Culture Reflects Leadership and Shaping an Organisational Identity.  How do We Support Gen Z to Thrive in an Empathetic Workplace?

Inspire, empower, nurture.  Culture reflects leadership and these two things are key in shaping organization’s identity, values, and supporting people’s performance and development. The core values an organization has are the foundations on which we build common ground with our employees and teams.
Generation Z, born roughly between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, are known for their digital prowess, entrepreneurial spirit, social consciousness, and desire for inclusivity in interactions and experiences. We have a new generation entering the workforce that require us to challenge our thinking at times but also need us to provide them with empathy and the basics to be able to empower and nurture them.

Supporting Gen Z to thrive in an empathetic workplace involves aligning leadership practices with common values and preferences as well as instilling in them the organizations vision and mission.
• Introducing culture and leadership – why the two must work in partnership.
• Why values of an organization set the foundational basis for employees and the accountability that comes with this.
• The different generations of a workforce (boomers, millennials, Gen Z) and the different working ethos/practices for each.
• How can we practically support Gen Z using our experiences and different world view through empathy whilst helping them build resilience?
• We don’t have to reinvent the wheel but there may be a need to go back to basics!

3 Key Learnings

1. Insight into why leadership and culture are vital in supporting different demographics in the workplace.
2. Two different world views on our career journeys (myself as a millennial and my colleague Harry as a Gen Z)
3. Practical – back to basics strategies to support Gen Z to thrive in the workplace and how we can all learn together.

About Harry

Once a college drop-out who happened upon Learning & Development in search for an apprenticeship (because it was the only role without ‘Making tea’ in the Job Description), and fortunate enough to land in a team of people who just happened to be experts in helping; helping me realise that there are other ways to learn than from a textbook – who knew?

Now, driven by the tangible impact we have on both individuals and organisations from the get-go of an L&D career. A talent for operational & commercial thinking and playing a frantic game of ‘catch-up’ with L&D technical knowledge.