Mind the Gap: HR’s upgrade is Gen Z’s gain

CURATED READS FOR GEN Z—AND THEIR Z-CURIOUS COLLEAGUES

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Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

first up

An image linking to the web page “Increasing your return on talent: The moves and metrics that matter” on McKinsey.com.

Welcome back! This week, we’re exploring how HR can better engage Gen Z, the luxury-travel boom, and how to organize your time like a CFO.

Human resources teams get a bad rap. One look at Gen Z favorite The Office brings the HR stereotype to life: the local HR rep for the TV show’s fictional paper company is one Toby Flenderson (aka “Jerky Jerk Face,” “Evil Snail,” and “everything that is wrong with the paper industry”). He’s the company’s token fun-squasher—and, as a result, its go-to punching bag.

While it’s true that HR’s work is in the interest of employers, organizations that put employees at the center of their business strategy perform better than their competitors, McKinsey research shows. Still, HR is aware of how employees may perceive it, and across the organizational-performance (consultant-speak for “HR”) industry, people leaders say they are working to be more responsive to their employees’ needs.

This trend is coinciding with a historically tight labor market (translation: more job openings than there are qualified people to fill them). These conditions may have helped to shape Gen Zers’ POV on their careers; Gen Zers are more emboldened to speak up or step out in search of a new job if their current employer falls short of their expectations.

According to McKinsey senior partner Vincent Bérubé and coauthors, retaining Gen Zers—and empowering them with new skills—can happen, but HR and corporate leaders need to take the following actions (no cherry-picking!):

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Identify who you need to win: Get clear on the skills your company’s workforce needs, as well as employee structure and head count. Companies should also rethink where talent is located, in terms of both skills availability and efficiency, to build their talent bench. In the United States, a growing share of Gen Zers are opting for smaller cities such as Ann Arbor, Michigan, or Provo, Utah, rather than bigger cities such as New York.

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Create a hiring engine to compete for talent: Attracting top talent is tough. HR and other leaders across the organization can expand the talent pool by considering candidates who have been skilled through alternative routes, which is one way to attract Gen Zers who may not have traditional four-year degrees. Another way to attract more qualified Gen Z candidates? Revise job descriptions to highlight not only the functions of a job but also the benefits that are most appealing to Zoomers. Gen Z ranks career development and advancement potential, total compensation, and meaningful work as the top three considerations for taking a new job.