Does Remote Work Mean Gen Z Miss Out?
There was an interesting article recently in The Guardian.
‘I feel like I’ve missed out’: has working from home thrown the Gen Zs out with the water cooler?
Author Wendy Syfret explores the premise that there is a soft skills gulf hitting young workers who have never really had a full office experience.
She interviews Gen z’s to ascertain their experiences. Regarding remote work, she says:
“The advantages are easy to argue: workers can skip their commutes, access a geographically broader range of employment opportunities and hang out their washing at 11 am on a sunny Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, businesses save on office costs while reaching a wider pool of talent.
But these clear benefits are more relevant to those whose careers were established before they downloaded Zoom.”
Many of the Gen Z’s felt like they had missed out by having a career that started off not working from an office due to COVID-19 and for many has continued to be remote.
I want to start off by saying that despite the demand from CEOs for a return to the office, I do not believe there will ever be a return to what some call the “traditional office environment.” That has long gone, and I believe for the better.
The days of a dreaded commute, five days a week, to sit in an office and do what you could have done quite adequately from the comfort of your home or the local café, are a nightmare from the distant past.
Meet the Gen Zs
The article introduces us to Farhana Ismail who was looking forward to the field research and interviews she would do after graduating with her communications degree. The COVID-19 sent her home city of Melbourne into lockdown. She landed her first professional job in March 2021 whilst the industry was still mostly online.
She only works from the office once a week and all her interviews are online.
“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I [had] joined before Covid,” she says. “Would my relationships be different? Am I experiencing something different?”
When she watches how her older colleagues work, “I feel there’s a secret sauce that everyone knows about … that I just don’t get. I feel like I’ve missed out by starting my career this way.”
We are then introduced to Genevieve Phelan who runs her own consultancy business. Her entire career has consisted of freelance, short-term or part-term jobs and she has never spent an extended period in one office.
Phelan laments her lack of a work community. “[Not having] the ability to bounce ideas off another person is difficult,” she says. “I missed being able to grab a coffee with a colleague to break up the day, or … after work drinks to celebrate the wins or work through the losses.” Although her client list is growing, she says: “When it’s just you and you’re floating, it can be isolating.”
The article also highlighted the fact that these “new” workers – without context clues from co-workers – were working for extended, unbroken hours. They were not taking breaks like those that used to happen in the office such as water-cooler chats and tea breaks.
There is also discussion about the lack of social interactions that are non-verbal, over-hearing conversations, observation, and information absorption that happens when you are physically in the office.
Phelan also voiced concern about being unable to develop as a leader due to most of her interactions with others being by email and Zoom. She has compensated for this by deliberately networking and attending industry events but is doing this on her own time.
Both Phelan and Ismail stated that they could not envisage a full-time return to the office.
The data
The data is clear that Gen Z do not want a full-time return to the office. They want the flexibility of working remotely some of the time.
The ADP People at Work 2022 study of 32,924 workers in 17 countries revealed that it is Gen Z (71%) who are most likely to say, “If my employer insisted on me returning to my workplace full-time, I would consider looking for another job.”
Source: People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View ADP
A study by SMRS on what employers need to know about Gen Z in 2023 found the following:
“Work life balance is a top consideration for choice of employer. It is an attractive benefit and the lack of it is a reason to reject an employer.
Our research showed Gen Z prefers a mix of home and office environments (35%), with few wanting only home (6%) or only office (10%).
For Gen Z, the main reason for wanting to work from home was centred around saving money (38%) and being happier (37%). However, 40% expect that employers offer flexible working hours – the 4th top basic expectation of an employer amongst Gen Z.”
Five generations
There are now five generations working alongside each other. Each generation has its own value system, experiences, and perspectives regarding their professional and personal lives.
Leaders cannot focus on the needs of Gen Z alone and alienate those in the other four generational groups.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are equally important for each generation.
Back to Gen Z
Let’s look at the concerns raised about Gen Z and remote working.
Work community
A lack of work community and feelings of isolation were highlighted as concerns. An office does not resolve those issues. I can be in an office surrounded by people and experience feelings of isolation.
Connection and community are intentional. It does not just happen because you are in physical proximity to other people.
Leaders must bring the whole team together on a regular basis. Wherever possible this should be a physical get-together of the team. Where a team is widely distributed and this is not feasible, the leader should get the team physically together at least bi-annually if not quarterly and use virtual team meetings at other times.
Integration
It is often suggested that Gen Z should spend time in the office to catch-up on what they may have missed out on since they have been working remotely since they started with the organisation. If it makes sense to use the office, then do so. But co-working spaces, rented rooms, coffee shops, or hotels, can work just as well.
Whatever the location there should be an intentionally structured program for new starters to acclimatise into the company.
This should start with induction (and meeting the team), ongoing learning and development, on-the-job training, and integration with the wider workforce over a 12-24-month period.
Training can be in the form of a senior person showing a new hire how to do the job and answering any questions and concerns that may arise. If Gen Z has been doing the job for some time and doesn’t need specific training, the time spent with a senior person could be in the form of coaching or mentoring. These times should also be used to check that there is a clear delineation between professional and personal life.
Buddy system
In addition to the formal allocation of a senior person for training, or coaching and mentoring, there can be an informal relationship for Gen Z through the assignment of a buddy.
A buddy could be a member of the team who is always on hand to answer questions and help employees navigate the organisation. The buddy is not responsible for orientation, induction, training, or performance management, That is the role of the person’s leader, manager, or supervisor. The buddy is a sounding board and can provide support and guidance as needed.
You must intentionally design a dedicated employee buddy program. The program should determine whether the buddy is just in place for the first few months of a new person starting a job or for a longer period in which the relationship is maintained.
If it is the latter, the buddy can provide ongoing support and advice, provide informal feedback, share knowledge, and check in on the well-being of the assigned employee.
If the buddy is an onboarding buddy, they can provide context that will not be found in the employee handbook. This could include sharing cultural norms and unspoken rules which makes could lead to a smoother transition into the organisation.
Mentoring
I have already mentioned mentoring, but the relationship does not just have to be a senior person mentoring a younger person.
People with shorter tenure can also mentor those with longer tenure offering an entirely different view that will challenge and inspire. Often called “reverse-mentoring” it can facilitate knowledge sharing and getting longer-tenured employees out of their silos.
Imagine being mentored by Gen Z. You could learn from their entrepreneurial mindset, and innovative approach to work. They will remind you that mental health matters and encourage you to speak up or walk away if something does not align with your values or you do not feel respected at work. Gen Z will challenge the status quo and we also learn from the first generation that is fully digital-native.
Virtual water coolers
The water-cooler conversations and coffee catchups have not gone away. The physical communal spaces are just digital now. You’ve heard it before, but “there’s an app for that.”
There is an app called Donut that plugs into the collaboration platform Slack and creates random virtual meetings between employees to foster connection and community.
Watercooler is a Slack bot that pairs up online employees and encourages them to take 5 minutes to talk about something not related to work.
CoffeePals is an app that integrates with Microsoft Teams to match people to meet over a cup of coffee aimed at helping to start new conversations and build deeper relationships within the organisation.
You don’t have to purchase an app. You can create your own virtual water cooler. You can use your existing collaboration tools and create spaces for people to chat about their interests that are not work-related e.g., motor racing, hiking, photography. They are virtual clubs that you can join and connect to the community.
Mural has some great guidance on how to set up a virtual water cooler. Give it go!
Conclusion
There are so many ways in which to remain connected and feel part of a community when you are working remotely. You just need the right tools and a dose of positive intention.