Dear fellow readers,
From my humble experience in my first internship in a small boutique hotel, I became more familiar with what it is like to have a job and how it feels to be a part of an organization or an establishment. One example that I have in mind is related to my past internship. I remember having a checklist that I must go through every day to make sure that I completed everything. The first week, the checklist took me my entire shift to complete, however, one month later, I was able to finish it in half the time it took me originally. By the second month, I was feeling like a “robot” and bored of doing the same tasks. My colleagues at that time didn’t give any of the demanding and more difficult tasks as they believed that I wasn’t experienced enough, for example invoicing, balancing, and auditing the payments, until I asked them and proved to them that I could do it. By that, they had less work to do, and I had the chance to enhance my accounting skills!
This experience drew my attention on various aspects about our generation, especially that I was the youngest and the only person that belonged to Gen Z. I discovered how unique and different our generation is in terms of what we can offer to the workplace, which is why I am writing this blog to encourage managers to engage Gen Z more in the workplace as they might be surprised of what our generation is capable of!
Here is why!
Simply, our generation carry out tasks in more efficient and new methods which can be less time consuming! Our generation is constantly exposed to electronic devices and resources in our day-to-day life. Thanks to that, this generation can be familiar with anything they are interested in, hence, you should not underestimate the amount of knowledge we carry and can find!
Not only that, but different generations carry different values and ideas that can be beneficial for the organization. For instance, our generation perceives different events and situations in a holistic approach, making sure to look and cover more than one aspect while performing a given task. For instance, most of gen Z make sure when taking a decision that it is sustainable, ethical, and up to date to today’s standards!
Moreover, as new individuals in the workplace, gen Z is more likely to be motivated and enthusiastic about working than someone who has been 10 years plus in the industry. And by that, our ideas will be more challenging and trendier to the industry!
At last, but not least, gen Z offer more informality, thanks to our emotional intelligence. Nowadays, more and more guests require more connection and informality with staff members in our industry. As a result, basic human psychology knowledge is embedded in most of our courses because leaders and teachers are being more aware than ever of the importance of emotional intelligence, which made our generation more knowledgeable in this area more than any other generation!
So, based on what I mentioned above, I am encouraging managers to engage gen Z more in some small decisions or in more demanding tasks and not only give them the “unwanted” tasks, so that they feel more engaged and not neglected in the workplace.
What should gen Z do in return?
Not only employers should try and engage us, but we should as well try to participate and share our ideas with our managers and supervisors. Here is how! To begin with, young employers should not fear the age gap in the workplace, and they should believe that their contribution is as effective as any other employee in the workplac.
Moreover, it is important to make sure that we cover the duties and tasks we have efficiently every single time, so that our managers notice that we can provide more for the organization.
Based on what I said, I am expecting myself to be more confident and give it all I must prove myself and put my capabilities into action, so that my managers will engage me more with more demanding tasks so that I don’t feel like a “robot”.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and found it useful and relatable! Comment down below and let me know your thoughts!
If you’re interested in reading another blog related to Gen Z and the workplace, I recommend Varvara Stradina’s blog about our generation reshaping the workforce!
Thank you for your time and I wish you all the best in your studies or careers.
Author: Mr. Ahmad Najim, Hospitality bachelor student at Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM) from Jordan.