more likely to be able to do that. Habit five is seek first to understand, then to be understood. So anytime that we listen really, really well, we're setting the groundwork for them to be able to listen really well when we then need to be understood. Very, very key to a constructive, collaborative environment.

And then finally, to synergize is really the principle of creative collaboration, which allows team members to leverage different perspectives on the team to solve problems and to innovate and to achieve more together than any one of us can do alone. Learning to synergize requires team members to build on the habits that come before to create situations where everyone can hear, understand, ideate, and ultimately win.

Okay, that's it for this cast. In the next one, we'll finish up the last two strategies, and then we'll close this great series on how to manage Generation Z. And until next time we meet in the Manager Lab, do good work. Thank you.