GenZ Workforce Discussion Paper
Introduction
The workforce is changing as new employees enter the labor pool. Over the next ten years, up to 61 million people in the U.S. born after 1995 (i.e, GenZ) will enter the workforce. GenZ have unique characteristics, and human resource managers (HRM) need to be prepared for possible new hiring and training approaches. One of the most important issues facing HRM is employee retention (RET). RET is defined as the intention of employees to stay employed. RET is critical for organizational success due to the costs associated with hiring and training new workers, the loss of business continuity when employees leave (i.e., turnover), and the loss of productivity when employees leave (Lee, Hom, Eberly, & Li, 2018).
Traditional research on retention has focused on turnover, which is a reactive approach to why employees have left. Current research on retention has focused on employees staying, which is a proactive approach of why employees want to stay. Retention strategies encompass those policies and procedures initiated by HR managers and organizational leaders to increase intention to stay.
One strategy to increase RET is employee engagement (EE), because employees who are engaged have high intention to stay with the organization (Vance, 2006). At the turn of the 21st century, EE was defined from the context of positive psychology as a “persistent, positive affective-motivational state of fulfillment in employees” (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001, p. 417). According to current estimates, only about one-third of U.S. employees are engaged (Corbin, 2017). Thus there may be opportunities for HR managers and organizational leaders to increase EE in their human talent.
The purpose of this course-embedded research experience (CRE) project is to address the following three objectives: (1) What GenZ value in the workplace, (2) Identify recommendations GenZ have for increasing employee engagement, and (3) Identify recommendations GenZ have for increasing retention. These objectives are timely in today’s highly competitive global business market, especially with a multi-generational workforce. Results of this study may help employers and HR managers to anticipate workplace needs and possibly change HR strategies to increase EE and RET in new GenZ workers.
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FOR AFTER READING PAPER (10 Points)
Q1. Define the GenZ workforce. (2 points)
Q2. As noted in the Introduction, what are the definitions for RET and EE? (2 points)
Q3. Why are we arguing in the paper to study RET rather than turnover? (2 points)
Q4. As noted in the Introduction, what is the purpose of the study? (2 points)
Q5. As noted in the Introduction, what is the anticipated significance of the study? (2 points)