How Gen Z and Millennials Are Changing the Workforce for the Better (Episode 154)

Are you ready to witness the revolution unfolding in the modern workplace? Tune in as Dr. Jason Wiggins unpacks the seismic shift driven by Gen Z and Millennials' unwavering demand for a world where work serves a greater purpose. These young professionals are not just shuffling through the corporate world; they're smashing the old paradigms of what it means to clock in and out. With a spotlight on mental health and a sturdy backbone of ethical standards, they're pressing for a future where sustainability isn't just a buzzword—it's the bedrock of business.

As we close this chapter, I can't help but feel a surge of appreciation for the global tribe tuning in week after week. Your voices, echoing from every corner of the planet, underscore the collective power we hold to steer the tides of change. Let's keep the momentum going, spreading the message far and wide that together, our conversations are more than just words—they're catalysts for a brighter, more equitable tomorrow. Until next Monday, remember that each step we take is a footprint on the path to a better future.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hello friends, welcome to your motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert podcast. I'm your host, dr Jason Wiggins. This podcast is for Gen Z and Millenials, on how we can improve our lives professionally and personally, while motivating you to reach your goals. This is a weekly podcast, with new episodes each and every Monday, barring a holiday. I hope everyone is doing great. I hope you had a terrific weekend. I hope you're ready for the week and let's get our heads right and get this show on the road. So welcome everyone. I'm so glad to be here.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Today is February 5th, monday, and it's going to be a great week. It's going to be a great week because that's how we're going to go into the week. Thinking, if you're listening to this podcast a little later in the day, monday, then hopefully you had a terrific Monday. So let's get started. Today's topic is going to be based on how Gen Zs and Millennials are prioritizing and driving change in the workplace. Some are saying are Gen Z and Millennials driving change or are they just complaining too much about change? Well, that's a pretty simple answer because the knowledge that I've received in the research, it is clearly stated that Gen Zs and Millennials are an agent of change, meaning they are doing what it takes to ensure that change is happening. The passion for social impact and all the different areas of climate change, development, you know, training among staff, ensuring that people are in a good work environment, sustainability efforts all of these efforts and focus are part of leading and impacting change. Therefore, what is organizations thinking about change? Are they concerned about Gen Z and Millennials negatively impacting their businesses, their bottom line? Not necessarily. Why, because these groups are looking towards the future. They're trying to decide how can I make the future the world, the environment, social change, all of those important aspects, including many more. How can we improve them? How can we do the right thing? So this is a great opportunity for organizations to really take advantage of these change agents.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Don't look at Gen Z and Millennials as some sort of stigma that they're not going to be a factor, because, if you peel the onion back, there is no doubt that they're making great impacts. They're providing what our customers expect for our businesses. They're making sure that all employees are treated equal, ensuring that we live in a good environment, making sure that we have the right training and development, ensuring that we have excellent mental health capabilities. It was a stigma for so long that you can't talk about mental health, it's a bad thing. You'll look weak. That is not reality. Reality is that mental illness is a very serious concern in the workplace. Everybody is overburdened by all the external factors, from home life, professional, personal. These are all important aspects that are ingrained in everything we do, and it's so important to not think that this is a weakness, because it is not a weakness.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Gen Z and millennials are value-driven generations. The ability to drive change on all the different types of issues, including social issues, has the potential to make or break continuous recruitment and retention efforts along all the different types of organizations. For example, nearly four out of every 10 millennials in Gen Zs say they have rejected assignments due to ethical concerns, while the same amount roughly have turned down employers that do not align with their values. This is not previous generations, where we are told what to do and we do it. Now we look at why it's important and that's why ensuring that the values that are ethical and that are aligned with the values are so important, and that is why they are prioritizing and driving change in the workforce. So we've started talking about the importance of driving and prioritizing change Throughout the show. We're going to. The next thing we're going to talk about is some important what would you do? Moments in our segment and we'll align a circumstance and how would you deal with that circumstance, and then we'll also go into a couple great quotes that are very impactful when it comes to leading change.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Leading change on all the different type of things we're looking at, including climate change. Millennials and Gen Zs are holding organizations to a higher standard when it comes to climate change. They're demanding greater climate action from their employees. Almost half of GenZ and Millennials are pressuring businesses for organizational change. They are increasing their momentum, their concerns, and they realize that companies have to prioritize sustainability, especially post-pandemic and issues like the war in Ukraine. But organizations' response to climate concerns also plays an important role in attracting and retaining Millennials and GenZ in the workforce Because, why Believe it or not, these two generations are researching the brand's environmental impact of that potential organization even before they join, and they will change jobs because of climate concerns. Social impacts, the ability to do the right thing, ethical aligning goals these are all important aspects that they're going to look at when organizations are operating in a manner that is not sustainable for GenZ and Millennial to work there Another important aspect about leading change and we've talked about this before, but it's leading change in the work and life balance.

Speaker 1: 7:56

Genz and Millennials are rethinking the priority in life. Is it money, is it fortune, is it fame, is it family, is it friends, is it causes? These are why they're looking for that work-life balance. Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred more than the great resignation among GenZ and Millennials. It also prompted the rethinking of roles that are played in everyday lives. So the work pressures continue to drive levels of burnout among Millennials and GenZ to the maximum when they began to go. You know what. Maybe this isn't worth it. Maybe I need to reprioritize what I'm doing and start putting a stronger focus on my work-life balance. One of the big things the burnout was from exhausted or low energy at work or they're mentally disturbed from the job, creating negativity or cynicism towards work. They're struggling to perform to the best of their ability and this is part of the persistent stress and burnout, which is also part of mental breakdowns, mental illness. So you can see why this would be such an important factor in why they want to continue to drive a change.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Part of the issue that really lies is when you're working for an organization, they say that that job is a central part of your identity. But when I say they say we're talking about 50% of GenZ and Millennials are stating that their job is still a central part of their idea, but they're not willing to sacrifice their overall well-being and they're like, okay, we're going to find new ways to figure out how to maintain our work and life balance. So if you look at how organizations foster work-life balance, genz and Millennials are the driving force of reducing our flexible work hours. I mean, besides the potential impact that if you work fewer hours, it may cause issues with your finances or potential promotions, that's what GenZ and Millennials are willing to forgive these, as long as they're able to find an area of work that will allow them to have flexible hours to work many other side jobs. They're okay with four-day workweeks, job sharing. And again, job sharing is where maybe you hire two part-time employees to do one full-time employee's job and that is helps Gen Z and millennials find that work-life balance and give them the time they need to find time for their other passions.

Speaker 1: 11:15

So in what areas should organizations focus to help foster that better work-life balance? Well, first of all, ensure that part-time employees have continued career opportunities and that's a big focus of Gen Z's and, to some degree, millennials. Implementing a four-day work week most agree that this would really help find that work-life balance, create more jobs that are part-time, create job sharing and, most importantly, allow employees to work flexible hours. These are the scope of the jobs that are stating that if you want to keep us as employees, then these are the things that you can do to help us, as in Gen Z and millennials, be more satisfied at work, be self-conscious of what we're doing, have mental awareness, have our goals aligned, have our ethics aligned with the corporation, because if you are not corporation and you're not doing these things, then unfortunately it's not a matter of if you lose your Gen Z and millennial employees. It's a matter of when, and an important part of leading change is for Gen Z and millennials to really feel that they're making an impact within the organization, that they're finding that balance in their work. Remember, if you want to make change in anything, you also have to make sacrifices, and that's where having less hours at work it's sacrifice which also causes a financial pinch. So to be aware of that is also very important.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Why, if you're a Gen Z and millennial. You have so many different talents, you have so many opportunities and it is sometimes extremely tough to focus on one type of scenario that is a good situation. So why not develop all different types of situations that will make you feel good within your scope of your work? If organizations are able to align the way they do their business while ensuring productivity, why not be able to ensure that your employees are happy, is focused and aligned with the ethical well-being and all of the different social concerns climate sustainability, inclusive diversity All of these important aspects can be easily implemented and it don't cost a lot of money. It's just about being creative and focusing on doing the right thing. So if organizations have a central point of doing the right thing and ensuring that they're still making a good profit and then everybody feels like they won but if you're spending all of this additional financial resources on retaining your current employees or rehiring, retraining and all of the different knowledge lost, then you're doing your organization a complete disservice.

Speaker 1: 14:44

Let's go to the what would you do moment If you're a Gen Z and millennial and your company comes to you and asks you what would be the biggest change that you would implement in our organization? What would you do? What would you say? And this can be a tough question because you want to ensure that whatever idea you come up with doesn't alienate the organization, falls along in line with the culture and the motivation of what they want to do for their employees. So, if they ask you what would be the thing that would make the biggest impact within our organization, what would you do? What would you say to that? So I'd like you to think about that and my thought is I would look at what is the biggest impact that I can make by stating what could be changed, but remember not only when you say what would be changed how would you do it? How would you reinforce it? How would you implement it to ensure that the change is actually successful? It is always important to remember that over 70% of change Opportunities fail. Therefore, you want to make sure you have a structured process where the change can be implemented, followed up on for its overall success. My thought is I'm going to make the biggest change for my buck by ensuring that I can retain the employees that I have as teammates.

Speaker 1: 16:27

Anyhow, we talked about today. We talked about how Gen Z and Millennials can drive change, how we can prioritize the impact that we can make and the focus of work-life balance, the sustainability and all the different areas that we can try to make changes for improvement. And then I'd like to Kind of wrap up with a couple great quotes, and these quotes are extremely impactful and helpful. So one is those who change who those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything, and this was by George Bernard Shaw. And another excellent, impactful one is also by George Bernard Shaw, and this one is really really good and it's it will go something like this it's about the existence of change is only the element of the outcome. So think about those two. They're very impactful in their own way. They have a way of stating that this is what's why we have changed, this is how it's impactful and this is what we can always do. So again, I want to thank everybody.

Speaker 1: 17:55

I hope you enjoyed today's podcast and remember this is our motivational aspect of it. Remember that you can be an initiator of change. You can be the one that makes a significant impact. When you have a chance to raise your hand, stand up for a cause that's important to you and or important to others around you, do the right thing. We can all switch jobs if we need to, but sometimes we have to look internally and go am I doing the right thing for me or am I doing the right thing for everyone?

Speaker 1: 18:34

And the Gen Z and Millennials I mean what an impactful generation that we have here. This generation has proven once and more times than often that when it comes to prioritizing the right thing to do, it seems like that's what's done. I mean, you look at the generation X, they didn't impact too much. Why? They kind of were just kind of there. They were kind of the tech founders early on, but they didn't make significant social and cultural demonstrations like Baby Movers did. But now, gen Z and Millennials, they are standing up for what they believe in and that is important. That's how our country and all over the world we improve as citizens, as organizational team members and defining the future. I mean the future of 30, 40 years from now.

Speaker 1: 19:31

Most of you will still be a big part of that and I think the change that we see in the next 30 or 40 years is going to be pivotal to the sustainability, to the overall success. I mean one day we'll see flying cars. We're gonna, if you want to go back and remember a cartoon that many of you are much too young to remember this. But look up the Jetsons. The Jetsons were the cartoon and we talked about. It was basically make a little bean into some food. It was demonstrate flying cars. I mean, this is the world one day and, make no mistake, you are going to be a big part of it, redefining its success and making your mark on the world.

Speaker 1: 20:16

I'm excited to be a part of that as long as I can and see the changes that are impacted. So keep on doing what you're doing, keep rising to the challenge all over the world. I mean, this is a major, impactful opportunity for everyone. I want to thank all the listeners out there. We have listeners all over the world, so please continue to share, promote and, again, we are here every single Monday for you. So thank you, take care and we'll talk to you later. Bye, bye.