Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Working with multiple generations in the workplace: Generation Z

Generation Z is the newest generational cohort to emerge. Individuals of Generation Z were born after 2000 and comprise about 23 million of the people in the United States. Generation Z is growing at a rapid pace and will take over the workforce very soon with their innovative ideas like their parents’ Generation X and some Generation Y/Millennials. Many are still receiving their primary education but, many are soon to graduate and like their parents are very technologically savvy. They are connected to their peers through social media, very intelligent, and very accepting of and choose to indulge in diverse populations (Wiedmer, 2015). Even though this is the youngest generational cohort they have survived some major historical events. The Generation Z survived major events that influenced their cultural and societal views such as the War of Terror, multiple active shooter events, the Swine Flu, Hurricane Katrina, the rise of Ipods and Ipads, the rise of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites, and the 2011 tsunami in Japan (Clark, 2017). This generational cohort also has an advantage because they were exposed to homeschooling more than any of the previous mentioned cohorts. As Generation Z enters the workforce, they will be easy to work with and engage well on teams, they may struggle in face to face situations due to their digital competence levels, and they are close to their parents and may seek parenting on the job (Wiedmer, 2015). Time will tell what Generation Z will bring to the fulltime workforce as many of them are still in school or working part time jobs. Being able to understand what each cohort brings to the table will aide in how to create successful engaging organizations.

Clark, K. R. (2017). Managing Multiple Generations in the Workplace. Radiologic            Technology88(4), 379-398
Wiedmer T. (2015). Generations do differ: best practices in leading traditionalists, boomers, and

generations X, Y, and Z. Delta Kappa Gamma Bull. 2015;82(1):51-58

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