Tag: Generation Z

In the modern era of corporate travel, companies are investing heavily in ensuring the well-being of their employees on the move. From ergonomic travel tools to nutritious meals on the go, the focus has shifted from merely reaching a destination to ensuring the holistic wellbeing of the traveller. But as businesses lean heavily into this trend, a pertinent question emerges: Are we taking it too far?

Different life stages mean employees have different needs which require focused attention. Most companies in SA are feeling the pinch of a skills shortage. In the battle for talent, optimising benefits is an important lever that many organisations can do more with.

Imagine a manager who is all about getting things done within a specific timeframe, a true advocate for efficiency and productivity. This manager, often perceived as strict, means business. But here is the twist – the moment they see their team fired up, committed to growth, and thriving, suddenly, they radiate positivity and support for their team.

Who would have guessed that a couple of angry birds with superpowers would have gained such a cult-like following, amassing five billion downloads by 2022 (more than both Instagram and WhatsApp), spurring a movie and even a sequel, and earning fans like Angelina Jolie and David Cameron?

“He has all the attention span of a goldfish!” For ages, goldfish – known for their nine-second attention spans – have been used as a not-so-kind metaphor to describe someone who has a limited ability to focus on something at any given time.

For the first time in history, there are five generations in the workplace. From Generation Z (Gen Z) to the silent generation, the diversity of life stages is the most complicated it's been in history. In the same way that corporate culture and policies are evolving to stamp out issues like the “wage gap”, organisations need to address the issues created by the “age gap”.

I find it interesting to learn about the different perspectives that each generation has on the generational divide. As a member of the baby boomer generation, I remember living through the "generation gap" of the 1960s and early 1970s, where there was much turmoil, anguish, and misunderstanding caused by the length of hair gap between fathers and sons, not to mention the business of burning bras, which divided mothers and daughters.

We are constantly surrounded by chaos. The world is complicated and ever-changing. Young people, looking at the world they are inheriting, are standing up and shouting, 'Hell no!' Generation Z is primed to breach the status quo.

New proprietary research reveals how brands can communicate and collaborate with this hyper-informed generation. Accounting for one third of the global population, Generation Z have a collective disposable income expected to reach $33 trillion over the next decade.

Throughout the business world, old assumptions about what makes a good leader and what success in the workplace looks like are being discarded. As Gen Z and Millennials - loosely defined as those born between the early 1980s and early 2000s - continue to advance up the career ladder, their distinctly different outlook on work and life is changing age-old notions of success and leadership.