Dr. Ekrah on Gen Z and Why CEO’s are troubled

Dr. Ekrah Ndung’u, Chairperson of the Kenya National Association of Private Colleges (KENAPCO) has taken a moment to share with us more about Gen Z and why CEOs are troubled. Dr. Ekrah had this to say:

“This Gen Z has been our students. It’s a generation that grew up with a lot of attention because the baby boomers got a lot of kids. There are three major things that happened with this generation: one that’s the global recession, which had a ripple effect with mass layoffs, and they are a generation that were pampered despite the strain that came with their upbringing. These kids are now in campus/ college and then they experience a global pandemic, they haven’t been able even to get internship opportunities because even the companies prefer persons with experience.

Companies are saying they’d rather have an experienced person who will be paid less and deliver than have a Gen Z who will cause trouble.

This generation thinks they know what they want but actually, they don’t. this a generation that their communication has been emojis. Some of them went through the virtual system of learning thereby missing out on the very crucial in-person communication skills.

That explains why this generation is not confrontational, they’d rather quit than face their manager. They are a very confident generation. After all, they were given the affirmation they wanted because they were few. They heavily rely on search engines for information and research and as such if they are managed properly, they can do for you an exemplary kind of work. They are also thinking globally and apparently understand the word global citizenship very well. Their personal development with proper guidance can be perfect. They are too exposed until they end up in confusion.

They are looking for social validation through the social media ecosystem. They want to express their feelings on social media and expect instant feedback in terms of likes and comments. The risk they pose to the employer who is hiring them is that they don’t want to be taken through the rigorous interview process, they find it bothersome, and they can take the offer letter and fail to report to work. They are also not afraid of quitting. They live with their parents so even if they quit they will be embraced at home. They want their personal problems solved at work. The CEO of today has to be a coach, a mentor and must also have some counseling skills. Leadership has never been more difficult than it is today. Because remember the boomers are not yet 65, so they are still at work, and you have millennials in the same workplace, and you have the highest percentage of the workforce, the doers, and the technicians are now the Gen Z.

This is where you find CEOs can even break down. The Gen Z want instant feedback as compared to their predecessors who used to wait for annual appraisals and performance management.

The boomers only got feedback about their performance once a year, the generation that was there to be seen but not heard….then the Millennials demanded continuous feedback and their performance to be managed rather than just a year kind of response…however genZ wants instant feedback, for every assignment they want to know how they did it…this is a generation that got lots attention and praising from their parents since the majority are few kids at home, unfortunately they expect the same kind of special attention at work while the CEOs can’t give them that specialized attention since workplace isn’t a babysitting corner it’s a productivity place.

This creates lots of tension, some parents also follow Genz to work and do not respect the companies they work for, it’s very likely to hear a GenZ saying I discussed this with my parents, and my parents said this work is too much…. parents also need to learn how to let go. To shape this generation the parents/guardians must accept to let go of their young adults.