The Future of Work: How Organizations Need to Keep The Next Generation of Leaders Engaged

Gen Z and Millennials are changing the future of work and I am here for it. Here are a few things businesses should do to support the next generation of engaged employees and leaders.

Benefits: For many budding solopreneurs, the one thing they miss about working at a company is the benefits. If you want to attract and retain creative talent, you need to consider how you are taking care of your people for the future they are facing. Millennials and GenZ are worried about retirement, savings, fertility, home ownership, inflation, etc, so your company benefits need to stand out far and beyond the rest to meet these increasing concerns of your workforce.

Pay: People are becoming much more aware of the impressive discrepancy between corporate profits, executive salaries, and employee salaries, making people feel used and under appreciated. If your salaries are not above market and highly competitive, you will lose creative forward thinking talent to their own business ventures where their earning potential is higher.

Flexibility: The pandemic opened this pandoras box and we are never going back. Flexibility is at the core of what people want today and in the future, and this relates back to pay in a meaningful way: Millennials and GenZ are less likely to want to (or be able to) ‘settle down’ the way Boomers and GenX were able to do, so tying your pay structure to an employees one singular home base or location is an antiquated way of compensating people for their contributions. Employees want, and need, to be able to work and live anywhere - companies that allow for true remote work without compensation consequences are already ahead of the game.

Boundaries: Gone are the days of workaholism, giving everything you are to your company, sacrificing your identity for a corporation, and being reachable anywhere at any time. Millennials are recovering from the trauma of this early in our careers and GenZ wants no part in upholding that toxic culture. Companies who prioritize boundaries will show their employees that they are, at minimum, respected as people first. Younger generation will have little tolerance for doing unreasonable ‘extra work’ without proper compensation, recognition, or support and companies that make it safe to set those boundaries and properly compensate for doing work outside the expectations of a role are starting to head in the right direction.

Investment in development: With the rise in AI and the increased demands on managers and leaders (increasingly these roles are held by Millennials now), a company's investment in a strong coaching culture centered around the development of their people will yield a more engaged and capable workforce.