Generation Z doesn’t only want a pay rise, but more time for themselves. Time that they can fill in as they wish. Gen Z needs time!
“The Netherlands has a record number of 9.4 million workers. Half of them work part-time. And a third of them (about one and a half million people) don’t work more than twenty hours a week.” Source nu.nl
Your lifespan has a limit and no amount of money can buy you new time.
The employee is becoming more and more aware of this, and as a result, time is becoming an increasingly important means of exchange or payment. Employees increasingly want to decide for themselves how time and work are filled. It is important that leaders understand that it should be much more about the outcome of the work. When and where the work is done is becoming less and less relevant.
By setting clear goals together, we can focus on outcomes.
It’s more about meaningful interpretation of the work.
I, too, have always found it important.
A long time ago, I was allowed to attend a training session.
The training started with a word on the Whiteboard and we had to describe what association we had with it.
Can you guess what my association was? The word on the board didn’t matter. Sometimes you shouldn’t take things too seriously and have fun. Fortunately, the trainer picked it up well. Do you want to know what association I had? Please send me an e-mail via info@appcert.eu
The trainer then instructed the participants to write down what you have been most proud of in the past year.
All my colleagues started writing furiously about something they were super proud of and then we had to present it. One beautiful new customer or order was presented and then I was allowed.
There was 1 word in my presentation BALANCE
All my colleagues laughed at me and the comments were not mild. Really something for you, you don’t take it seriously etc. The trainer addressed the word BALANCE because I took it seriously! “What do you mean by this?” the trainer asked.
What I mean by BALANCE is the following:
Not much earlier I had become a father again and we moved so a lot was happening in my life.
Fortunately, my results with the employer also remained fine so everything was well balanced.
Life is more than just the employer and the realization slowly came to my colleagues:)
Available professionals
As an employer, it is also important to be aware of this, because the chronic staff shortage is putting increasing pressure on current employees. And yes, then you can kick in the standard open duration: “Under pressure everything becomes liquid” or “It can squeak and creak as long as it doesn’t break”
This is a great starting point when changes are to be expected in the short term with regard to the number of available professionals, but the market is currently under a lot of pressure, so you want to prevent unwanted departures and dropouts, so how much pressure do you want to put on your employees?
And the figures from the UWV show that the market is under pressure. Fortunately, the tightness in the labor market has eased slightly in the last quarter of 2023. This is evident from the UWV’s Indicator.
Suppose we continue to have a shortage of available professionals, will we continue to increase the pressure on current employees or is that path a risky one? In addition, the labor market is subject to change anyway and I will discuss that in more detail on this blog.