How to build a Gen Z-friendly workplace

Working life can be tough for Gen Z accountants. Sure, they might be digital natives with youth on their side, but they’ve entered the workplace at a time of huge upheaval, in many cases following a disrupted university education. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, they’re now having to get to grips with working environments that either entirely or partially embrace remote working – a challenge that previous generations did not face when they first started work.

Gen Z were born between 1997 and 2012, making the oldest members of this cohort a sprightly 26. As a result, they are generally among the most junior members of finance teams, which creates challenges for both them and their employers as organisations continue to adjust to new ways of working.

“Gen Z accountants are the first cohort who are going to be working through the ‘new era of work’,” says Lorraine Twist, a director at recruiter Hays, specialising in accountancy and finance. “Many finance firms are still figuring out how their hybrid offering works, and what a hybrid workplace looks and feels like.”

Certainly, research suggests that hybrid working is creating plenty of conundrums for employers to wrestle with — across all industries, sectors and professions. A survey of more than 3,000 office workers in North America and Europe by Insights Learning & Development found that two-fifths (40%) identified a lack of social connection as one of the challenges associated with hybrid working. In addition, 30% felt disconnected from remote colleagues, while 29% found it hard to establish relationships.

“Our research found that hybrid workers struggle with ‘human’ aspects of remote and hybrid working,” explains Tanya Boyd, learning experience architect at Insights. “Many lament the lack of social connection and the opportunity to engage in casual conversations. They feel disconnected from colleagues and struggle to establish relationships with teammates. While these issues affect all generations, it is easy to see that they could disproportionately impact younger workers, who don’t necessarily have the workplace experience to fall back on in order to successfully navigate these challenges and for whom the social side of work has always been so important.”

Challenges facing Gen Z

An obvious problem for young accountants starting out in a remote or hybrid working environment is that they may not have a suitable working space at home, regardless of whether they are living with parents or house-sharing with friends. This can hinder their productivity and cause their managers to assume — unfairly — that they are underperforming. Another issue for young accountants is that hybrid and remote working practices can deny them the opportunity to ask important questions and effectively ‘learn by osmosis’ from their peers and managers.

“Sometimes it’s underplayed how much information you pick up from listening to someone answer a query on the phone,” says Judith Germain, leadership consultant and founder of The Maverick Paradox. “And it’s much easier to walk over to somebody and say, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand this’, than it is to pick up a phone or to try to book a meeting.”

On the topic of phones, these are famously not a device that Gen Z feel particularly comfortable using – when it comes to speaking to other people, rather than messaging them, that is. In fact, research by Sydney-based CommBank and telecoms company More found that nearly half (49%) of Gen Z Australians feel anxious talking on the phone.

Perhaps surprisingly, for a generation that grew up with YouTube, Gen Z are not necessarily at ease with sitting on videoconferencing calls either. “A lot of people struggle with being on a video call,” says Germain. “Because it looks like you’ve got ten people looking at you. Older people have got used to it, but it’s quite nerve-wracking, especially if you’re a new person or you don’t know what to say.”

Providing support

Gen Z are renowned for their love of a good work-life balance. Indeed, research by the Graduate Management Admission Council found that they view a good work-life balance and job stability as two of the most important factors in their future careers. As a profession, finance is known for its long hours and tight deadlines, however – which poses a problem for finance leaders looking to attract, motivate and retain the younger generations.

Segal addresses this issue by underlining the fundamental importance of what his business does and the “massive knock-on impact” for clients if deadlines are missed or bookkeeping or reporting are not done correctly. “We’re clear about our expectations,” he says, “and people’s careers go really far here. We open the door for them, and they can choose to walk through it. If they don’t, that’s on them. Quite a few people have not passed probation.”

Boyd has some practical suggestions for employers who want to help younger workers better acclimatise to the office and further their careers. To begin with, she says, they should develop a robust preboarding and onboarding experience that ensures all new colleagues deeply understand the business’s purpose and strategy, its organisational and operational structures, and perhaps most importantly, its culture.

She also emphasises the importance of managers investing time upfront in introducing new employees to their new teammates, potential collaborators and key stakeholders.

“Ensure they properly understand the role they’ve been brought in to do, their unique contribution and how it helps the company — and your customers,” she says. “Help them get to grips with the communication channels and technologies, and cadence of meetings — including one-to-ones, and team, departmental, and company-wide meetings.”

Additionally, she believes that managers should organise social gatherings, outside of work, to strengthen relationships and build a unified and cohesive community.

Germain suggests that when it comes to getting Gen Z up to speed in the office, employers should capitalise on their willingness to learn new things. So, while younger accountants will be undertaking technical training as a matter of course, they could also benefit from training in basic workplace skills such as writing business letters and emails, answering the phone, or knowing when or how to speak up in meetings. She adds managers should ensure they set clear expectations for Gen Z team members and provide them with feedback.

Within his business, Segal has motivated new employees by giving them dedicated projects to own.

“It might be as simple as writing a holiday handover policy or looking at how we can innovate using technology,” he says. “But it means they benefit from getting a start-up experience.”

Finally, finance leaders should embrace all the advantages that come with having Gen Z accountants in their team.

“Gen Z bring some wonderful gifts and fresh perspectives,” notes Germain. “They’re entrepreneurial, they do their research, they bring in lots of new ideas, and they’re probably more up to date than you are.”

Segal echoes this positive view, saying: "If you hire right, you'll get fantastic results from Gen Z."

Case in point

Former finance director James Segal founded fin-house, a provider of finance teams as a service, in 2021. He has several Gen Z staff members and agrees that face-to-face interaction is critical to their development.

His own team spends three days in the company’s London office and two working from home – and he’s noticed that his younger team members are more likely to raise queries when working in the office.

“For us, it’s really important to have a base,” he says, “especially for people in the early part of their careers, so that we can train them and coach them.”

Segal also believes that fully remote businesses can “lose the vibe and the connection” that naturally arise when people come together.

“With Gen Z, if something in their life is affecting them, their work is immediately affected,” he says. “So, you need to build up relationships with them.”

High-quality work is vital in finance. So, junior team members invariably benefit from having convenient access to their colleagues.

“In a profession where accuracy is important, having that opportunity to sense check work with your peers in the office can be very useful,” says Twist.