Name: Impact Initiative 2023: Unlocking The Potential Of Gen Z
Uploaded: 2023-09-14
Duration: 20 min 9 s
Description: Ziad Ahmed, Founder and CEO, JUV Consulting Peter Carter, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Delta Airlines Ellen Weinreb, Managing Director, Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting Moderator: Molly Wood, Molly Wood Media

Ziad Ahmed, Founder and CEO, JUV Consulting Peter Carter, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Delta Airlines Ellen Weinreb, Managing Director, Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting Moderator: Molly Wood, Molly Wood Media

Impact Initiative 2023: Unlocking The Potential Of Gen Z

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Ziad Ahmed, JUV, Consulting Peter Carter, Delta Airlines, Ellen Weinreb, Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting Moderator: Molly Wood

OK. So now we are changing direction again, this time to talk about unlocking the potential of Gen Z. So the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2030 Genz will account for 30% of the workforce and more than any other generation that came before it. Genz prioritizes working for companies that are transparent and purpose driven as today's young people enter the workforce. How can organizations attract and retain talent that's hungry to make a difference to discuss how eg efforts play a role in attracting Genz employees in particular. Please welcome Zad Ahmed, the founder and CEO of Jews consulting, which is a Genz consulting firm, Peter Carter, Executive Vice President of External Affairs at Delta Airlines and Ellen Weinreb, managing director of Wine Web Group, a sustainability recruiting agency. And they will be interviewed by Fortune Impact Initiative co chair, Molly Wood. Bye. Right. OK. Everybody Energy up. It's Gen Z. They are fired up. You need to be also uh welcome to our last panel of the day. Thank you for hanging with us. I'm super excited about this and happy to be here with all of you. Um I'm kind of gonna kick us off with a question. We'll go down the line each of you. Uh I know that I don't want to put you in the position of speaking for all of Gen Z and yet that's your whole job, I guess. So, I guess for a company that does that. So, um, why are you like this? No, no, you're right. But, but you know, even when you go to your website, it's, you're like this is why we are like this. This is what Gen Z wants. You are handing this on a silver platter to future employers. Can you give us a sort of a high level summary of what people are missing when they try to engage with Gen Z? Yeah, for sure. So I mean, it's not an easy question, right? And of course, of a cohort of 2 billion, it's impossible right? To reduce that right to some quick sound bites that can make you understand, right? 2 billion people, right? And I would be reckless and foolish to posture myself as an expert on all 2 billion of us, however, however. Yeah. Yeah, it is my job to in part try to look for pattern identification to say what is the story that Gen Z is telling, right? And I think for me the story that Gen Z is telling that I most want to get across is one that it is fundamentally impossible to understand Gen Z without talking to Gen Z, right? I think that what is so wrong often around business, around impact is that there are people who make decisions about communities for when no one from those communities are in the room to impact those decisions. And Gen Z is no exception to that rule. There are so many conversations that happen around services programs, marketing initiatives for youth where no young people are present as stakeholders or decision makers to shape those decisions. And so they fall flat because they were flat because they were forced, right? And I think that's a fundamental problem that we're often encountering. But I think further who when you say like who are you and what are you demanding? I think what Genz is asking for is a democratization of power is a seat at the table, right? It's being taken seriously. I think that it is the standard position of the status quo to dismiss genie's anger as naive as misplaced, right? And I think that it is instead my hope that to whatever extent Juve consultant can play a role to make folks contend with Gen Z's anger as righteous as necessary to hopefully ultimately make us achieve an equilibrium that works better for more of us, for all of us, right? Then I think there's an awesome opportunity in front of all of us. Formidable. So Peter, I turn to you now as a hirer and uh we did learn backstage by the way that uh I was going to ask Peter. Ok. How do you attract Gen Z talent and also keep them as customers considering climate concerns and um all of that. However, now we know, what is your, what is your Delta status? Oh, I am a platinum medallion member. So apparently not a problem but not diamond. Not a problem with the I know someone, but when you look at this coming cohort Peter, um how do you engage and are they in the room? So it, it's so fascinating by the way. And first of all, good Thursday afternoon, um it's great to be here. Uh What I would say is um it is a different cohort. We see that we feel that we know that um and what we find is that at Delta Airlines, which is really a value led company with a pretty noble purpose. I mean, our purpose as an airline, we like to say, no one better connects the world. And, and when you think about what that means, we are the ultimate globalist, right? We are the ultimate solution to a world that's become more xenophobic, more nationalistic. We bring people together and what could be more important and powerful than being the company that can connects people. It connects people to experiences, it, it opens people's minds. And as a result, it resonates with Gen Z. Gen X because these are folks that when we interview and we bring into our organization, they want to be a part of an organization that's trying to make a difference. And, and at Delta, it really is part of our DNA, whether it's our community commitment, we give a percentage of our profits away every year. We share our profits with our employees by the way, which Gen Z loves because it gives them skin in the game. We're one of the only, we're one of a handful of fortune 50 companies that does that. We're quite proud of that. So I think we've had and the other thing is travel, right? You heard it from Zia? He's a platinum traveler is a very young man. I think Genz love experience, they love travel. Um They love to be able to work wherever they are and we help enable that. So I feel pretty fortunate at Delta, but you are right. One of the experiences we have and I'll see it. We have an open door policy at Delta and periodically on my calendar, there'll be a name that is in the organization, brand new, not familiar with, have not yet met. And it will be somebody who we've just hired, who wants to sit down with a leader and say to me, what's your vision? What's my role? And how can I really grow in this company now? That's something that a baby boomer would never do. And, and, and Gen Xers may or may not, but it really is a leaning in that we haven't typically seen quite in the same way, Ellen, you do recruiting and placement around sustainability jobs specifically. And we keep hearing that Gen Z as a cohort is heavily focused on climate and, and engaged in having conversations with their employers about sustainability initiative. Are you finding that? And are you finding that the roles are being created with Gen Z in mind? Yeah, I mean to clarify, Gen Z is their ages 11 to 26 right now. And we as recruiters are mostly placing leaders who are older than 20 have more years of experience in the workforce. And at the same time, we're very committed to supporting what we can do to support the entire pipeline of an of a sustainability professionals career and also understand the workforce of tomorrow. So understanding Gen Z as the up and coming the entry level positions that these companies is really valuable and in terms of their commitment, even if they're not looking for sustainability jobs, they're interested in very concerned about climate change and justice, climate justice, all these issues and they're looking for companies, they're asking these questions in their interviews and they're also wanting to see examples. They, they're testing authenticity for that company and they're going on social media to see what others are saying about that. So they, they do their homework and they, and they stand up for what they are seeing as important to them, you know, as we have this workforce conversation, it one of the things we were briefly talking about backstage actually is that, I mean, Zia has his own company that the idea of company and work, you know, as much as we talk about how work has changed, work has specifically changed. For Gen Z, I would argue. Do you think that that's true that there's, there's maybe less willingness to even go inside at a company when you can build your, your own brand. No, I mean, I think absolutely is the question, right? Is the answer to the question? I started my company when I was a junior in high school, right? Started my nonprofit when I was in eighth grade. Right? And of course, I'm tremendous. I was in a tremendously privileged position to be able to do so, right? To have the imagination and the agency to achieve on that imagination, right? It's something that I do not take for granted and is why I do the work that I do to hopefully empower more young people with the access to opportunities such that they have the agency to achieve their dreams. But when we think about the world today and why I think so many employers are struggling with their Gen Z employees, what we have to contend with and realize, right is that especially because of the pandemic, but also because Gen Z is outside power in the sense that every young generation has looked at the world and said just because things have been this way, does not mean they have to stay this way. And I looked at the world with the sense of moral clarity and freshness and those of you who have kids in the room that probably reminded of that every single day when your kid gets angry at an injustice. And you're like, I remember feeling that angry, right? And I, you know, I'm getting old, I have some scruff now, right? I feel my age. I remember feeling that angry, right? Um But I think what is unique about Gen Z is because of the access to digital tools that we have, our disruption got to be mainstream instantaneously, right? It didn't necessarily take mass protests for us to be heard. That doesn't mean that we're not partaking in mass protest. It means that the barrier to entry was much lower such that more of us could participate in a discourse around disruption to ultimately change norms. And how that's translated to the workforce specifically is I think a lot of the world is built on myths and there were certain myths that we have been taught around the workforce that this is the way that it is. And what the pandemic showed us is that if the political will existed for things to be different, it could be different if circumstances demand a difference. And simultaneously we're scrolling on social media and seeing that there are so many different ways to live to earn to be. And so we're looking on the other side of that and saying, well, maybe my parents didn't have to suffer the ways that they did and maybe they didn't have to give themselves to a company that didn't see them as a full person as they are only for them to still be paying off their debt. Now, right after having bent their back and, and, and, and, and, and, and succumb to the will of bosses who didn't care about them their whole life. So I'm gonna choose different path for me because we have more access to a standard of comparison of the other ways that you could earn r and of course, as an employer, I see it from both sides, right? I get it. It's hard, right? That employer ge but that imagination is ultimately hopefully going to get us to a new equilibrium where historically we were told you for 20 years, you learn for 30 years, you lead and maybe for 20 years, if you're lucky, if you live this false American dream, then you get to live. And Jez is taking the microphone back and saying hell no, I want to learn, I want to lead and I want to live simultaneously and you'll be damned if you tell me otherwise, right? And I think that genie is not alone in that. I think Boomers are saying that I think Jex is saying that I think John Y is saying that I think that we're saying we get to be more than the archetype of what you've told us this life stage has destined for me. And I think that benefits all of us. Um I've decided to be adopted by Gen Z. Um What so Peter when you hear this and you know, and Ellen, when you hear this because you're working, I assume with legacy organizations and, and generational generational clashes have existed as long as humans have. How do you imagine reshaping workplaces around these expectations around what frankly a lot of people do see as a broken contract? Well, I would say a couple of things and this is fascinating for me to listen to the ad. I think the Gen Z clearly, it's our first truly digitally native, you know, work cohort, which is really something because I think that means at least in our world that they speak and, and they understand a channel um which the rest of us had to catch up to understand and they understand it better than we do. They know how to use it for good and for not good. And, and, and that's a power which you alluded to. It's a, it's a real power. And I think employers have to figure out how to use that superpower as a channel that helps employees feel empowered and also presents a certain amount of transparency so that it's not the traditional hierarchy, but it's much more of a relationship between um the folks who are leading and the folks who might be, um running the front lines and the best, the best analogy that I can use from Delta is that our prior Ceo Richard Anderson used to leave a voice mail on a telephone every Friday to all 90 plus 1000 of our employees. Hey, everyone, tough week. Hope you guys are doing well, kind of thing. Right? So now, of course, Ed Bastian, it's not a voice mail. He's, he's all about using social media. Might be linkedin might be Instagram, I think is what it's called, might be Facebook, but there's a channel constantly reaching out to our employees. And then when we have employee events, our employees are doing selfies with Ed, that's the way he's literally spending time with the. Now we have to do one after that, we, we will do one. I want one with you. And then, and then the other thing though is that Ed has created an expectation among every one of our uh employees that if they have an issue, a concern, a problem, they can email directly and he doesn't have a team, read those emails, he reads each and every one and he responds to each and every one that is an employee focused, a people focused leader. And that's part of I think responding to some of what was talking about this expectation that I've heard that I'm taking care of. Um and, and, and that's the way it's manifested itself at Delta. We still have a lot to learn. Ellen talked to me about how you're trying to make the future leaders more like Ed, I think we can learn from two famous um um one is Greta Thornberg and the other is Coco Goff. So um Greta and all the people that are uh young ze that are following her and, and old people like me who are following her as well. They have this that we're looking to them to clean up our mess and they're taking the responsibility that they're gonna do it and you know what they are like, I have faith in this generation. And so they're, they're the our future and they're going to right the ship and these are also our future chief Sustainability officers 10 years down the line and, and then yes, and, and they should be on the board too. I like representing that voice. But anyway, the other is Coco Goff who was, um that was calling the linesman um on um the time violations, the time violations. And she stood up for what was right. And she was able with conviction and clarity to say like this is wrong and this is why it's been wrong. And I think that the message to employers is to listen and to be active listeners because they are standing up and they, they have, they have good things to say. So it's valuable to listen. I would imagine our time is short. But I wanna ask you how you feel when you hear the, that the responsibility of writing the wrongs, not the responsibility, right. But I think there, there are certainly people, there are certainly Boomers, there are certainly Gen Xers who feel like, you know what I'm gonna check out and, you know, will write the wrong. How do you feel quickly when you hear that? Um, I personally, I don't know that my whole generation agrees with me. No, anything much less, much less the guy. Um But I don't view it as that previous generations let us down and that it's our view and it's our responsibility to take it forward from here. Because I think the reality is there have been people who have been fighting on the right side of history in every generation for as long as time that has existed. What is instead the reality is those voices were never given the platform the privilege and the possibility to become mainstream, right? And so what we had was structures that were built to serve a very small subset of the population that was consistently fed by that subset of the population where there were community organizers from each of these marginalized groups who had been doing the work. And we follow in the footsteps of all of those leaders. And so for me, it is about an inter generational collaboration that we can create the solutions so that we can achieve the solutions to the problems that we know exist from black communities, from indigenous communities working together who have been doing this work, right? And haven't been getting the recognition, haven't been getting the reward, haven't been getting the investment that they deserve right to really feed us and save us. And so for me, it is not about necessarily we're the ones to save us. It's we're the ones that may finally get the possibility to be mainstream and follow in those following the following, in the footsteps of those who've been doing this a lot longer and better than we can ever dream to. I cannot imagine a better ending to this specific conference. Let alone this panel. Thank you so much. Everyone, appreciate it. Hope it's alive. So we're done. Uh I want to on behalf of the co chairs and on behalf of fortune, I want to thank all the speakers, the discussion leaders and all of you really for engaging in such a rich conversation. Over the last a couple of days, I want your feedback, we want your feedback. We want to hear from you about how we can make this community more valuable to you. You'll be hearing from us about the global sustainability forum that we're doing virtually on September 28th if, if you're interested in that. And mostly I just want to urge you to all go out and to learn to lead to live all at the same time, no matter how old you are, go for it, uh, be well, safe travels.