8.
3.5.3. Generation Z
Banks must also keep an eye on the next generation to
enter the workforce. Generation Z, born after 2000, will have
grown up surrounded by smart mobile devices, pervasive
wireless connectivity and an always-on information screen.
More than any other generation, the hardware and software
they use in their private lives will be far more advanced than
what they will be provided with at work.
Having grown up used to choosing and modifying their
own hardware they will expect similar freedom in the
workplace and will require a higher level of control. IT
strategies will need to change, from today’s ‘provider’
model to tomorrow’s ‘curator’ model. In the curator
model, the role of IT departments becomes more about
supporting as many platforms as possible, allowing
employees to use a wide range of company-provided
devices as well as employees own devices. Interestingly, a
report by Computacenter ‘The Contemporary Workplace
– Generation Z Research’
8
predicts that despite being tech-
natives, face-to-face contact with colleagues will still be
the preferred form of communication. As more and more
individual work becomes cloud-based and therefore mobile
or remote, the office’s purpose and design will need to
become about collaboration and communication.
3.5.4. Keeping the next
generations of talent
Banks cannot expect Generations Y and Z to take a ‘company
and career’ approach to their careers. They are not going to
stay in one company for 25 years. Efforts to retain key talent
in banks will need to take into account that there is a time
limit on retaining talent, as people will move on far faster
than they have before.
But this is not a one-way conveyor belt of talent – we
believe it will become a cycle of attracting and retaining
talent. A result of this is knowing that while employees may
leave after two or three years, they may well return a few
years later. To increase the rate of return, banks will need to
ensure that former employees remain ambassadors for the
company, spreading the word of what it is like to work for the
organisation, its culture, values and its workplace. One bank
told us that, “everyone in the organisation has undergone
training in the last year about the new corporate values and
culture – this should in theory lead to a significant shift in our
organisational culture, which we are using as a key business
driver at the moment”.
The leading banks understand the challenges posed by the
generational mix now at work, and often in the past have
been tempted to implement universal programmes. But
how do we make sure it is not a one size fits all solution?
What people want in Edinburgh is not what people want
in San Francisco or Hong Kong. What attracts a person to
a workplace in Africa is not the same as it is in Europe – so
how can we create a unified global workplace model which
allows for the sort of differentiation that we need to support
different cultures?
35
The future of the financial workplace
|
September 2014
