The Playbook: Insights on Gen Z & Millennials From Deloitte’s Latest Research

From reshaping career paths to embracing generative AI, Deloitte’s survey reveals critical shifts business leaders must navigate to better understand their youngest employees and adapt to the future of work

This story is part of “The Playbook,” a weekly column that takes a deep dive into the future of business, management and technology, with an eye toward practical applications for fitness and wellness executives

Whether you’re an executive at a Fortune 500 company or the manager of a fitness franchise, mastering workforce management is essential for business leaders to succeed. This includes hiring, firing, scheduling, training and conducting performance reviews, among many other functions.

But one thing is often overlooked: understanding employees’ mindsets. To help business leaders better understand their Generation Z and Millennial employees, Deloitte offers an annual survey of these generational cohorts. The latest edition is a 51-page tome that digs deep into their behavior, preferences and outlook on life.

Some of the key findings were surprising and critical of managers.

Gen Z & Millennials Don’t Look at Work Like Other Generations

The report’s authors said, for example, that Gen Zs and Millennials “are focused on learning, but feel their managers are missing the mark on key aspects of their development.” The researchers found that Gen Zs tend to be more focused “on work/life balance than climbing to the top of the corporate ladder – only 6 percent say their primary career goal is to reach a leadership position.”

However, these digital natives don’t lack ambition, the Deloitte researchers said in the report.

“When asked the strongest reasons they chose to work for their current employer, learning and development is in the top three, just behind work/life balance and opportunities to progress in their careers,” the report stated, also noting that 70 percent of Gen Zs polled said they are developing skills to advance their careers “once a week or more, compared to 59 percent of Millennials who say the same.”

The report revealed that both Gen Zs and Millennials are aligned on the skills they feel are important to progress in their careers such as “soft skills, time management and industry-specific knowledge.” 

The report’s authors said Gen Z found that their managers are missing the mark. 

“They believe managers’ key role is to provide guidance and support, to inspire and motivate them, to offer mentorship and to help them set boundaries to ensure work/life balance,” the report noted. “Instead, many feel that their managers are mostly focused on closely overseeing day-to-day tasks.”

Practical Tips for Managing Young Workers

So, what’s The Playbook move here? Give Gen Z some space. They don’t need to be micromanaged. Instead, set expectations for the day-to-day duties and set them loose. And since they are seeking guidance and support, give them constructive feedback. Regarding work/life balance, be flexible. Does one of your trainers or sales associates need to leave early for a doctor’s appointment? Let them go, even if you have to cover for them.

Eventually, the culture will change and that employee you were flexible with will likely step up to the plate to fill in for someone else. 

The Deloitte report also revealed some significant changes in career path decisions.

“Some Gen Zs and Millennials seem to be reexamining how the education system prepares them for the job market,” the report noted. “Although a university or college degree remains valuable, the traditional university-to-career path is not necessarily the default anymore, as nearly one-third of Gen Zs (31 percent) and Millennials (32 percent) in this year’s report say they decided not to pursue higher education.”

The research also revealed that 40 percent of Gen Zs and 38 percent of Millennials said the high cost of tuition was their primary concern for these changes.

“But their responses also reveal a skepticism about the return on investment of higher education, with many Gen Zs and Millennials questioning if the education provided at universities would give them enough practical experience to prepare them for the job market,” the report stated.

The Right Tech Tools Can Help

For business leaders, this is a blessing in disguise. The Playbook move here is to help employees gain that practical experience. Of course, it also requires businesses to deploy training programs. But there are technologies that can help. 

Two workforce management platforms that pair well together are StoreForce and Multimedia Plus’ Incite solution. There’s an industry adage that says, “Success doesn’t just come from clocking in – it comes from showing up ready.” The integration of StoreForce and Incite aims to give teams the confidence, alignment and preparation needed to execute goals from the moment they step onto the sales or gym floor. Moreover, managers can give real-team coaching on these platforms.

For the spa and hospitality segments in particular, scheduling becomes a breeze while training can be done in the in-between time when guests arrive or between appointments. To take a closer look and see if this is something for your business, Multimedia Plus has an ROI calculator.

Finally, the Deloitte report also keyed into another train for Gen Z and Millennials: a love for generative AI – which is transforming how they work.

“Most Gen Zs (57 percent) and Millennials (56 percent) are already using GenAI in their day-to-day work for a variety of tasks: data analysis, creative work, content creation, project management, strategy creation, risk assessments and more,” the report noted. “They are largely positive about the technology, saying that it helps them improve the quality of their work and frees up time to focus on more strategic work while improving their work/life balance.”

Still, there were also significant concerns.

“They worry it will reduce available jobs and make it harder for young people to enter the workforce in the future,” the report’s authors said. “They are focused on training and skills development to prepare them to work alongside GenAI. And as they continue developing their technical skills, they also believe that developing soft skills, such as empathy and leadership, is more important than ever.”

We’ll have to address those last two points another time.

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