In your opinion, what are the new work values of the Millenials and Gen Zers? How are they getting defined and how different is it from the kind of values espoused by the generation before them, by Gen X?
Krishnendu Chatterjee: Probably we guys are part of Gen X and our families, our parents before that. I guess a transition has happened over a period of time where the struggle from roti, kapda, makan has moved on and now there are opportunities which are available for individuals and, of course, with the entire economic boom, greater opportunities are getting created which allows the new generation to choose purpose over the paycheque to a certain extent.
Having said that, there is still a balance and a large part of this whole purpose is derived from the fact that these individuals have been raised in a digital era where information and social issues are readily available through technology. This constant exposure has nurtured in them a profound social awareness and a drive to positively influence society. So, this awareness over a period of time which was probably not there 20, 30, 40 years back is something which is driving the whole purpose agenda.
How have you seen it because if this part of the workforce is increasingly concerned about negative environmental impact or non-inclusive practices within a company or perhaps insufficient support for mental well-being or that work-life balance that is constantly talked about, is there a fallout for certain sectors, certain companies that do not rise to these concerns? Are they likely to face lower productivity for one?
Krishnendu Chatterjee: There is this author named Tom Rath, who has written many books around this subject on how work can improve human health and in one of the books Life’s Great Question, he has coined a term, working to live and he feels that working to live has a huge negative impact, both from an individual perspective and from an employer perspective as well and it has, like, tangible losses attached to it. I guess now the new-age organisations are already adopting it.
Even the traditional organisations, specifically manufacturing setups or industrial setups, are adopting the same thing. As a staffing and HR solutions company, we do discuss similar issues and challenges with various organisations. And, we have seen instances where a purpose is kind of imbibed into the DNA of the organisation.
A lot of manufacturing organisations in smaller town, cities, etc, environmental consciousness and safety and all those things are pretty much now becoming part of the DNA. The new-age organisations are anyways adopting it and the traditional ones are on their way to adopting it or have already adopted it.But if they do not get it from the company, if there is a certain amount of skittishness, when the work profile does not suit their purpose, what should the workers from the Gen Z or the millennial generation be doing?
Krishnendu Chatterjee: The way things are changing now, earlier if you asked someone to jump, they would say how high; now they definitely ask why. If I go through the Deloitte data and some other studies which have been done, we have seen that it leads to attrition. The least, you have a bunch of unhappy employees who are not aligned to the purpose of the organisation. However, in the same case, we have also seen that people who have hired people with such purpose and are kind of aligned as an employer, the retention rates have gone up considerably. So, it is a great example and a data point for organisations who are yet to align themselves to the purpose and definitely an opportunity for them to have high retention because we feel that the attrition is largely driven by paycheques or employee relationship with managers, etc,A large part of it is also the purpose and the kind of population we deal with. For them, it is an extremely important parameter.
