Integrity

Weaknesses of the younger generation compared to the veteran generation:

·         Consistent tardiness

·         Accuracy in time reporting

·         Sloppy work

·         Lack of responsibility

·         Non-compliance with procedures

·         Damage to the organization's reputation

 

A picture emerges of the "adults" generation as a responsible and independent generation, relaxed and coping well under pressure, acting fairly and honestly towards the organization. In contrast, the younger generation is characterized by higher levels of social involvement, caring, sociability, social ease, and emotional awareness, but struggles to meet organizational norms currently prevalent in most organizations.

The Harvard Business School has been collecting extensive data on its students for decades, if not hundreds of years. They provide evidence of generational gaps. They ask all twenty-year-olds who come to study business management the same questions. They asked these questions in 1970, when those born in the 1950s arrived, asked again in 1990, when those born in the 1970s arrived, and asked again in 2000 when those born in 1980 arrived, and so on. And they can see that there are intergenerational differences. For example,

·         Expect my manager to give me special treatment – 58% of 1980s children, 31% of 1960s children.

·         Prefer a structured environment and clear rules – 72% of those born in the 1980s, 33% of 1960s children.
Note that younger people prefer a structured environment with clear rules, but data from Logipss show that they find it difficult to comply with these rules.

There is a great generalization here, certainly at the individual level we can all think of examples of people who are actually exactly "opposite" – older workers who are very socially relaxed, involved, caring and emotional; and young workers who are responsible, professional, and cope well under pressure. But here emerges a picture of different characteristics of generations in the labor market. Why were these differences created?

"Generation" is defined as a group of people who were born in a shared historical and socio-cultural context, experienced similar formative experiences and developed shared characteristics as a result, these characteristics are called "generational consciousness". Despite the fact that human development is identical across generations, the environment in which development occurs changes, and therefore the developmental outcome, namely the adult and their consciousness, is different.

Several generations currently operate simultaneously in the labor market:

·         The Veterans generation – born 1940-1950, usually in very senior positions, approaching retirement and exit from the labor market.

·         Generation XX – born 1950-1970 (some overlap with the Palmach generation, depending on classifications), usually in established positions in the labor market.

·         Intermediate layer, Transition generation, children of the 1970s-1980s.

·         GenerationY – born 1982 (birth of the Internet)-1995, in entry positions in the labor market.

·         GenerationZ – born 1995-2010, the first of whom are 22 years old, taking first steps in the labor market, entering directly or after studies.

So what is the context that can explain these intergenerational differences?

 

Technological Context

Despite the fact that the entire society (culture) experiences the same cultural changes, the age at which a person is during these changes greatly affects their development. For example, we distinguish between what are called "technological native speakers" and "technological immigrants." Native speakers are children born in 1982 and onwards, who were born into the internet world. This is Generation Y. Even more natural speakers are Generation Z children, born in 1995 and onwards, who were born with a smartphone in hand, tablets, interactive entertainment systems, and more. Everyone else – we are immigrants. Learning the language but it's not natural to us. Still dreaming in analog, as the song says "But at night I still dream in... analog." That is, Generation X (born in the 1960s-1970s) and the generations before them know that every question in the world – Google already knows the answer to it, but when they grew up they looked for answers in heavy encyclopedias, with considerable effort. Therefore, Generation X's reading of Google is usually deeper, longer, and more integrative than that of native Google speakers. "Technology immigrants" (older generations) learned to adapt themselves to technology, while the younger ones developed with it together, and it doesn't drain them of mental resources. Research is conducted on the internet, market research on social networks, speeches and presentations are based on visual aids and not on "tightening" the content.

The fact that Google has an answer to everything means there's no need to make an effort and work hard to expand knowledge, and in general, knowledge is something that doesn't need to be kept in the brain. External devices with unlimited access are more than enough. It seems that most of them "see" search results and don't "read" search results. Information processing processes are not linear, step-by-step, but include rapid and simultaneous judgment of information.

 

The technological influences are far-reaching. Increased exposure to technology affects brain development. Studies show that repeated use of technology indeed changes the structure and activity of the brain, a state called the "Brain Gap" (in parallel to the "Digital Gap"). Their prominent thinking skills are in multitasking, splitting attention and visual scanning, skills resulting from the almost constant bombardment of stimuli from technology. "Multitasking" is actually the ability to give partial attention to a larger number of tasks. Simply – instead of giving 100% to one thing, you give 50% to two things, and in exaggeration – 0% to the whole world... Physical presence exists, but social or cognitive attention is not given. All of these are expected to intensify even more in Generation Z children, who are exposed at much higher levels to technologies and visual information bombardment, and the brain effects on them are even stronger.

Children of Y and Z are used to a world full of possibilities and choices, and to bombardment of a lot of information simultaneously. Their brain is rewarded for shallow processing and quick transitions. Their patience to wait is very short. Their working memory strengthens in this process – the ability to hold a lot of "active" information simultaneously, but this action is also very tiring for the brain. Therefore, they respond better to processes in which they are required to be active, partners in creating something digital or influencing its formation through their decisions.

 

Social Networks were born when the first Generation Y entered the job market, so they are not necessarily "networked" from birth, but Generation Z children were definitely born into a world permanently connected through technology. In fact, the situation is such that only sleep competes with our teenagers for hours spent on social networks, which reach up to 8 hours. Let's not be confused, these are 8 hours for Generation X, for Generation Z the time contracts because everything happens in parallel. 3 social applications open simultaneously and the teenager carries out activities in all of them at the same time. "Battery Index" - know it? At what percentage of phone battery do you start to get anxious? 80% among young people in their 20s, much less (sometimes only when the battery turns red) among older generations. Maybe it's a funny measure, but it's a generational characteristic.

Fewer face-to-face interactions make it difficult to develop social skills. When face-to-face interactions are more frequent, the results are positive: a wide range of social emotions, a sense of normalcy and well-being, more sleep hours (which are linked to other positive outcomes such as academic success and emotional regulation), greater social success, fewer parents who think you're a "bad influence," less exposure to cyberbullying (which is very difficult to detect and address), higher empathic abilities (because when we don't get feedback on others' feelings, it's harder for us to calibrate our responses to maintain the social fabric, meaning – not hurt others). For example, they found that sensitive, caring, and "people-oriented" managers are a desirable commodity among Generation Y workers, but managers from Generation Y were not described as such at all...

 

Value-Economic Context

·         Generation Y grew up with the "child-centered" approach, and now in the job market, they demand "employee-centered" approach.

·         They were encouraged to maintain close and trusting relationships with parents, teachers, counselors... and now they are trying to replicate this model in the workplace with their managers.

·         They grew up in systems that cocooned them, adapted to their needs, and brought each individual to success, with almost exclusively positive feedback. Now, they encounter a system where the norm is a uniform standard for everyone, without personal adjustments, and with negative feedback. They feel hurt and struggle to adapt.

·         They grew up in an atmosphere of sociability, teamwork, and partnership, but with relatively weak social skills (social media). Therefore, they want to work in teams, but need clarity and rules.

·         They grew up in constant competition, anxious about every grade. Therefore, they also experience performance anxiety at work.

·     They grew up in a period of intensifying economic gaps, with a shrinking middle class, a trend that is becoming more extreme among Generation Z. They understand that the organization cannot guarantee them stability, livelihood, security, and therefore in return - they do not promise these things.

 

Adaptation and Driving Change

Each new generation coming of age encounters norms shaped by previous generations and works to integrate them within their generational cognitive framework. This is the expectation of adaptation that older generations direct towards the younger ones: you have arrived at an existing system, please adapt to it and enter the adult world.

At the same time, this integration also drives change, since most "old" norms were shaped based on previous historical, economic, and/or social processes, while the new generation represents the current situation and helps adapt norms to the present state.

There is a combination between expecting young people to adapt themselves to the organization and expecting the organization to adapt itself to young people and drive organizational change through them. A question that every organization can ask itself - to what extent is the process happening from both sides? To what extent is the expectation that "they" will change reasonable while the organization remains unchanged and "freezes" in time?

Generation Y is not easy to manage, because they want teamwork (but structured and with clear rules - is there such a team???), are committed to organizational goals (but want to choose tasks that suit them), ask for clear guidelines and rules (but are cynical towards them when given), and need constant feedback to guide their actions (but feel they are excellent and are easily hurt by negative feedback). Therefore, many managers feel they are difficult to manage, and 58% of HR managers report problems in "young-adult" relationships in the organization. This is especially true for Generation X managers, because when an X manager who grew up in a generation where they thought a manager shouldn't give special treatment to each employee meets a Y employee who grew up in a generation where they think every employee is unique and a manager should recognize this... well, problems arise. From an organizational development perspective, it helps to see them as children learning to ride a bicycle and act similarly, instead of "throwing them into the water to see if they swim or drown," an approach under which Generation X entered the job market.

 

So what does all this mean for the recruitment world? 

The key to change is multidimensional change. On one hand, organizations need to continue changing their recruitment processes, becoming more digital, more visual, and more targeted as more digital children enter the job market. Recruitment processes need to be accessible from any smartphone, attractive in design, and simple to operate. 

What can be done "only from the computer in the organization" - will be less accessible to most employees. What will be designed with extensive text and adapted for large screens - will make it difficult for young people to cooperate. What is complex and requires deepening in the process - will be pushed back.

But mainly recruitment processes need to be dynamic, constantly in motion, learning, evolving. Our young employees are signaling to us that it's time to make a change, to learn new tools, to utilize computer technologies and learning capabilities to refine processes.

At the same time, organizations will need to examine their requirements and expectations for the changing world and, as much as possible, make adjustments that will allow new generations to succeed and advance the organization in the new world. For example, is the time frame critical? Is the professional relationship the "red line"? Is dealing with difficulties the central thing? These criteria need to be integrated into the selection process at the forefront, so that they will tip the scales in favor of those who have already made progress toward the desired worker of the 21st century, or at least of 2018. 

In conclusion, I want to quote Steve Jobs [3] , who said: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." 

 “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”  

So that's what we have left to do - engage in futurism to the best of our ability, and trust that the processes will connect in the future in an accurate and correct way. Good luck to all generations.

On Smartphones, Psychology and Generation-Z

HR Conference Lecture 3.1.2018

Merav Hami, Psychologist,

Professional Manager – Logips Online Psychometric Assessment