Rough guide to coping with the 15 million-strong Generation Z

Millennials are so passé! What’s that, you say? You are just coming to terms with millennials and now it seems they are past their sell-by date. This hyped poster child for entitled youth is now approaching middle age. According to the United Nation’s definition of youth as anyone under 35 years, they are fast approaching and crossing the finish line.

ROBLOX
Generation Z is the latest thing. You ask, what’s that? Loosely, these are young people born between the mid-1990s and the late 2000s. Some even say it starts as youthful as nine years and up to the early 20s.
This generation is just starting to graduate from college, collecting their national IDs, beginning to work and they are about to become ever present in our middle-aged spaces.
So what is different about them? For one, they live in a virtual world. This is the generation that is the co-owner of your smartphone before they are old enough to own one, installing apps literally at will in spite of your passcodes.
They view with disdain your older person digital platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp preferring instead to embrace Snapchat and Roblox.
This is the age group that will reject your job offer by text message – don’t take it personally, they approach relationship break-ups the same way. Life revolves at sci-fi-like warp speeds. It is reported that they have an eight-second attention span, slightly longer than that of a gold-fish. And please do expect them to ask for a promotion or salary raise or both before they have even finished their probation.
As for permanent and pensionable benefits — what‘s that? Your response that they have a long-term career with the company is unlikely to reassure their restless spirits. You BBC (Born Before Computers) folks can stay with your outdated customs.
If you are unfamiliar with this individual or unsure whether you have encountered one before, think back to the waiter at the restaurant who when you complain about your food order shrugs his shoulders and walks away.

AMENDS
No time for that. Or the bank teller who ‘harakishas’ you because there is another customer behind you. Life moves fast.
Assuming you are suitably scared by now, shouldn’t we just all pretend that they don’t exist, deny them jobs and hope they can live in their own world way from sight?
Well, for one there’s an estimated 15 million of them in Kenya and, therefore, hard to ignore. Also the median age of our population is 20 years, putting us squarely in the camp of the Gen Zers.
And more importantly, this is the generation of hope. They give us hope because this generation is the most open-minded in history.
They do not see divisions or limitations by gender, race, tribe and so on. Whether you are born a Luo or Kikuyu, Bajuni or El Molo is besides the point. They bolster our faith in humanity. It is incomprehensible to them why one lot should live in Mathare and another in Muthaiga across Thika highway. They are the advocates of our housekeepers, askaris and nannies’ welfare.
They give us confidence in the future of the planet. They endorse Nema’s decision to do away with plastic bags and will be the first to berate you if they see you with one.
They believe you, their elders, messed up the planet’s ecology and climate to the detriment of themselves and their offspring and you should pay — or at the very least try to make amends by not doing any further damage.

iGENERATION
They live in an uber-democratic world, perhaps because they are digital citizens living in a virtual reality with billions of other netizens.
Inevitably, they will grow up, make money, consume things and vote for governments. To paraphrase and modernise Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” and dedicate this upgraded version to this new breed:
If you can watch YouTube tutorials continuously and not get tired; If you can cross the road with your eyes glued to your smartphone; If you can talk with superstar influencers and yet commune with Fortnite gamers; Then yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a Gen-Zer my daughter.
To the astute marketer, I would add the following words of wisdom: if you can speak in hashtags and have an Instagram account then yours are the Gen Z-ers.
I have been recently introduced to the concept of a Chief Diversity Officer of Inclusion and Belonging. It is not just about embracing Gen Z in the workforce and as a customer but making them comfortable too. As the Harvard Business Review refers to them, the iGeneration is coming and Sapiens need to adapt.
(Note: In our instalment next month, the saga continues with the even more threatening Alpha generation!)

The author is the Managing Partner of C. Suite Africa, a boutique management consultancy.