The millennials have grown up, and now the latest wave of young engineers, also known as Generation Z, are coming to a workforce near you. This is the youngest generation of employees in the market, and there are a number of reasons why you should prepare to embrace them as they bring a lot of unique value to the workforce. They are the first generation to grow up entirely with the Internet and mobile devices at their fingertips. They are also driven to success, and act as natural leaders.
How can you prepare your current workforce for Generation Z engineers? Here are some guidelines for making them feel welcome and integrating them into your work teams from other generations.
1. Give Generation Z challenging projects to work on from day one.
The youngest generation of engineers are eager to prove their skills and abilities. As an employer, make sure you have some challenging projects ready for them to jump into. Or provide them with the opportunity to work alongside your leading engineers to learn from them and hopefully, teach them a thing or two.
2. Prep your current engineers on how to work with Generation Z engineers.
It’s important to educate your current workforce on how Generation Z sees the world. How they interact and work with the latest addition to your engineering team will matter in the days to come. Talk with your engineers about communication, technology, and personalities that they can expect to be encountering. Establish procedures for handling difficulties if they arise.
3. Set up new work teams to handle the incoming Generation Z engineers.
Design your engineering work teams so that you have a good mix of young and seasoned engineers working together on projects that they have experience on. You may need to shift a few people from other teams to a core training team to work directly with Generation Z engineers, at least for the first year on the job.
4. Make Generation Z engineers feel welcome right away.
Make your new engineers feel welcome by assigning them a place in your work teams, partnered with at least one other young engineer and a lead engineer who can mentor them. Give them an established work station, the technology and resources they need to succeed, and introduce them to the best minds in the business from the start. Let them know they are valued and your company will provide them with an outstanding first career experience.
