September 23, 2015
Are Gen Z workers ready to work in retail?
Retailers are already hiring many members of Gen Z (currently aged 19 years and younger) and some are wondering how the generation will fare as workers compared to preceding generations.
Ricoh, the maker of printers, said a global survey conducted by the company found that the stereotype of Gen Z as "overly demanding screen-swipers in search of instant gratification" is false.
The survey of over 3,300 from all four generations spanned 22 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The study found that Gen Z members have been "strongly shaped by their individualistic Generation X parents" while learning from their Boomer grandparents, as well as the errors and successes of Millennials. In particular, Gen Z’s digital prowess is expected to be an asset for hiring companies across business sectors.
Enterprise organizations stand to benefit from their "upbringing of ultra connectivity and collaboration" while Gen Z’s "constant demand for workstyle innovation" will help "vertical market players seeking globalization."
Source: Ricoh infographic – “The 4G Workplace”
The survey found 88 percent believed that having a workforce of different ages is an asset to a company.
On the downside, over a third (35 percent) of older employees expect workplace tensions to increase with the arrival of Generation Z at their companies. Fifty-two percent overall indicated employers were failing to meet the needs of different generations in the workplace.
Sixty-five percent agreed there are fundamental differences in how employees from each generation work. As an example, 77 percent of Boomers prefer face-to-face communication at work, but that drops to 58 percent for Gen Z. Meanwhile, 73 percent of Gen Z respondents believe their future employer will cater to their needs, opposed to only 48 percent of the other three generations.
"Trying to squeeze employees — particularly Gen Z — into the same traditional ways of working, and forcing them to use the same tools, simply will not work," said Mr. Mills.
BrainTrust
Ryan Mathews
Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What do you think Generation Z brings to the table as workers in retail? What adjustments may retailers need to make to help Gen Z succeed at jobs in stores and at headquarters?
Poll
Man, I tell you — I have been watching this Gen Z evolve over the past five years as people went nuts over the Millennials. This Gen Z group — the little kid of the family, the spoiled brat (my read) is in for a major shock, just as Millennials were when they found out that you do not just walk from college into a perfect job. Gen Zers are another type of creature. They were created by media — in all forms — but lots of YouTube, texting, and video games with headphone sets. As a retailer I would not hire many of them, except the ones that had decided to grow up — the ones that need a job and just do not expect a job.
Retailers need to take a hard look at where they need people and get the right person for the job — not modify the job and related tools to meet the demands of a generation that was created by media and weak parenting.
If retailers fall for this Gen Z group they will find that HR has a new meaning and will become the group that has to act as parents to this generation that was raised by electronics.
There will be some great, more mature Gen Zers that know the road to success. If you find one like that grab them and hold onto them — they are few and far between.
Let retail stand up to Gen Zers and not lower itself to meet this strange generation’s bizarre needs and demands.
Here’s an interesting hypothetical: Let’s assume — just for a moment — that a generation of professional workers (because we aren’t really talking about a generation, but rather just the privileged part of that cohort) saddled with massive student loan debt and anxious to move out of their parents’ home suddenly realizes that they need money to survive.
Now here’s an interesting hypothesis: They will adapt to the workplace and, to a far lesser extent, the workplace will adapt to them.
Oh … those Boomers … and their drugs, public nudity and promiscuous sex, anti-establishment attitudes, disregard for materialism, disrespect for property and authority, that long hair and those beards — hell, they probably will demand Grateful Dead music be broadcast 24 hours a day, the water cooler will be spiked with acid …
Well … you get the idea.
It is interesting how every generation manages to both somehow survive the dire forecasts of its predecessors and — in an exercise of historical and personal amnesia — declare themselves perfect and all subsequent generations inferior.
Folks work. Money wins. Rules evolve.
The real challenge with Gen Z [CRINGE AT ANOTHER USELESS DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTOR] — if there is one — is that many of them are truly digital and work is still truly analog.
Beyond that, they (and the rest of us) will be fine.
What Tom said.
Gen Z is going to be a huge shot in the arm for retail.
They’re always online, attuned to trends and very diverse. They represent the future, and they’ll help create new directions for retail customer engagement. It’s all very exciting.
Generation Z is the most entrepreneurial and collaborative generation. Their ability to problem solve and to improve a business will be a real boon to the retail business. Retailers will need to adapt to Gen Z, but those changes will result in better business practices and methods. Work will have to be more interesting and stimulating, but this we create improved worker engagement.
The diversity of this generation will also have a positive impact on sales and profits as the racial and gender walls built by Boomers will come tumbling down. Gen Z will open up many new and exciting opportunities for the retail industry.
It all starts with the character and integrity of the individual I am trying to hire, and that hasn’t changed since the horse and buggy days. I handpick the younger generation of workers by dealing with their parents, and over 90 percent of the time I get good results. If these kids started out by cleaning their rooms, mowing the lawn, and helping out around the house, they will usually turn out to be good workers. Add in the digital skills many of them grew up with, and you have a built in IT person to help run your Facebook and website, with some guidelines that you establish for them.
Work ethic can be taught at home, and there are still plenty of young kids who get this, as money still motivates some to find work and act properly. I will not put up with anyone who doesn’t want to work or do what they are told, as they won’t make it past the interview, and that is sad, as many kids are not taught how to act. The good ones in every generation always rise to the top, and if they can smile and treat customers well, then I can teach them the skills to be successful, which is what we as retailers should be doing.
My great grandfather said that my grandfather’s generation had no work ethic.
My grandfather said that my father’s generation had no work ethic.
My father said that my generation had no work ethic.
Hopefully I learned a lesson. Every generation seems to have a work ethic but they just seem to do things differently.
My question is, why would any of these generations want to go into retailing if there are other options?
Retail is a tough business, to say the very least. I’m not saying that all Gen-Zers have a short attention span, however, the rewards of working hard in many retailers may not be present as quickly as many younger people would like. I started in a small bakery in 8th grade working 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, and was handed a crisp $10 bill after every day’s work. I then went into the grocery biz for almost 20 years and am still having a hard time verbalizing the personal ROI to young people, now after consulting to retailers another bunch of years subsequently.
Retailers need to acknowledge the tough aspects of their business and address them in the recruitment, hiring and training processes, and revisit them often as younger staff progress through the business. I think there are great rewards in this industry, however, we need to realize that life has changed for this youngest generation.
If you haven’t, do read Professor Niall Ferguson’s book, “The West and the Rest.” The Harvard economist/social behavioralist writes about 6 apps that helped Western Europe and North America stand out among world peers. One of those apps for success is “work ethic.”
That brings us to Generation Z. We have to ask ourselves if Gen Z has been provided role models on the value and importance of work. Too many members of the Millennial Generation either did not seek or could find starter jobs in which to gain vital social, inspirational, and emotionally rewarding work satisfaction. This evolved from their teen years and continued post high school/college graduation. Learning that work—hard physical labor or the use of determined mental thinking are a critical experience that individuals need to experience and appreciate. Unfortunately, we didn’t provide as many opportunities, or opportunities were not sought for by the 80 million Millennials who came through the pipeline.
Like each generation before hand, Gen Z will find ways to navigate the workplace. However, they will do well to take a tip from a line in a song recorded by Lynn Anderson and Martina McBride, Boomer and Gen X country singers: “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”
Press on, but this won’t be easy. It should be one heck of a lot of fun if you find the job you really like.
I hope they will bring true digital connection to the table. Our concept of what it is to be a worker in retail may be quickly changing from standing at a counter at Macy’s to responding to Tweets at Zappos. I recently found myself at the local deli counter DYING inside because of the time it took to get my fresh sliced order from a very nice woman. My mother and grandmother would consider the experience very good service. Good service to me would be Amazon style one touch ordering and 1-hour delivery to my door for $5.
It’s balance that retailers must strive for. To be successful in these times, retail marketing departments, internet interfaces and sales floors need to utilize and value the skills and input of all the generations they hire as employees as well as those they serve as customers—Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Encouraging collaboration and cooperation and gaining broad understanding of how these different age groups view and live in our world is absolutely necessary. And all age groups need to be made to feel that their needs and contributions are valid and are being accommodated within the big picture. Yes. It will be a challenge.
Gen Z workers will provide a reflection of their collaboration and insight into their wants as they proliferate in the workplace. More Gen Z workers can only help retailers better understand their needs, and adjust their retail mix to better reflect these needs.
The influx of Generation Z into the retail workforce will bring positive change to their employers. These retailers will be forced to adapt and embrace productivity tools that will speak to these new younger employees. Mobile technology will be key.
By rolling out mobile workforce management solutions, these retailers will become more agile and efficient. Collecting store-level data via mobile enterprise solutions will bring actionable insights to management like never before.
Generation Z has a unique opportunity to bring retailers into the here and now via technology that can also shape their future.
With younger workers, there’s definitely an integration of work and life, rather than separating them out. So, they want to be able to attend to work-related things from home, and attend to home-related things at work. Digital technologies (especially mobile phones) are a key way that happens.
As a scheduling vendor, I’ve seen a big shift to employees wanting to communicate about schedule changes, availability, and the like via mobile devices over the past few years—and expect those sorts of trends to continue with Gen Z taking a larger role in the workplace as well.
Of course, I also believe that a lot of retail workers tend to shop at the stores they sell at as well, so in addition to a workplace that uses digital to manage work things, we need to be sure they have a great digitally-enabled buying experience.
More Discussions
Should Grocers Pay Online Influencers?
What should the relationship between grocers and influencers look like?Will Google’s Pomelli Photoshoot Live up to the Hype for Retail SMBs?
Will Pomelli’s Photoshoot tool be a game-changer for retail SMBs?Mass Retailers, Including Walmart, Tie Grocers on Penetration For the First Time: What’s Next?
Walmart and other mass-channel retailers are reaching dominant penetration levels. What’s next?
Man, I tell you — I have been watching this Gen Z evolve over the past five years as people went nuts over the Millennials. This Gen Z group — the little kid of the family, the spoiled brat (my read) is in for a major shock, just as Millennials were when they found out that you do not just walk from college into a perfect job. Gen Zers are another type of creature. They were created by media — in all forms — but lots of YouTube, texting, and video games with headphone sets. As a retailer I would not hire many of them, except the ones that had decided to grow up — the ones that need a job and just do not expect a job.
Retailers need to take a hard look at where they need people and get the right person for the job — not modify the job and related tools to meet the demands of a generation that was created by media and weak parenting.
If retailers fall for this Gen Z group they will find that HR has a new meaning and will become the group that has to act as parents to this generation that was raised by electronics.
There will be some great, more mature Gen Zers that know the road to success. If you find one like that grab them and hold onto them — they are few and far between.
Let retail stand up to Gen Zers and not lower itself to meet this strange generation’s bizarre needs and demands.
Here’s an interesting hypothetical: Let’s assume — just for a moment — that a generation of professional workers (because we aren’t really talking about a generation, but rather just the privileged part of that cohort) saddled with massive student loan debt and anxious to move out of their parents’ home suddenly realizes that they need money to survive.
Now here’s an interesting hypothesis: They will adapt to the workplace and, to a far lesser extent, the workplace will adapt to them.
Oh … those Boomers … and their drugs, public nudity and promiscuous sex, anti-establishment attitudes, disregard for materialism, disrespect for property and authority, that long hair and those beards — hell, they probably will demand Grateful Dead music be broadcast 24 hours a day, the water cooler will be spiked with acid …
Well … you get the idea.
It is interesting how every generation manages to both somehow survive the dire forecasts of its predecessors and — in an exercise of historical and personal amnesia — declare themselves perfect and all subsequent generations inferior.
Folks work. Money wins. Rules evolve.
The real challenge with Gen Z [CRINGE AT ANOTHER USELESS DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTOR] — if there is one — is that many of them are truly digital and work is still truly analog.
Beyond that, they (and the rest of us) will be fine.
What Tom said.
Gen Z is going to be a huge shot in the arm for retail.
They’re always online, attuned to trends and very diverse. They represent the future, and they’ll help create new directions for retail customer engagement. It’s all very exciting.
Generation Z is the most entrepreneurial and collaborative generation. Their ability to problem solve and to improve a business will be a real boon to the retail business. Retailers will need to adapt to Gen Z, but those changes will result in better business practices and methods. Work will have to be more interesting and stimulating, but this we create improved worker engagement.
The diversity of this generation will also have a positive impact on sales and profits as the racial and gender walls built by Boomers will come tumbling down. Gen Z will open up many new and exciting opportunities for the retail industry.
It all starts with the character and integrity of the individual I am trying to hire, and that hasn’t changed since the horse and buggy days. I handpick the younger generation of workers by dealing with their parents, and over 90 percent of the time I get good results. If these kids started out by cleaning their rooms, mowing the lawn, and helping out around the house, they will usually turn out to be good workers. Add in the digital skills many of them grew up with, and you have a built in IT person to help run your Facebook and website, with some guidelines that you establish for them.
Work ethic can be taught at home, and there are still plenty of young kids who get this, as money still motivates some to find work and act properly. I will not put up with anyone who doesn’t want to work or do what they are told, as they won’t make it past the interview, and that is sad, as many kids are not taught how to act. The good ones in every generation always rise to the top, and if they can smile and treat customers well, then I can teach them the skills to be successful, which is what we as retailers should be doing.
My great grandfather said that my grandfather’s generation had no work ethic.
My grandfather said that my father’s generation had no work ethic.
My father said that my generation had no work ethic.
Hopefully I learned a lesson. Every generation seems to have a work ethic but they just seem to do things differently.
My question is, why would any of these generations want to go into retailing if there are other options?
Retail is a tough business, to say the very least. I’m not saying that all Gen-Zers have a short attention span, however, the rewards of working hard in many retailers may not be present as quickly as many younger people would like. I started in a small bakery in 8th grade working 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, and was handed a crisp $10 bill after every day’s work. I then went into the grocery biz for almost 20 years and am still having a hard time verbalizing the personal ROI to young people, now after consulting to retailers another bunch of years subsequently.
Retailers need to acknowledge the tough aspects of their business and address them in the recruitment, hiring and training processes, and revisit them often as younger staff progress through the business. I think there are great rewards in this industry, however, we need to realize that life has changed for this youngest generation.
If you haven’t, do read Professor Niall Ferguson’s book, “The West and the Rest.” The Harvard economist/social behavioralist writes about 6 apps that helped Western Europe and North America stand out among world peers. One of those apps for success is “work ethic.”
That brings us to Generation Z. We have to ask ourselves if Gen Z has been provided role models on the value and importance of work. Too many members of the Millennial Generation either did not seek or could find starter jobs in which to gain vital social, inspirational, and emotionally rewarding work satisfaction. This evolved from their teen years and continued post high school/college graduation. Learning that work—hard physical labor or the use of determined mental thinking are a critical experience that individuals need to experience and appreciate. Unfortunately, we didn’t provide as many opportunities, or opportunities were not sought for by the 80 million Millennials who came through the pipeline.
Like each generation before hand, Gen Z will find ways to navigate the workplace. However, they will do well to take a tip from a line in a song recorded by Lynn Anderson and Martina McBride, Boomer and Gen X country singers: “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”
Press on, but this won’t be easy. It should be one heck of a lot of fun if you find the job you really like.
I hope they will bring true digital connection to the table. Our concept of what it is to be a worker in retail may be quickly changing from standing at a counter at Macy’s to responding to Tweets at Zappos. I recently found myself at the local deli counter DYING inside because of the time it took to get my fresh sliced order from a very nice woman. My mother and grandmother would consider the experience very good service. Good service to me would be Amazon style one touch ordering and 1-hour delivery to my door for $5.
It’s balance that retailers must strive for. To be successful in these times, retail marketing departments, internet interfaces and sales floors need to utilize and value the skills and input of all the generations they hire as employees as well as those they serve as customers—Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Encouraging collaboration and cooperation and gaining broad understanding of how these different age groups view and live in our world is absolutely necessary. And all age groups need to be made to feel that their needs and contributions are valid and are being accommodated within the big picture. Yes. It will be a challenge.
Gen Z workers will provide a reflection of their collaboration and insight into their wants as they proliferate in the workplace. More Gen Z workers can only help retailers better understand their needs, and adjust their retail mix to better reflect these needs.
The influx of Generation Z into the retail workforce will bring positive change to their employers. These retailers will be forced to adapt and embrace productivity tools that will speak to these new younger employees. Mobile technology will be key.
By rolling out mobile workforce management solutions, these retailers will become more agile and efficient. Collecting store-level data via mobile enterprise solutions will bring actionable insights to management like never before.
Generation Z has a unique opportunity to bring retailers into the here and now via technology that can also shape their future.
With younger workers, there’s definitely an integration of work and life, rather than separating them out. So, they want to be able to attend to work-related things from home, and attend to home-related things at work. Digital technologies (especially mobile phones) are a key way that happens.
As a scheduling vendor, I’ve seen a big shift to employees wanting to communicate about schedule changes, availability, and the like via mobile devices over the past few years—and expect those sorts of trends to continue with Gen Z taking a larger role in the workplace as well.
Of course, I also believe that a lot of retail workers tend to shop at the stores they sell at as well, so in addition to a workplace that uses digital to manage work things, we need to be sure they have a great digitally-enabled buying experience.