According to ABN AMRO, we are on the eve of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That revolution means analytical labour tasks will be taken over by computers. Labour tasks requiring creativity and empathy will remain the domain of humans for the time being, which makes it important to attract young people with the necessary expertise. But how do you do that?
Smart industry requires employees with different competences: digital working, creative, multidisciplinary collaboration and understanding of software and ict, the bank says in its latest research. 'The search for new employees who possess these attributes starts with Generation Z - the generation born after 1996, whose first representatives are currently reporting to the labour market. This generation has grown up in completely different socio-economic and cultural circumstances from its predecessors, giving them a completely unique set of strengths and weaknesses.' This is also why generaite Z needs to be approached differently.
Recruiting differently
'Generation Z has a greater sense of responsibility, a persistent work mentality, is self-aware, creative, solution-oriented and feminine. But also strongly values individual attention and guidance, does not want a full-time job, has a shorter concentration span and prefers self-employment to employment.'
When it comes to attracting talented Z'ers, small and medium-sized industrial companies are at a disadvantage compared to startups and big business. They will have to radically change their structure and culture as well as their way of recruiting.
Generation Z wants to work under a carefully crafted employment contract in harmony on varied projects in diverse groups in adapted, creative business spaces, and likes to receive daily feedback in person, and preferably not just from the chief.
Meaningful entrepreneurship
The arrival of Generation Z on the labour front also has other consequences. It is becoming difficult to find full-time employees for management positions. Older generations will have a new coaching role. Thinking in alphas and betas is disappearing and young people from non-Western migration backgrounds may well become more distant from the labour market. While the role of women, with their ability to communicate and collaborate, is actually going to become much more important.
Traditional forms of recruitment are no longer enough to get Generation Z inside the gate. Early on, employers need to invest in personalised forms of recruitment, using role models and social media. They need to demonstrate that the job is about pursuing meaningful, measurable goals. Meaningful goals on a corporate level, but certainly also meaning on a higher, secular level. How does the job contribute to combating food waste or global warming?
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: ABN AMRO
