Cultivating motivation amongst Generation Z poses significant challenges for leaders today. On top of the tribulations of the past year, Gen Zers struggle with stress tolerance, problem-solving and independence.
With Gen Zers forecasted to account for almost 20% of global labour force by 2025, leaders are scrambling to close the generational gap within their organizations. However, leaders cannot just look through their own generational lens to cultivate a culture of motivation for the Gen Z workforce.
Instead, leaders need to recognize that different generations come with different perspectives, and more importantly, different internal motivations. Learning to navigate and understand the different motivational factors of Gen Z is vital to leveraging their unique talents and strengths.
As Bob Nelson said, “You get the best efforts from others not by lighting a fire beneath them but by lighting a fire within.” Leaders need to leverage the Gen Z workforce in different ways than they are used to.
Although this is new turf for all generations, there is a single concept that leaders can ground their motivational practices in – emotional intelligence.
How to Motivate Gen Z with Emotional Intelligence
Stellar leaders recognize the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. By instilling emotional intelligence into an organization’s leadership practice, the organization is able to build a bridge between the different generations, creating a foundation of understanding for everyone’s differences.
The good news is that emotional intelligence can be learned and continuously developed. While there are many ways to introduce emotional intelligence into your workplace, we have listed the 5 most effective ways to motivate Gen Zers, beginning with 5 essential EQ competencies.
Emotional Self Awareness: Create Meaning & Purpose
In order to foster meaning and purpose in the workplace, leaders must understand that most Gen Zers feel restless and confused when entering the workforce. Many Gen Zers have been taught to follow their passions, which leads them to look for purpose in each job they land.
If leaders fail to create a sense of meaning and purpose in their organization, Gen Zers will treat their position more as a stepping stone to their next career journey, bringing a high risk of turnover. But, how do leaders help their Gen Z employees even realize their unique motivations? The answer is instilling a culture of emotional self-awareness.
Emotional self-awareness results from truly looking within, and identifying not just what motivation looks like, but how it feels. When leaders allow time for open, honest conversation with their Gen Z employees, that is when meaning and purpose comes to light. Leaders should ask their employees about what inspires them; in return, the employees will feel heard, while the leader gains a clearer picture on how to challenge and inspire them.
Interpersonal Relationships: Create Trust & Connection
Allowing time to foster a meaningful connection between Gen Z employees is essential. Having a successful interpersonal relationship means building trust and connection. When leaders collaborate with Gen Z employees on a deeper level, they are more likely to open up about their truest motivations in the workplace.
Some ways to build these relationships include: creating a mentoring environment, allowing time for collaboration, and frequent one-on-one check-ins. How to Mentor in the Workplace outlines the importance of creating a two-way street mentorship.
By involving them in mentorship, team collaboration, and one-on-one conversations, it creates a space to focus on their individual needs, which will help motivate them to achieve their goals.
Gen Zers thrive in an organization that fosters a coaching leadership style where they can be a part of the change through actively voicing their opinions and receiving feedback. Therefore, it is critical to tap into your interpersonal skills and understand what motivates and ignites the passion of your Gen Z employees.
Self-Actualization: Instill a Long Term Vision
The Gen Zers are motivated by stability and enjoyable work. When a Gen Z feels that their current position is not sustainable for their lifestyle and/or fails to fulfill their passion, it probably won’t be a long term commitment in their eyes.
Self actualization is all about following meaningful objectives that bring joy to life. With stability and enjoyable work being the two main workplace objectives Gen Zers are looking for, leaders can have a better picture of what sort of salary and company initiatives need to be in place to satisfy the needs of the emerging workforce.
One in four of Gen Zers expect managers to clearly define the goals and expectations of the company to ensure a proper trajectory to promotion is set within the first month of employment. By outlining a vision for Gen Z employees, leaders motivate Gen Z to feel involved in the growth of the company and provide a clear direction of how they can move up.
It is crucial that organizations offer a fair salary with clear and authentic strategic objectives for how to grow within the company to further engage and motivate Gen Zers.
Social Responsibility: Make Giving Back a Priority
Not only are Gen Zers trying to fulfill their own unique ambition, they also want to contribute to a good cause in the process. The Gen Z cohort is more socially and politically progressive than other generations; they expect organizations to support their social responsibility efforts, whether it be contributing to their community or freely speaking about their beliefs.
It is vital that leaders allow time and space for Gen Zers to take part in community involvement. Whether it be paid volunteer leave, allowing a day off to vote, or even having a company wide cause that they can contribute to, this will fuel motivation for Gen Zers.
Flexibility: Allow Time for Innovation
While research shows that Gen Z may struggle with problem solving (thanks to Google) in comparison to other generations, leaders need to adapt to this learning curve by finding a solution aligned with Gen Z’s core values. For instance, Gen Zers value autonomy and innovation; they are going to storm into the workforce with fresh, different ideas to tackle every challenge.
Flexibility is adapting to unfamiliar circumstances and ideas, which will be frustrating for other generations. However, this is a strength of Gen Zers; leaders need to allow Gen Zers to take the reins on building new, innovative strategic angles. To support this, leaders can actively listen to what Gen Zers have to say, and look at their creative solutions with an open mind, instead of instantly shooting them down. A new phenomenon known as reverse mentoring can be helpful in bridging generational frustrations, and create a safe space to leverage each other’s strengths.
The Bottom Line: Generation Z is Coming
As Generation Z enters the workforce, organizations have two choices: adapt or suffer the losses. The fact is, Gen Zers are coming in either way, and ignoring the new generational factors will take a hit to your bottom-line.
If leaders can focus on the incoming generation and pinpoint their emotional makeup, they will spend 2021 retaining, engaging, and motivating their new young team members rather than suffering the losses of turnover, disengagement, and lack of productivity.
Are you ready to take the next step as a leader to prepare and get ready for Generation Z?
We have multiple resources that can aid you in the process. Be sure to check out our Leading a Multigenerational Workforce Workshop, available in both live and virtual delivery. The workshop covers effective strategies on how to foster a culture of inclusion in the workplace and creating an action plan to implement these strategies. You can also check out our blog, Bridging the Gap Using Emotional Intelligence for more ideas on how to lead a multigenerational workforce!
