New data published today by global leadership experts Right Management offers evidence that Gen Z employees (those aged 16-26 years old) might be considered the most loyal of the four generations currently making up the UK workforce.
Of 2,000 employees and leaders surveyed for a study into national leadership and workplace trends, it is Gen Z employees who are more likely to be planning to stay in their current roles for more than one year and up to three years (36 per cent), compared with 25 per cent of Millennial employees (27-42 years old), 16 per cent of Gen X (43-58 years old) and 22 per cent of Baby Boomers (59-77 years old). Another 17 per cent of Gen Z workers are planning to be in their current role for more than three years and up to five, slightly more than Millennials (16 per cent), as well as Gen X (12 per cent) and Baby Boomers (15 per cent).
Gen Z employees also say they are highly likely (85 per cent) to trust their line manager when it comes to being honest when talking about their career aspirations. The number who say they would not trust their line manager with such discussions rises through the generations from 15 per cent (Gen Z), to 20 per cent (Millennials), 24 per cent (Gen X), and 26 per cent (Baby Boomers).
Meanwhile, one in five Gen Z employees (20 per cent) say that a sense of duty and loyalty to their current employer makes them feel trapped in their current job. This response is less popular with other working generations with only 14 per cent of Millennials choosing loyalty as a reason for feeling trapped, and just 11 per cent and 13 per cent of Gen X and Baby Boomers respectively.
Lorraine Mills, Principal Consultant at Right Management, commented: “Intergenerational workplace differences are often subject to healthy debate, especially today as we see more Gen Z individuals joining the workforce, having been the first age-group to grow up exclusively in our online, globally connected and digital era.
“Like generations before, Gen Z has no shortage of stereotypes, but what we’re seeing in our latest survey data is evidence that counters some of the most common assumptions about these younger workers,” added Mills. “For example, Gen Z are frequently typecast as being job-hoppers, disengaged and lacking in motivation; but our recent results suggest the opposite, showing them to be more loyal than other generations, that they are thinking long-term about their careers, and have stronger motivations to discuss career aspirations with their line managers.
“Leaders and decision-makers must take all of this into account when making plans around the development of their teams and how they work with different generations. It can be all too easy to lean into lazy stereotypes and assumptions without realising; unintentionally reinforcing negative perspectives that can become a subtle and unhelpful part of a company’s culture. This is obviously damaging to the full potential of any individual affected, as well as to the prospects of an organisation as a whole.”
