Hiring Generation Z.

Somewhere online, we found something that resembles an equation, and it looks somewhat like this: Bb + X + Y ≠ Z. Since we deal with psychometric research, we won't delve into mathematics. If we look at this equation, we could break it down like this.

Bb or Baby Boomers. Boomers are from the last century, born between 1946 and 1964. Boomers are a post-war generation (WWII). They grew up in the shadow of war, recession… They didn’t have much.

They were followed by Generation X. Some called them the lazy generation, and they grew up in the shadow of Boomers who dominated the political, educational, business, and general social world.

Generation Y was long the focus of all events. They are also called millennials, born between the early 80s and 2000s. Compared to previous generations, they show higher rates of depression, excessive alcohol consumption, or substance abuse; they are considered hyperactive and addicted to tobacco. Due to early adoption of technology, they are the first generation that struggles to make or maintain eye contact, feels somewhat deprived, which makes understanding their thoughts and feelings difficult. They are exposed to various news 24/7. They remember 9/11. They grew up in an economically unstable environment, so they are prone to creating jobs if they can't find one. They are the first generation to enter the workforce with access to technology that allows them to work on their own terms. Digital nomads emerged with them. And just when we thought we had enough changes in human behavior, that tradition had completely disappeared, they arrived.

A new generation has arrived.

We can say that they, in a way, paid the price for societal development. Generation Z, who will soon begin entering the business world, refers to individuals born between 2000 and 2010/2015. However, we often encounter names like: mobile generation, e-generation, silent generation, network generation.

They are completely digital. They swipe. They are connected to the whole world. Some would say they are somewhat autistic. Most people won't or don't want to understand them. They don't seek approval from parents; they find approval among friends. They are well-brought-up, but social skills are not something they will boast about. Cognitively, they are very good, but they lack specific experiences.

Cognitively…

By cognitive, we mean that they: reason well deductively and inductively, organize information effectively, have good mathematical reasoning and memory, are very mentally flexible, good with numbers, original, and recognize patterns. Their perceptual speed is good, but they are very sensitive to problems. Their reaction time is good, they have very selective attention, and are limited in divided attention. They generally understand and visualize well.

However, as we said, they lack specific experiences, so they are somewhat weaker in active learning and listening; they are very critical, but on the other hand, their judgment and decision-making are poor. They lack learning strategies and mathematical reasoning, are poor at negotiating, and have a certain attitude.

They seem shy. They feel invisible. They behave conscientiously towards the environment. They are afraid of failure, but money is not the most important thing in their life.

According to Maslow, they are quite self-actualized, much more so than the rest of the population, which means they quickly found their purpose, but they also need to see purpose in their work; it must be interesting for them to further discover themselves.

Broadly speaking, we can say that the acronym FOMO was added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2013 because of them. Although somewhat grown up, they are a kind of big children. They have retained what we 'adults' couldn't: the child within. Despite the child within, they have great technological knowledge and are also very creative. Some would say they are hard to control.

We often hear that they know their rights but tend to forget their obligations. They don't feel indebted to anyone, so consequently, they are not overly loyal. They will change jobs easily and frequently.

A feature that distinguishes them from other generations is that Generation Z does not know a world before the web; they are the first global generation and the most technologically literate generation. The start of Generation Z is defined differently in various countries. The most important difference distinguishing Generation Z from Generation Y is that members of Generation Z have been exposed to communication and media technology from birth. Due to multimedia technological advancements, Generation Z is exposed to multimedia activities to a greater extent than any other, except when sleeping.

Growing up during a financial crisis, they perceive the world as less secure. They are aware that they must seek opportunities themselves, not just wait for them, so they are much more resourceful than previous generations. Thanks to internet access, they also have better insight into global events.

Now that we have briefly tried to describe them and 'box them in' – which is the biggest mistake made in approaching them, these boxes – we can return to their employment.

We are aware that some professions are very scarce, that companies often cannibalize each other to attract certain individuals, and that the hiring process is being shortened as much as possible so that no one loses too much time.

Actually, it's a bad assumption that time is lost. Yes, the hiring process must be fast, but a lot can be accomplished within it.

During candidate selection and research into their behavior, we came across some very interesting facts.

What happened to the human element?

One thing we don't need any research for is this: If we look at the 'history' of generations, we'll realize that the human element has vanished. Across generations, it has been less and less in focus and less and less acknowledged. Specifically, for Gen Z, online is their friend, online is their love, online is their school, online is their new job, online is their shop, online is their entertainment… but the human element is gone. The first thing that needs to be done, both in hiring and during their working life (at least initially), is to bring back the human element.

In the ICT sector, psychometric testing has a bad reputation, probably a cognitive bias of owners and directors who reluctantly recall paper-and-pencil tests and assessments that lasted for hours. Just as COVID-19 accelerated the digitalization of all sectors, the same happened with hiring processes. Thus, psychometric tests have also been digitized and shortened to optimal times. The better ones are partially or fully gamified and do not contain many self-assessments.

But before we delve into the differences we find between the rest of the working-age population and Gen Z, we will say that they are good kids, cognitively very capable, with a lack of experience, and therefore, they are a generation that seeks a mentor, a friend whose relationship will be, above all, not autocratic but meritocratic and lively.

Every company aims to retain its employee; the entire process of hiring, onboarding, and job introduction is an expensive process. It is much better then to invest a little more in the development of that employee, encourage their self-actualization (for them to find their purpose and goal within the company) and their growth, thereby retaining them long-term, reducing turnover, and achieving loyalty (because, let's remember that Gen Z doesn't feel indebted to anyone).

Furthermore, they have one great advantage. In their minds, not to say heads, they are independent. In reality, they are dependent on their parents. But such a setup allows them not to have full commitment to the employer and thus to the job. However, is that bad? Probably not. They will do their job and tasks, but we can say, more in the way they envisioned it, than how we wanted it.

And now the question arises: who needs to adapt? Us? The older generation? Or Generation Z? Personally, we would say it's a two-way process.

Insights about Generation Z

If we review the psychometric research database, several facts speak volumes about them, and about us, as employers.

Self-actualization. Maslow described it somewhat like this: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.” Generation Z is 76.39% self-actualized, while the rest of the population is at 73.67%. If we consider that self-actualization increases with age and that they are much younger than us, it turns out that we will never be “as satisfied with ourselves” as they already are today.

Openness to experience. Although they are metropolitan, at least virtually. Even though everything that could have happened has already happened, and they were born and learned to live with it, and it presents no problem to them-nor should it, of course (racial intolerance, LGBT movements, etc.)-one would expect them to be more open to experiences than the rest of the population, but this is not true.

Scale of psychological entitlement. This is a scale that measures a person's belief that they deserve privileged treatment regardless of other, extrinsic factors. It is much more pronounced in Generation Z.

In addition to these few parameters, we would like to note that their critical thinking is much more pronounced (6 percentage points), while their judgment and decision-making are about 7 percentage points “weaker” (which is statistically significant because we must also consider those below and above average). In other words, this proves the attitude they sometimes have.

When we consider all this that can be gleaned from psychometric tests, it's not difficult to decide and ultimately 'persuade' them to agree to a 'loss' of an hour. We will know much better whether they are a 'good fit' for us and whether we are a 'good fit' for them. First and foremost, we will understand them better, and thereby plan their future development. This will allow us to long-term develop the good mentoring, meritocratic relationship they need and ultimately deserve.

And to conclude: They are cognitively good, reasonable children, and adjustments are needed on both sides. An adjustment based on understanding will be far better and ultimately less painful.

In this story, there is no good or bad side; there aren't those who know rights but not obligations. Both are a reciprocal relationship, and this way it can be far more qualitative. And of course, all interested parties must invest in that relationship.

And yes, Bb+X+Y is not equal to Z!

Dario Car, Petar Čalić

DeeP Research d.o.o. for Psychometric Research