Understanding Gen Z: Try Going to Yoga
By Dr. Brett Trusko, Skytop Contributor / January 25th, 2023
Brett Trusko is a speaker, writer, consultant and educator. He has appeared at hundreds of conferences, radio and TV as well as written extensively and helped fortune 500 companies as well as local and national governments prepare for an innovation-oriented future.
An Interesting Byproduct
An interesting byproduct of the pandemic appears to be taking root all over the U.S. and, in fact, the world. That byproduct is existentialism or something like that. Existentialism is defined as “a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.” So, while what I have observed is likely not a perfect match for the definition, there are certainly enough similarities to use the term as a catch-all for what is likely to be an interesting time to be an employer.
Self-Care
So, for the remainder of this article, we will refer to the much more common term, self-care. Self-care has been around for a while now, but during the pandemic it became an important concept, especially for younger people. Self-care can take many forms, including getting in touch with nature, buying a Peloton, using new and unique creams and potions on your skin, exploring ancient (and modern) religion, or simply treating yourself to more spa days than you did prior to COVID.
As many of my readers know, much of my insight comes from the brilliant students I teach at the university, as well as the athletes that I periodically work with. Two things happened in the last week that allowed me to finally connect the dots to some of the things that had, frankly, been staring me in the face for a while; Chris Hemsworth and his Disney program Limitless (https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/limitless-with-chris-hemsworth) ,which is described in part as follows: “New scientific research is shattering conventional wisdom about the human body and offering fascinating insights into how we can all unlock our body’s superpowers to fight illness, perform better and even reverse the aging process. This science is put to the test by Hemsworth, who, despite being in peak superhero condition, is on a personal mission to learn how to extend our health, strength and intellect further into our later years.” The storyline is that Mr. Hemsworth works with the top experts in physiology, fitness, and nutrition to perform feats each week that most of us would have never done, such as swim a quarter mile in near frozen water or go on a four-day fast. All of this is done in the name of challenging your body so that it reacts in a way that allows you to live longer.
Self-Affirmation
Another thing that interested me was an interview I watched with a professional athlete that had just had a record-breaking game and declared, unexpectedly, that “positive self-affirmation” allowed him to perform. We are accustomed to hearing athletes thank God for their success, but this time he claimed it was a “mantra of self-affirmation”.
Spirituality’s Five Questions
In fact, while it may seem that God’s name is invoked almost non-stop these days, according to several sources, church attendance is in serious decline. Much of the reason people are leaving is a newfound desire to be “spiritual” and not necessarily religious. Most experts state that spirituality really asks five questions:
Am I a good person?
What is the meaning of my suffering?
What is my connection to the world around me?
Do things happen for a reason?
How can I live my life in the best way possible?
Something “More”
Note that there is no mention of religion in the questions above. In fact, while spirituality has always been important, and a foundation of religion, people today are looking for more than what religion offers. This is not to say that religion isn’t still an important part of an individual’s life. But many people, turned off by organized religion, are looking for something “more” to their existence.
A Changing Workforce
This is not an article about religion, so we will not discuss that any further. What it is about is the changing workforce and the things they are looking for. A recent Gallup study found that the number one reason people take or stay in a job is pay and/or benefits. Granted, this is what I would have guessed. However, the second most important thing people are looking for is better work life balance and personal wellbeing. While Gallup didn’t dive too deeply into what exactly personal wellbeing is, you needn’t look too far to see the trends.
People are now more interested in healthy habits than ever before. Just look at any social media platform and you will find young people trading tips on how to be better fit, eat better or improve their overall life. Looking strictly at online searches, “sunscreen” is up 100% in 2021, “best time to take a vitamin” is up 40%, “skincare” and “fitness apps” up 40%, and “treadmill” up 50%.
People are pursuing “other life skills” at a higher rate than ever, including painting, investing, online learning, creativity and swimming classes.
Other observations from working with young adults and students (although not limited to these age groups) are things like therapy, meditation, and sleep quality. People are seriously body building and doing yoga at rates that were previously unheard of. Even I have done the dreaded “hot yoga” for about 20 years in an effort to maintain core strength and balance in an effort to avoid falls later in life.
Employees are refusing to work in what they consider a “toxic work environment”, although for people of my age, there is little sympathy because we had no choice but to put up with bad bosses, sexual harassment, long hours, racism and homophobia.
The Modern Worker
Which brings us to the modern worker. As most employers now know, employees have gotten a taste of working from home and do not want to come back to the office. A reason many young people are not returning to work has little to do with work, but much to do about the workplace. What my generation put up with is no longer acceptable to younger workers today, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
A Lost Generation
As an example. When I was working on my MBA and PhD during the nineties, all we talked about was how the Japanese were going to take over everything in business. I argued (unsuccessfully) with my professors that in fact the Japanese, while on a good run, were not going to take over the world. For some obvious reasons, such as owning real estate in America, was not like a car that you could take back to Japan. I also argued that the lifestyle that made Japan so productive was an unusually strong work ethic and little or no contact with their families. My argument was that this was not sustainable and that children born to middle class would not tolerate 18-hour workdays and an absence of family life. Accordingly, we have seen what has happened to Japan since the 90’s: a lost generation. One could also argue that China is in a similar situation. Low wage laborers who break into the lower middle class may work harder than their parents, but they do not want to work at very low wages in tedious jobs. So, we have an entire generation in China that not only don’t want children, but also want to enjoy their newfound middle class wealth (this is also true in Japan for some, but not all the same reasons).
Not Enough “Heart”
Which brings us back to America and Europe. In all of recorded history, life has never been so good. We have enough to eat, good education, freedom and opportunities that our ancestors could only dream about. What young people today have decided is that we do not have enough “heart” in our organizations. Recent reports of mass layoffs in the technology industry are going to hit a generation of Americans in a way they have never seen before. Yes, the money is going to greatly disrupt many of these people’s lives. But the way we treat our employees is going to make it to social media and shared millions of times. The way we treat people, respect their spirituality, how we lay them off and how we bring them back is more transparent than ever. Elon Musk is just the latest billionaire to abuse employees and it is likely that if he offers enough money anyone will work for him. But he has forced his companies into a situation where they are no longer a “preferred” employer.
A Means to an End
It’s reasonable to believe that much of the employee shortages are being caused because the younger generation does not like the way the older generation does business. I have observed that the days of attending a social event and bragging about where you work and how much you make is no longer the driving force for many employees. The attitude today encompasses where you have travelled, what extreme sport you practice and, otherwise, how you live a fuller life. Employment has become a means to an end and is no longer all encompassing. Employment offers you a way to travel, to work in a different country or to build a brand. As an employer, it is time to embrace the trend whereby highly qualified young employees are given a goal and expected to complete it without their “boss” constantly looking over their shoulder. The best employees are looking for the best employers and it seems that even high pay can no longer compensate for abusive employers.
During this time of realigning your company after COVID, take this time to ask your employees what they want from a job and if they really do need to be in the office. Give them the meditation room.