Ever since Gen Z entered the workplace, a debate has raged over the differing priorities and needs of the younger generation at work. With each subsequent generation, it seems that generational differences have widened – in the finance sector as much as elsewhere.
But is this reality or perception? ACCA’s latest Global Talent Trends survey provides some compelling evidence that it’s the former.
Global Talent Trends is the world’s largest annual survey of careers, jobs and working life in finance and accounting, based on 11,000 respondents from 160 countries. The results of this year’s survey – the fourth to be published by ACCA – highlights the contrasting views of the newest workforce generation, Gen Z (born 1995-2009), against their older peers.
Comfort but uncertainty
Some of these are less surprising than others, such as the level of comfort among Gen Z respondents with AI technologies compared with their older colleagues. Gen Z, for example, is more likely to use AI in their current roles, and is the only generation that expresses net confidence when it comes to the use of AI in recruitment.
Their comfort with technology, though, is combined with unease about the future; Gen Z is the generation most likely to be concerned about the impact of AI on jobs.
Social and environmental
The survey explores a wide range of topics, including the role that social and environmental impact play in choice of employer and job satisfaction. It is clear that this is a priority for finance professionals of all ages – 74% of all respondents suggest that they want jobs in the future that contribute to social impact, for example – but a closer look at the data shows that younger respondents are far more likely to express this view than their older counterparts.
The report notes that more senior, and therefore older, finance professionals are more likely to work in a role that helps their organisation respond to environmental and social issues. In other words, these initiatives tend to be driven at leadership level. This, it argues, ‘may represent a missed opportunity to engage younger employees more directly in work that contributes’ to social and environmental initiatives.
This year’s survey argues that broad social impact has become an important point of differentiation for employers, and one that could be a powerful recruitment tool. Overall, three-quarters of all respondents say that this is a key factor in deciding whether to work for an organisation or not.
Social impact is particularly important, though, for younger professionals. Over 80% of Gen Z respondents say that it’s a key factor in deciding on an employer – more so than environmental credentials. ‘This suggests that showcasing an organisation’s approach to social impact is a smart recruitment strategy to attract young talent,’ says the report.
Working together
This year’s survey asked several questions around workplace collaboration, noting that soon, many organisations could employ a workforce that spans five generations. The results suggest that cross-generational working is challenging for many organisations.
One participant in an APAC roundtable put it this way: ‘There’s a big communication style clash in the work environment – [my own view is that] Gen Zs aren’t very detail orientated, or systemised. They have higher feedback expectations – the feedback loop potentially needs to be stronger so they can be validated and have more confidence.’
Overall, respondents who work in the office full time were more likely to see inter-generational collaboration as challenging. The report suggests that the root of this could be a mismatch between which generations tend to be office-based, and which are not.
Gen Z is the most likely to agree with a requirement for regular office attendance
Face time
While two-thirds of respondents agree that employers should require their workforce to spend a certain number of days in the office each week, and more than half believe that spending more time in the office will boost their career prospects, there are clear differences of opinion about home working at a generational level. Gen Z is the most likely to agree with a requirement for regular office attendance.
The red flag for employers, though, should be workers in their mid-30s to mid-40s, who are likely to be juggling work and parental duties and are far more likely than other generations to say that they would consider moving to another organisation if they were forced to spend more time in the office.
The survey shows that 45% of all respondents work full time in the office and another 45% work under hybrid arrangements. The overwhelming majority (75%) would prefer a combination of home and office working – but the gap between the desire for hybrid working and reality is much wider for Gen Z than for other generations.
Balancing act
Most respondents (from all generations) identified different approaches to the work-life balance as the biggest barrier to cross-generational collaboration, but agreed that encouraging the generations to work better together was an organisational design issue that would require specific interventions from employers, including:
- planning and structuring mixed-age collaboration
- teaming building and social connection
- an improvement in everyday communication
- two-way mentorship.
‘Without shared understanding,’ the report stresses, ‘well-intended policies may fail because senior staff believe problems are smaller than junior employees experience them to be.’
More information
See the regional deep dives of the Global Talent Trends research:
Africa
Asia-Pacific
Europe, North America, Caribbean
Ireland
Middle East and South Asia
UK
