Gen Alpha will soon enter their first jobs. How should HR teams consider this group as part of their future work strategy?
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Director of HR6 months ago
I spoke to my 24 year old and 20 year old (a bit older but maybe still relevant). They said:- They value going in to the office, but not 5 days a week. They don't seem to mind the commute.
- And, that time in the office should be flexible - eg 10 till 6 is fine.
- They definitely don't want to give their whole life to their work as they perceive I have done.
- They can't understand why anyone would think you can't build a network, community etc online, you've just got to be clear about the purpose for the community and keep feeding it.
- Their attention span is sooo much shorter than mine - if any comms etc takes more than 2.5mins to read/listen to, you've lost them. I test my LinkedIn videos on them and watch to see when their eyes glaze over - then I know I've got to get shorter and punchier.
- They have no problem just moving on to another company if the culture doesn't work for them, and are very happy to stay for a long time if it is (as far as they can tell so far)
I agree with Peter on everything he said, particularly ref training, but also, don't think that Gen Alpha don't want pensions, or health insurance, or development, or any of the things that all other generations want - at the end of the day they still want to make their way up Maslow's triangle.
That said ADP did a survey People at Work 2023, which indicated that Gen Alpha prioritise more flexibility of location, physical and mental health, remote work, gig opportunities and meaningful and enriching experiences over salary, job security and traditional career paths.
So things like changing training to be more bit sized TikTok, style online gaming and immersive experiences, so thats highly visual and interactive training. If you ask a Gen Alpha how they leant something it is usually via YouTube so having some standard courses broken down into useful segments is a practical way of making a adjustment that could still be used by others.
They are seen to be more socially aware and vocal about fairness and sustainability, with 96% advocating for fair treatment regardless of demographics. My observation is that is not a Gen Alpha trait but something that now runs across the generates far more than in the past.