美国大学应届毕业生有许多乐观的理由。经过半远程授课和未来完全不确定的四年之后,就业市场的情况终于有所好转。应届毕业生甚至比疫情之前的毕业生更有可能找到好工作。
多年的非常规学校教育,如Zoom在线授课和取消SAT考试要求等,确实让学生们更容易适应变化和不可预测的情况,并且有更灵活的应对能力。
但另一方面,多年来劳动力市场紧张,而且毕业生失去了线下实习或从事入门级岗位的机会,这可能让他们在评估和掌握职场文化方面很不幸地落后于其他人。许多领导者一直都主张,软技能通常比完成任务的能力更重要。新员工在入职培训时可以掌握完成任务的能力。
当然,这一直都是公司高管的观点。接近一半招聘经理表示,Z世代是最难共事的一个群体,就连Z世代老板也认同这种观点。普华永道(PwC)英国业务的首席人力资源官伊恩·艾略特最近表示:“在疫情期间错过了面对面活动的学生,现在可能在某些领域更强大,例如独立工作方面,但在小组报告等方面却缺乏自信,这是完全可以理解的。”
即使工作说明中并不包括小组报告,但对于职场新人而言,无论在任何领域,从事任何工作,他们都有责任理解他们被录用的原因,以及他们需要做些什么才能保持良好的工作状态。这是Zoom首席人力资源官马休·萨克森的观点。他最近在接受《财富》杂志采访时称赞了自我意识和价值创造的优点。
萨克森对《财富》杂志表示:“硅谷的职场新人需要真正了解如何创造价值,尤其是客户价值。如果你在辅助职能部门,[距离客户]可能有一点距离,但你依旧应该清楚如何创造最大的价值。”
萨克森表示,视频会议应用Zoom在疫情期间备受欢迎,现在它依旧是一个家喻户晓的平台。它每个季度都会对员工进行一次调查。调查专注于三个主要支柱。第一:下个季度的工作重点是什么,以及你如何帮助完成这些任务?第二:在庆祝胜利的同时,也要考虑哪些方面可以做得更好。第三:扪心自问你在当前的岗位和未来可能承担的岗位上如何发展。
萨克森表示:“这是真正的成功模式。了解客户价值链,以及你在价值链中的作用。”
幸运的是,对萨克森以及可能不能理解Z世代的那些人力资源负责人而言,事实证明这些最年轻的上班族比前辈们更关心与工作结果之间的联系,以及他们的工作会如何改善周围的世界。
圣地亚哥州立大学(San Diego State University)心理学教授、《美国的代际差异和对未来的意义》(Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future)的作者珍·特温格最近为《财富》杂志撰文时写道:“Z世代比前辈们更重视‘直接有助于他人’的工作。”与同龄时的千禧一代相比,Z世代更有同理心,而且他们会寻找“对社会更有价值”的工作。
萨克森对此深有体会。他对《财富》杂志表示,他认为人事主管的工作分为三个部分:他必须照顾到公司、团队和个人。他说道:“人事主管和人力资源部门需要从这三个角度思考问题。你的工作是如何在公司内建立联系,如何执行公司的愿景、使命、战略、价值观、慈善事业和DEI(多元、公平和包容)等。”
他补充道,对于任何公司而言,培养彼此之间以及员工与工作之间有意义的联系至关重要。“我认为有时候人力资源负责人倾向于专注于公司层面,传统的人力资源负责人不太注重个人层面。”
Z世代有进取心,渴望从事符合自身价值观的工作,并且需要保证工作-生活平衡,他们最终可能使人力资源工作的天平恢复平衡。(财富中文网)
翻译:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
美国大学应届毕业生有许多乐观的理由。经过半远程授课和未来完全不确定的四年之后,就业市场的情况终于有所好转。应届毕业生甚至比疫情之前的毕业生更有可能找到好工作。
多年的非常规学校教育,如Zoom在线授课和取消SAT考试要求等,确实让学生们更容易适应变化和不可预测的情况,并且有更灵活的应对能力。
但另一方面,多年来劳动力市场紧张,而且毕业生失去了线下实习或从事入门级岗位的机会,这可能让他们在评估和掌握职场文化方面很不幸地落后于其他人。许多领导者一直都主张,软技能通常比完成任务的能力更重要。新员工在入职培训时可以掌握完成任务的能力。
当然,这一直都是公司高管的观点。接近一半招聘经理表示,Z世代是最难共事的一个群体,就连Z世代老板也认同这种观点。普华永道(PwC)英国业务的首席人力资源官伊恩·艾略特最近表示:“在疫情期间错过了面对面活动的学生,现在可能在某些领域更强大,例如独立工作方面,但在小组报告等方面却缺乏自信,这是完全可以理解的。”
即使工作说明中并不包括小组报告,但对于职场新人而言,无论在任何领域,从事任何工作,他们都有责任理解他们被录用的原因,以及他们需要做些什么才能保持良好的工作状态。这是Zoom首席人力资源官马休·萨克森的观点。他最近在接受《财富》杂志采访时称赞了自我意识和价值创造的优点。
萨克森对《财富》杂志表示:“硅谷的职场新人需要真正了解如何创造价值,尤其是客户价值。如果你在辅助职能部门,[距离客户]可能有一点距离,但你依旧应该清楚如何创造最大的价值。”
萨克森表示,视频会议应用Zoom在疫情期间备受欢迎,现在它依旧是一个家喻户晓的平台。它每个季度都会对员工进行一次调查。调查专注于三个主要支柱。第一:下个季度的工作重点是什么,以及你如何帮助完成这些任务?第二:在庆祝胜利的同时,也要考虑哪些方面可以做得更好。第三:扪心自问你在当前的岗位和未来可能承担的岗位上如何发展。
萨克森表示:“这是真正的成功模式。了解客户价值链,以及你在价值链中的作用。”
幸运的是,对萨克森以及可能不能理解Z世代的那些人力资源负责人而言,事实证明这些最年轻的上班族比前辈们更关心与工作结果之间的联系,以及他们的工作会如何改善周围的世界。
圣地亚哥州立大学(San Diego State University)心理学教授、《美国的代际差异和对未来的意义》(Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future)的作者珍·特温格最近为《财富》杂志撰文时写道:“Z世代比前辈们更重视‘直接有助于他人’的工作。”与同龄时的千禧一代相比,Z世代更有同理心,而且他们会寻找“对社会更有价值”的工作。
萨克森对此深有体会。他对《财富》杂志表示,他认为人事主管的工作分为三个部分:他必须照顾到公司、团队和个人。他说道:“人事主管和人力资源部门需要从这三个角度思考问题。你的工作是如何在公司内建立联系,如何执行公司的愿景、使命、战略、价值观、慈善事业和DEI(多元、公平和包容)等。”
他补充道,对于任何公司而言,培养彼此之间以及员工与工作之间有意义的联系至关重要。“我认为有时候人力资源负责人倾向于专注于公司层面,传统的人力资源负责人不太注重个人层面。”
Z世代有进取心,渴望从事符合自身价值观的工作,并且需要保证工作-生活平衡,他们最终可能使人力资源工作的天平恢复平衡。(财富中文网)
翻译:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
The new class of college graduates have plenty of reasons for optimism. After four years of semi-remote classes and fully uncertain futures, the job market is finally looking brighter—and the newest cohort may even be better positioned to land a good job than pre-pandemic grads.
All those years of unconventional schooling—with Zoom lectures and dropped SAT requirements—surely have made students more amenable to change, unpredictability, and going with the flow.
But on the other side of the ledger, those years of tight labor markets and missed opportunities for in-person internships or entry-level work may have left them haplessly behind when it comes to assessing and mastering workplace culture. And as many leaders have long maintained, soft skills are often significantly more crucial than tasks that can be taught to anyone during onboarding.
That’s certainly been the opinion of the top brass. Nearly half of hiring managers say Gen Z is the hardest sect to work with—a take even Gen Z bosses agree with. “It’s wholly understandable that students who missed out on face-to-face activities during COVID may now be stronger in certain fields, such as working independently, and less confident in others, such as presentations to groups,” Ian Elliott, chief people officer of PwC’s UK business, said recently.
Even if group presentations aren’t part of the job description, it’s incumbent upon new workforce entrants—in any field, doing any job—to have a strong sense of why they were hired, and what they need to do to remain in good standing. That’s according to Matthew Saxon, the chief people officer of Zoom, who extolled the virtues of self-awareness and value-adding in a recent interview with Fortune.
“Young Silicon Valley newcomers need to really understand how to create value, particularly customer value,” Saxon told Fortune. “If you’re in a support function that might be a couple of steps removed [from the customer], still be really clear on how you can add the most value.”
Zoom, the pandemic-era videoconferencing darling that remains a household name, conducts a quarterly check-in among each member of its workforce, Saxon said. It focuses on three primary pillars. The first: What are the priorities of the upcoming quarter, and how might you help in achieving them? The second: Celebrating success while also considering where you can do better, in equal measure. The third: Asking how you can develop, both within your current role and in potential future roles.
“That really is the model for setting someone up for success,” Saxon said. “Understanding the customer value chain, and where you play within that.”
Luckily for Saxon—and for people leaders across the workforce who may be confused by Gen Zers—it turns out the youngest workers, more than any of their forebears, really do care about connecting with their work output and seeing how it improves the world around them.
“Gen Z values jobs that are ‘directly helpful to others’ more than previous generations did,” Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and the author of Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future, wrote for Fortune recently. Gen Zers also show more empathy than millennials did at their age, and seek out jobs that are more “worthwhile to society.”
That’s a fact Saxon knows well. He told Fortune he considers his job as head of people to be three-pronged: He must look after the company, the team, and the individual. “People chiefs and HR functions need to look through those three lenses, too,” he said. “It’s about how you build connections in the company, and how you execute on vision, mission, strategy, values, philanthropy, DEI—any of those sorts of things.”
It’s critical for any company to foster those meaningful bonds—both to each other and to the work—he added. “I think sometimes human resources leaders have tended to focus on the top part, which is the company level, and maybe traditionally, not heavily on the individual level.”
With their gumption and desire for a job that reflects their values and need for work-life balance, Gen Z might finally rebalance the scales for good.