Gartner Says 40% Of Gen Z Employees Regret Accepting Job Offer
Flexibility and Development Opportunities Are Critical to
Appealing to the Digitally Native Employee
ARLINGTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CHRO?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#CHROlt;/agt;–A growing number of candidates are regretting their career decisions,
according to Gartner, Inc. In 2018, 40% of Gen Z respondents reported
that they would not repeat their decision to accept the job offer they
had accepted and only 51% said they could see themselves having a long
career at their organization.
Candidate
regret leads to turnover, low engagement and low productivity; more
than one-third of candidates who regret their decision intend to leave
their position within 12 months.
“To address this increase in candidate regret — and stem the ensuing
issues with underperforming talent and/or high turnover — organizations
need to better understand what Generation Z candidates want,” said
Lauren Smith, vice president of Gartner’s HR practice.
As digital natives, Gen Z candidates, those born from the mid-1990s to
the early 2000s, understand that innovation and change are a constant.
To ensure they are staying relevant as technology and business processes
advance, Gen Z workers are keen to leverage various types of development
opportunities, from training programs and boot camps to continuing
education. Data from Gartner’s Global Labor Market Survey found that in
2018, 23% of Gen Z candidates listed development opportunities as a top
attraction driver, compared with only 17% of their millennial
predecessors in 2013.
Along with development opportunities, Gen Z candidates expect
flexibility in their work arrangements. In addition to the ability to
work from any location, these workers believe work should accommodate
play and play should be incorporated in work.
“With this latest crop of workforce entrants, we are seeing an increased
focus on work-life integration and the ability to pursue interests
simultaneously both in and out of the workplace,” said Ms. Smith.
New Priorities
Compensation is no longer a guaranteed method for keeping the young
workforce in seat, according to Gartner. In 2018, 38% of Generation Z
candidates said that they would leave a job because of compensation,
compared with 41% of millennials in 2013.
Gen Z candidates also differ from their millennial predecessors on
seeking a defined career path. According to data from Gartner’s Global
Labor Market Survey, in 2018, only 25% of Gen Z candidates listed future
career opportunities as a top attraction driver when considering a job;
in 2014, 34% of millennials felt the same way.
Managing Differently
“Given that today’s graduates are focused on learning
and developing skills, employers looking to gain a career commitment
from their Gen Z employees must ensure they offer these opportunities,”
said Ms. Smith. “Our research shows that more than anyone, it’s an
employee’s manager who influences the type of development an employee
gets on the job.”
In today’s digital age, graduates know they possess unique skill sets
that are very much in demand and make up for a lack of experience.
Management approaches must adapt to this new reality and shift from an
“always-on” approach to a “Connector”
manager approach.
Connector managers foster meaningful connections for their direct
reports to and among employees, teams and the organization to develop an
employee’s specific capabilities. Not only are managers crucial to
ensuring their employees’ portfolio of skills stays relevant — a key
concern of Gen Z — but they can improve the performance of employees by
up to 26% and triple the likelihood that their direct reports will be
high performers.
“Employers who want to capitalize on the influx of Gen Z candidates into
the labor market must consider how best to appeal to these individuals
and reduce the desire for them to seek alternative career
opportunities,” said Ms. Smith.
About Gartner ReimagineHR
Gartner experts will provide additional insight into the labor and
talent issues at the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference, taking place
October 28-30 in Florida.
Gartner ReimagineHR is the premier event for HR leaders around the
world. Join Gartner and senior HR executives to hear key insights and
learn actionable strategies necessary to support organizational
performance. Gartner ReimagineHR will also be held August 6-7 in Sydney,
and September 18-19 in London.
Follow news and updates from these events on Twitter using #GartnerHR.
About Gartner for HR Leaders
Gartner for HR Leaders brings together the best, relevant content
approaches across Gartner to offer individual decision makers strategic
business advice on the mission-critical priorities that cut across the
HR function. Additional information is available at http://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/human-resources-leaders.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading research and advisory
company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with
indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their
mission-critical priorities and build the successful organizations of
tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and
data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the
issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource
for more than 15,000 organizations in more than 100 countries — across
all major functions, in every industry and enterprise size.
To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of
business, visit www.gartner.com.
Contacts
Mary Baker
Gartner
mary.baker@gartner.com