The Hate You Give
“Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.”
-Anne Frank.
By Team Learning Minds
When I was a kid, I used to put my arms in my shirt and told people I lost my arms. I would restart the video game whenever I knew I was going to lose. I would sleep with all the stuffed animals so that none of them would get offended. I remember having that one pen with 6 colors and trying to push all the buttons at once. I poured my soda in the cap and pretended like I was taking shots. I would wait behind the doors just to scare someone entering but left because they talked too long or I had to pee. I would fake being asleep so that my dad would carry me to bed. I used to think that the moon followed my car. I used to swallow fruit seeds and get scared to death thinking that a tree was going to grow in my tummy. Remember when we were kids and couldn’t wait to grow up!! We were living happy healthy and carefree life filled with colors of joy and contentment.
So, what changed? We are grownups now!
Why aren’t we happy then? Why do we wait for those 8 hours of our job to pass somehow so that we can go home? Where did that excitement and curiosity go? Why are we not enjoying the work we do?
How many of you would say yes if I ask you the question, do you love your job? Do you love what you do? Do you love your grownup versions of yourselves?
If YES, ask yourself what your organization is doing, that made you think you love your job!
If NO, ask yourself again, what your organization is doing that made you think you hate your job or your boss!
I belong to “generation Z” and this blog will narrate my experience in the corporate world and many of us who belong to this generation.
I started off with an internship in a good and reputable organization where I loved my job. Yes, I loved my job. I was motivated towards achieving my goals and bringing new ideas but eventually, the steam blew off and I was working like any other employee, cursing the organization and frustrated with everything that I loved doing before. I literally had to drag myself up every morning just to reach office.
The situation got worst when I realized my managers don’t trust me or any of their employees. They didn’t have enough confidence on us, and they never tried to show empathy. And the only solution I was left with was to quit.
Well I am not here to rant about my previous boss or my job, but this experience taught me one thing and showed me an alarming situation with a red flag that needs to be catered as soon as possible.
The basic problem with us being the Gen Z is, we rely majorly on the mantra of instant gratification. We work on pleasure principle, but the important thing is, you cannot retain a generation Z employee in an organization by using monetary reward as a motivator. We need an environment where our managers listen to us, empathize us, motivate us, welcome our ideas and help us succeed, not the kind of environment where we feel suffocated and constipated.
So, to all the managers out there, if you want to retain a Gen Z employee, let them be their own true selves. Let them make mistakes, let them work at their natural best. Create an environment where they can trust each other. Listen to what they want to say, listen with the intent to understand and not with the intent to reply. Show empathy towards them. Just by asking, how are you? would create a sense of warmth in your employees towards you. Most importantly, let them make decisions in their own job and trust them to do the job that they have been trained to do so. And lastly, keep the environment lively by adding some tweaks in their boring normal routine.
Give them feedback where necessary, bring the positivity back. Appreciate them and the work and effort they put in despite of the mistakes they do; create an optimistic aura in your organization.
As a result, you’ll see your employee retention rate go up, along with the curves on the face of your employees.