Benefits to Offer When Recruiting Gen Z

Last year, the pandemic and its aftershocks rocked recruiters and acquisition teams. Lockdowns and caseload resurgence have prevented companies from functioning optimally.

Consequently, recruiting top Gen Z talent has become difficult, prompting HR professionals affiliated with these companies to reassess their recruitment approaches, resources, and technologies.

Every employer is aiming to achieve a faster hiring process in addition to higher candidate capturing and engagement for better brand visibility and representation.

To attract the digitally empowered, work-from-anywhere-oriented Gen Z’s thronging pandemic-hit workforce, companies must rely on Gen Z benefits inspired by new age methods to select candidates based on merit and compatibleness with the brand’s business objectives and culture.

Who are Gen Zs?

Who is in Generation Z and what are they like? You say.

Gen Zs are a demographic cohort born between 1997 and 2012. The oldest Gen Z is 24 years old, has just finished grad school, and is beginning his foray into the workforce. And while 60 million of them are expected to make up the next wave of job seekers in the next decade, their expectations are starkly unique. “Zoomers,” as they are fondly called, cannot remember an era without the internet, have technical processes personalized and oversimplified, want to make their voices heard, and demand to be worked for.

Reasons to Hire Gen Z candidates & offer Gen Z benefits

We already know that Gen Zs are native techies, but what else should HR managers know about Gen Z?

They’re flexible

Gen Zers need to have a sense of purpose in their work, preferring an employer that offers flexibility and autonomy over one that saturates the workplace with cool gizmos and needless furnishings.

Working style autonomy allows them to amplify their job performance while being immersed in their personal lives. World Services Group suggests that 28 percent of Gen Zers rate work-life balance as their top career goal.

Companies are steering their strategies towards creating a more relaxed work environment. They’ll need to incorporate their dress codes and a work-from-anywhere mindset – generational peculiarities which have proved to bring results and employee satisfaction.

They don’t waste time

Gen Z is the first generation of full digital natives. Unlike millennials who witnessed the decline of analogization, they don’t recall a world without the Web and social media. Hence, they are supreme multitaskers and know how to navigate the internet to get all the information they need in record time.

Employers find the vast information abstraction skills of the “iGen” appropriate, as it gives rise to a new approach to problem-solving.

They care about career growth

Their lives are stratified by various insecurities, most notably September 11 attacks, the Great Recession, and the current health crisis. This makes security the central theme of their career growth concerns.

Social Inclusiveness or no deal

Gen Z wants to see proof of work done to address a particular social issue. They are not the type to take the words of the CEO as gospel. They want to corroborate your claims with visible results.

They crave mentorship

A workplace comprising different generations is a great way to capture and retain the “Zoomer” generation in the workspace. They feel comfortable and assured when they have those in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. They can also learn soft skills like empathy and conflict de-escalation from older colleagues.

Company culture is currency

Anyone recruiting a Gen Z candidate should have ample knowledge of branding and values. An effective approach in this situation is to develop personalized automated messages and follow-ups to help prospects to consider themselves as a contributor to the organization. To transmit company culture to all employees, brands need to instill a strong communication program that features multiple approaches: a mix of formal and informal communications, video, phone, email, and instant messages as well as planned and flash chats.

Key Recruiting Differences between Gen Z and Millennials

These are the key recruiting differences between Gen Z and Millenials.

Perks and Gen Z Benefits employers can offer

Flexible work policies

According to Glassnode, flexibility has replaced wellness as the most sought-after benefit. Gen Zers search for flexible hours and telecommuting facilities that 67% of organizations still don’t offer. Brands that want to recruit, retain and advance their youngsters must view flexibility as a primary comparative advantage in order to gain traction in their industry. Employers and HR managers need to invest in a benefits administration company to develop bespoke plans to maintain a work-life balance for the organization.

Stress-free company culture

A report by design brand, Peldon Rose, suggests that 65% of Gen Z workers are in search of a “fun” company when searching for an employer. The group desires a strong communal atmosphere, for this, recruiters should maintain an inclusive, cordial workspace by incorporating happy hours, medication and yoga sessions, and other team bonding activities.

Financial tools, training, and opportunities

Reports say that good health insurance policies and 401k plans are top of Gen Z’s top benefits list. To increase your chances of hiring, consider offering comprehensive health plans and other types of financial resources. Offering tuition reimbursements or student loan debt repayment is a great way to go. Sadly, only 4% of organizations provide student loan repayment as a benefit in an American society where 44 million people are embroiled in student loan debt. Lead workshops on how to service or consolidate debts are also helpful to young workers who are just commencing their careers.

Gen Z Traits: Communication & Job Preferences

What does Gen Z bring to the workforce? What is Generation Z like in the workplace?

Attracting Gen Zs often involves meeting them where they are situated. Deploying the right communication mix can be a game-changer in your bid to win them over from your competition. A study by Yello Recruiting found that email messaging is the #1 communication route for a Gen Z’s communication link with prospective employers. However, when it comes to transmitting recruitment marketing content, a slew of communication channels is essential to winning post-millennial talent. Video calls are one of the fast-rising ways of attracting gen z employees as well.

As for job preferences, Gen Zers prefer a secluded working area over an open working space as they place a high premium on social boundaries and personal space. They also like careers where they can showcase their entrepreneurial drive. The best job is the one that avails options for private and collaborative work. Jobs in business, education, engineering, and social sciences, and those that do not even require a college degree make Gen Zs tick.

Gen Z recruiting tips: What is Important for Gen Z in the workplace?

Flexibility

Gen Z workers will reinvent office work life. They have a high penchant for work-life balance and flexible schedules for their jobs to fit their daily routine. Remote life is the way to go for Gen Z as they can deliver results from any city or location without conforming to the dress code or punctuality rules of a traditional office.

Cutting-edge tech

Having been immersed in tech all their lives, Gen Z tends to cringe at the sight of buffering video, unavailable wifi, poor user interfaces. 80 percent of Gen Zers expect to work with the latest technology according to Dell. Also, 91 percent of the Gen Zers interviewed by Dell believe that tech influences their decision to choose between similar employers. Finding the right gadgets and software for your Gen Z employee can be obtained by securing the services of a benefits administrator. A benefits administrator takes the guesswork out of the benefits planning process to ensure that your employees make the most out of your benefits program.

Workplace diversity

Pew Research Center reveals that 48% of Gen Z are non-caucasian, making them the most racially diverse cohort to date. They want to know that their employer controls an equitable and pluralistic company. To attract Gen Zs amp up your diversity hire game.

Recruiting Challenges & Strategies for Employers for Gen Z benefits

Gen Zs are independent workers

They prefer to forge their own path in the workplace as opposed to team collaborations. They believe that every solution lies on the internet. A benefits program like group outings will draw them out of their reclusive ways and help them bond with colleagues.

They are entrepreneurial-minded

Perhaps, the Gen Z on your radar has already started a business, is a tutor and someone’s mentor all at the same time. He probably sees your offer as just another stream of income he can do without. Employers need to entice Gen Zers with benefits to encourage them to work for them instead of working for themselves.

They validate companies on Social Media

Gen Zs search for an employer could end abruptly upon finding that they are not on social media. Ensure that you have a social media presence and post recruitment-inspired content. They are looking for job postings, and if they don’t find any, they’ll move on to the next post.

Text alone doesn’t cut it

Gen Zs have seen it all: long-form texts, memes, and taglines. You need something more alluring to appeal to their desensitized state of mind. Integrating videos into your job ad is proving to yield results.

Summing it all up

We have just unraveled Gen Z benefits that have proven to attract the teeming Gen Z employees. Among them are a flexible work-life balance, training programs, and tuition reimbursements to ensure that post-pandemic benefits planning is a breeze for benefits administration companies.