This Much I Know | Voices

In The Driving Seat: How a New Generation is Changing Work for the Better

by Simon Kent | Aug 29, 2024

Talent Acquisition

Susanne Iser, Director Strategic Recruitment & Talent Acquisition, Beiersdorf AG, a CEMS Corporate Partner, shares her excitement for the generation coming into the workforce.

In my eyes the generation entering the workforce right now is much more playful than previous generations. They expect to have fun at work, as work is one part of their life which is to be enjoyed.

They are also up for challenges in their roles to learn, grow and develop their portfolio and fill their backpack with work experiences.

Job security is a criteria not to be neglected for them. Yet job security does not mean receiving a paycheck at the end of the month, it’s about the fields a company is investing in. When they see a company investing in digital transformation that’s a sign for them that that organisation is secure because they are thinking about the future. If it’s a company with no ambition to step into the digital landscape that’s a sign that it’s not a safe place to work – it is not future fit and probably won’t exist in three years’ time!

Flexibility is crucial

Flexibility and trust is also crucial to this generation. They don’t want to be micromanaged or tracked if they work from home or in the office, or how many days they do at each. They want the flexibility and the trust to, for example, work from abroad so they can extend home visits or holidays.  

In a recent poll that I was reading, which looked at the main reasons employees leave organisations, flexibility with regards to working models ranked at number 19 in 2020, by 2023 this had leapt to fifth place. I’ve also noticed that in interviews, questions about sabbaticals and annual leave are now already asked in the first meeting. 

What the company offers beyond pure work is also important to this generation, in terms of benefits such as wellbeing and health programmes. 

Another big change is the shift in power caused by the skilled worker shortage. This demands a shift in attitude for companies, especially in the West, as the decline in the birth rate filters through.  

 

At Beiersdorf we have always been frontrunners with regards to experimenting with working models in an employee centric manner.

However, we have been so far quite humble and shy in communicating our Employer Brand and all the benefits we offer to the outside world. This lies in my eyes in the company DNA and is probably as well linked to the German cultural norm.

While we still seek to project a moderate and humble culture, we now encourage all our employees to be ambassadors and share their authentic experiences with Beiersdorf. We believe it’s not just the role of HR, but it’s the role of every employee, 24/7, so that those outside can experience our company and to help win the talent of tomorrow that will take us into the future.

To encourage everyone to adopt this mindset we have set up an employee referral programme. Every time there is a vacancy we want our employees to consider if there is someone in their network – family, friends, former colleagues from work or university – who could match this role. If a personal referral is successful Beiersdorf offers either a financial donation to a charity of their choice or personal remuneration.

Rethinking the office space

We’ve also rethought our working practices to make them more attractive to future generations, while at the same time increasing our creativity, innovation and productivity. We’ve just moved into new offices. They are fantastic, incorporating the latest findings regarding new work; ergonomic desks and seating to enhance our employees’ physical health, along with spaces which accommodate the individual styles of working. We have big spaces, single spaces, teamwork spaces, a chill area, specific benches, a lovely restaurant etc. It’s a little bit like a professional playground for adults which fosters connection! And people love to show up and come to the offices.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as it became clear that working in an office full-time was a thing of the past, we considered what implications that should have on our new office space. Now, not everyone has an assigned seat, but we have assigned neighbourhoods. The idea is that when you are in the office you connect with your neighbourhood – that maybe someone from a different team, your own team, someone you’re working on a cross-functional project with or someone with whom you have no previous connection.

We understand that people aren’t coming back to work in a trendy office building, but they are coming back to interact with, and get energised, by their colleagues. And for their mental health. They appreciate that we’re very flexible regarding the days they need to be in the office, so if they need to stay at home to work, focused on a presentation or to collect an important sending, we’re OK with that.

Bringing a freshness to the world of work

Equally we understand that this generation value their physical and mental health – it’s higher on their agenda than for previous generations. They will evaluate the length of a commute against the time they could have spent in the gym and are happy to negotiate a compromise that would have been unthinkable for previous generations. Having grown up with multiple social media feeds they are much better at evaluating what they need to devote their time to, and set parameters regarding what they are willing, or not willing, to engage with, to preserve their mental health.

I have a super positive attitude to the new generation in the workplace. I think they bring a freshness and new and healthy ideas about the world of work. They have a more holistic work concept, looking at work as an integral part of life.  They are courageous, they know what they want and can articulate it. They have trust in themselves and have worked hard to ensure they can make the most of their education. For companies the learning is that we must listen to what they want, if we don’t they will move on, with no hard feelings. They are in the driver’s seat.

I love the shift the new generations will bring!

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