Dear HR recruiter, I believe you have heard about this new word Generation Z, people who were born after 1996. When talking about this generation, what does the first impression come in your mind? People always say it is a generation ruined by technology, a boiled generation grew up in a relatively stable society and has no motivation or ambition towards moving forward. But now as one of the generation z people, I would like to stand out and defend for us, in fact we are ambitious, and to a certain degree we are probably even more ambitious than the other generations.
I was born in 1998 and most of my friends are Generation Z as well. In my opinion, a better off living condition does not cut down our ambition but the other way. Because nowadays most of us have a higher level of education and along with our daily study and work, we are under a lot of pressure and facing different competitions all the time, which triggers us more ambition to achieve the success. On the other hand, for the reason that we want to maintain the high-quality life which our parents created for us. We need to be really ambitious to beat the competition and make our dream come true. In addition, I suppose the spread of internet use enables the Generation Z to broaden our horizon, on account of the massive information on the internet. As long as we have seen the better world, then we are ambitious to literally go into that world.
Companies need to understand Gen Z’ s ambitions. As the director of HR, I think you are aware of the influence of Generation Z in a company is much more crucial than before. We are under the spotlight on the stage. You may have doubts about what our ambitions really are, it is actually not only about salaries or promotion. It is about achieving objectives which are in accordance with our value. It is about being recognized and accepted by the majority of people. It is about making contribution to the society. Companies need to understand Gen Z’s ambitions, more and more employees are from Generation Z and they actually often come up with more innovative and creative ideas, because we can easily understand what the Gen Z customers want. People who have ambitions have a strong will, which means that we have a higher possibility to achieve success. If the company can offer Gen Z a better platform, we will prove their competences.
Some of companies still don’t trust our ambition and ability, due to the fact that the older generations think Gen Z are easily being distracted and less hard-working. Actually, technology is not always a bad thing, it helps us work more efficiently. For example, I am studying at Hotel Institute Montreux, and every day we use IPad as a very useful tool and moodle (an online study system) to access to the learning materials provided by the lecturers, which I think is really helpful to our study. Plus, we actively attend school activities and master classes, we do internship twice within three years, all of above have shown that we hope the experience we gain will make us more competitive. It is exactly because we have ambitions and we are responsible of our own lives.
Some HR mangers complain that it is really hard to communicate with Gen Z because of the generation gap. As one of the Gen Z, I would like to provide companies with some constructive advice to build connection with Gen Z. On the one hand, Gen Z need to feel that they are being treated equally in a workplace, it is also a clever move to empower them sometimes to increase their motivation. On the other hand, use social media wisely, get Gen Z involved and build connection with Gen Z on the internet platform. In Hotel Institute Montreux, we have our own Facebook page and Instagram account, the more interaction you have on the internet, the better you build connection with Gen Z.
As we are all aware, Gen Z will take dominant place in the market sooner or later. Companies which understand Gen Z’s ambitions will sit pretty. Because Gen Z tends to work with the employers who cherish their value and trust them. In the end, hope my article help you better understand that we are not technology addicts but a group of ambitious young people instead. So, what is your opinion about Gen Z? If you like my article, please like and share, please also comment below to tell me your opinions towards Generation Z.
Author: Ms. Beijia Yang, Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM), from China.
Great and actual article
In my point of view, the gap between generations will always be, but that does not mean that we should stop instruct the older generation about the younger one. You explained very well Generation Z ambitions, I would say while previous generations lived by the choice of
"live to work or work to live" we make it possible to "live AND work".
Thanks for your blog, it is what exactly I want to say to all companies, from my personal experience, when I had my first interview, the HR manager became doubt about my ability and don’t know how to ask me questions when she heard I am a Gen Z. Your article explain those problems and show the ambitions we have.
I loved the idea that it was targeted towards a future HR-manager, great creativity! Apart from that the text really sticks out and throws a virtual punch to the older generations for not only misunderstanding us, but also underestimating us.
Like the way how the benefits of technology, social networks are presented in this blog, especially because they were accompanied by well-known examples to all of us (HiM, moodle...).
The structure is good, it contains both perspective... a condemnatory attitude of older generations (arguments) and then opposite with potential, ambitious and optimistic outlook of the younger generation (explanations) on Gen Z's
I think, that chosen topic was revealed in a very interesting way.