Requirements, opportunities, threats… and a change on the horizon? What distinguishes young workers from Poland, Croatia, and Portugal? What role do new technologies play? All of this is explained by prof. Tomasz Kawka, co-author of the book “Rethinking of Human Capital Management in the Age of Generation Z”, written in collaboration with prof. Srećko Goić from University of Split and prof. Joaquim Pinto Contreiras from University of Algarve .
– The preface to this monograph describes the SEA-EU alliance. What was its role in your work? How did this collaboration come about?
Prof. Tomasz Kawka: I would say it was a key factor, or even – to use terminology from our field of management – a strategic one. If it weren’t for the existence of the alliance, the possibility of exchange between our universities, and the facilitation of academic staff mobility, which was and remains of immense value, we probably wouldn’t have met or trusted each other to this extent as authors, researchers or simply colleagues. Consequently, many interesting initiatives that preceded the publication of the book would not have happened.
With each subsequent meeting with prof. Srećko Goić or prof. Joaquim Pinto Contreiras, a sense of identity and community was formed. Our shared experiences were possible due to realizing that we have many similar perspectives – not only on our field of expertise – human resource management – including our research subject (the issue of Generation Z entering the labour market), but also generally on sensitivity toward the modern world and the role of universities in today’s perception of the sources of education and science.
This specific umbrella of the SEA-EU alliance was certainly the factor that helped us organizationally, logistically, and financially. It also provided the opportunity over the last few years to meet in many different forms: from teaching mobility under Erasmus+ programs to organizing and participating in Staff Weeks or, more recently, Blended Intensive Programmes. At some point, we realized we were playing on the same team. Despite different languages, we started speaking the same one.
– What was the goal of this research?
To check whether the attitudes and expectations of Generation Z entering the labour market fit into the existing human capital management model. It turned out to be a very significant, important and even pressing problem – not only on the Polish market but on the European one as well. Of course, Croatia and Portugal are incomparably smaller countries. Despite this, for several years now, there has been a huge gap in expectations between employers and young people. Of course, generational differences have always existed, but they have never been as distinct as they are now.
– What do you mean?
A new generation – young people born between 1995 and 2000 – is now entering the labour market. Their expectations, resulting from their specific competency construct, but also their needs and the profile of their primary and now secondary socialization, are not fully understood or properly analysed by managers or business owners using legacy management systems. This is one of the key tests or hypotheses of our book, hence the title “Rethinking of Human Capital Management“. All of us who deal with this problem: academic staff, entrepreneurs, managers; let’s try to look at it holistically.
I will say what we clearly emphasize in the book: there are no bad generations, they are simply different. We often hear stereotypical stories that Gen Z is a generation of “aliens” disconnected from reality, unwilling to work, disloyal, and thinking only of their own pleasure. And above all: wasting time on their phones. But no one has asked: firstly, what is the source of such opinions, where does this assessment come from, and secondly, is this a dominant trait in this generation…
– Does the research you conducted answer these questions?
Our research is pilot in nature; one could even call it “skin-deep”. We took the opportunity to verify a research tool we had been designing for several years. This pilot was conducted among students and graduates of our three management faculties. Each of us authors surveyed our own group in this regard.
The results show that these are ambitious people, who want to work. They might not yet have a full idea of how to manifest this, but they are signalling a very clear appeal: “Look at us a bit differently”. Just because something worked until now doesn’t mean it will work today.
Consider how the world has changed. Who, just 2 or 3 years ago, thought about solving all kinds of life, social, or professional problems based on artificial intelligence algorithms? Who, just 6 years ago (before the pandemic), thought that any kind of educational or business activity could be conducted in a remote, hybrid or online manner? These accelerations and the omnipresent dynamics of change in the environment – especially in organizations, business, and public institutions – show that we must change. Generation Z is a manifestation of this. We don’t have another generation. We have the one that is entering the market now.
In the book, we write about a certain win-win model. It’s not about the employee’s market where young people can dictate terms. It’s about finding space for “rethinking” based on, as I said, a win-win model.
That was the main goal: to look at the human capital management model through the prism of Gen Z’s expectations. For now, it’s a small “opening of the door,” looking through a keyhole. However, we have the ambition that this book is only the first step. We deeply believe that the assumptions described in this monograph will begin a research cycle within the SEA-EU alliance. We count on other centres joining us. We are working on it.
The current research results should be treated very cautiously and in a limited way. It is a pre-test, a signalling of the problem, and a description of a phenomenon that we naturally undertook as lecturers from three departments: Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism at the University of Split, School of Management, Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Algarve Faro, and Faculty of Management at the University of Gdańsk.
– Were you able to identify specific elements that should be in this win-win model?
Definitely, and I would like to highlight the three most important elements. First: partnership. Young people expect certain values. They say: “Treat me as a partner, not as that alien who sits glued to their phone”. This is a complex problem that obviously requires deepening in a separate research stream. However, from the perspective of the human capital management model, it’s about balancing the motivation system based on a partnership model. In our field this is called the “empowerment model”. Work must have a meaning, significance and value, and above all, it must show the possibility of performing that work. That way I can feel like a partner to the organization, it can be a source of an effective and motivating relationship.
The second element is taking care of mental well-being. This is about building mental resilience. Many authors call Gen Z the “Snowflake Generation” – people who are not persistent in their resolutions, actions, or decisions, who avoid responsibility or challenges and bypass problems. That’s how it might manifest. However, the mechanism constructing this factor is precisely mental fragility. This interview is probably not the time to go into details – I refer you to the book. A safe and friendly workplace is a major motivator for young people today. I believe this is another element we are signalling as a hypothesis for further research.
Caring for the mental resilience of employees is a challenge in building management systems that allow for the smoothest and most efficient adaptation and onboarding of young people. Especially with a sense of emotional and psychological stability. On the other side of this image, we still often see authoritarian behaviours based on mobbing, which completely stifles the participation and activity of young people in organizational structures. This young person is somewhat of an unconscious agent of change. Their attitudes are a detector of change. What we have been teaching in HR for decades is that authoritarianism is temporarily effective, but this effect is very deceptive. Gen Z verifies that.
The third issue is work that relates to interests, an area that young people will consider interesting, important, or useful at the entry point. For Generation Z the issue of idealism appears. This is something that, according to many authors, the millennial generation (Gen Y) has lost. Gen Z wants to do work that is interesting, engaging, and based on their interests. This can even trigger humorous associations when we read that high schoolers most want to become YouTubers or influencers. These are the patterns of shaping behaviours based on social media and the cyberspace in which they have been functioning since birth. Due to a lack of understanding of these mechanisms, managers from older generations may perceive this negatively: “young people want to come to work and play”.
– What should the reaction be?
Stereotypically, someone might say that we need to organize chillout rooms, fruit Fridays, and flexible work schedules. Among more mature managers this can spark natural resistance: what do they want? But if we think about it for a moment… maybe this is exactly the idea for attracting and engaging young people. Technically, this can be described as an approach lead by the philosophy of “edutainment” (education + entertainment).
Partnership, a psychologically friendly workplace, and interesting, engaging work: these are probably the three main issues.
However, the issue of development is also very strongly emphasized. These are people who want to learn. How to show them the direction? In which conditions? Precisely when the work is relationalship-based, psychologically safe, and connected to meaning and value. There’s no hiding it: these are young people who are still at an age of , maybe not “play”, but not perceiving the world in terms of full responsibility. Research in the social sciences shows that the period of maturing into responsibility is likely longer today than in older generations.
Interestingly, we obtained practically the same results in our research based on the groups of our graduates, as well as those from the University of Split and Faro. This only demonstrates another assumption: that this is a very global, transnational generation that grew up on network patterns, somewhat detached from national culture. Of course, some differences still exist.
– How do the expectations of Poles, Croatians and Portuguese differ?
If I wanted to answer you directly, I don’t know if I would disappoint our readers. The differences are very slight; they don’t really exist. If we want to find something we can point to as a real trait… among Polish students, the indicator of achieving financial success is higher than among their colleagues in Portugal or Croatia.
– Does this mean the standards of young Polish people are higher?
Expectations, yes, probably. As for students from Portugal, I would point to a difference that is noticeable to a very slight degree: a friendly atmosphere in the work environment. That might be a slightly distinguishing feature. But as a rule regarding the dimensions, I mentioned earlier – they should be treated with great caution. This is a kind of startup for our research project. Young people are very similar to each other. We don’t have the results yet, but it would be interesting to conduct comparative studies against, for example, our generation, Generation X. The results would likely be more diverse.
– You also mentioned artificial intelligence at the beginning and how it all affects the labour market. What do young workers expect in the context of AI and collaboration with this technology?
That is a very complex, difficult question. However, based on our research results, we haven’t asked directly about AI yet. Our research project evolved or just began over two years ago. Remember, that was still the beginning of the whole wave of the development of the philosophy, ideas, and popularization of AI algorithms.
– Maybe just with technologies in general.
This is very interesting. At least in our research, it turns out that online work, remote work, mobile work, and using technology are not necessarily what these young people need. On one hand, they consider it a natural reality in which they function, and it’s not something they feel they should express as an expectation toward the market or employer. It just is.
Another label you’ll find in literature to describe Gen Z is Generation D, meaning Digital Natives. These are the digitally indigenous people, or Generation C—the Connected Generation. For them, technology is like a component of the air. Everyone outside of Gen Z breathes oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. They have Wi-Fi in addition – some cynical people might claim. Therefore, the role of technology in their lives is quite subversive and paradoxical: for them, it is something obvious and natural. They find themselves perfectly at home in it.
However, it is not something they expect from a workplace as a priority. We can assume they will be the employees who best acquire the “competencies of the future”. This way of mastering the language, the way of functioning in this human-system relationship, the very name Digital Natives…
Depending on the perspective, there is either hope or a threat in Generation Z. These will be people with significantly higher competencies than other generations when it comes to using technology. It doesn’t scare them, because it’s natural. One could say technology defines their sense of functioning.
On the other hand, one must point out the dark side of this immersion in mobile digital technology. We know the phenomenon of FOMO (fear of missing out). A compulsive disorder, especially affecting young people when they don’t have access to mobile devices and can’t check what’s happening online. And this manifests in depressive behaviours, anxiety, aggression… We must pay attention to that as well. However, is AI a threat in the perception of Gen Z? I don’t know. That is certainly an excellent goal and challenge for our further research into the expectations and attitudes of Gen Z in the work environment.
A lot is being written and said today about whether AI will replace our jobs. As someone who is soon finishing their third decade of professional experience in HRM, I would say that, as with every technological advancement, it changes the way we work. It may be redefined, but I don’t predict such a dark scenario.
Probably, as was the case with previous technological innovations, new roles, functions, professions, and positions will emerge around this process. These will be jobs preparing input data for algorithms or utilizing that information. I always say: AI doesn’t give us knowledge. It can give us information and data which we, as humans with our potential, capabilities, and free will can transform into knowledge. And that is what we try to suggest to young people during their education. There is a chance, perhaps a bit wishful, but with logical foundations, that Gen Z might be the cohort of specialists who tame AI. Time will tell.
– Just one more thing: where can this book be found?
It is already physically available. It’s on the University of Gdańsk Publishing House website. You can order the book in their online bookstore.
