Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Gen Z Workplace Perspectives
575 Plays6 months ago
What does Gen Z look for in a workplace? What can employers do to keep Gen Z professionals engaged?
Gather some data-informed strategies from Christina Sugimoto of Wasserman Next Gen in this episode. We cover key findings from a recent Gen Z census study, including:
- How Gen Z defines success
- When and how Gen Z is job searching
- What they are looking for and expect of employers
Christina also shares strategies to engage and retain Gen Z in the workplace.
Learn more about Wasserman Next Gen.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Gen Z Mindsets
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome, this is hashtag Gen Z, a podcast that explores Generation Z, who they are, how they're different from other generations, while also being an incredible blend of those who came before them. We explore what they think is cool, what moves them, and why they do what they do. I'm your host, Megan Grace, and it is so nice to have
Gen Z in the Workplace
00:00:27
Speaker
you here. This is episode 53, where we're exploring Gen Z mindsets as it relates to work. This has kind of been a theme throughout the entire season six so far.
00:00:36
Speaker
However, this is going to think a little bit more about the mindsets and expectations that Gen Z brings to work. What we think about work and what we expect from work can have profound impacts on the companies we seek employment from and the levels of energy we're willing to invest into our work. And it's no shock Gen Z is going to differ into the ways that they're looking at their job search and their early career expectations and bringing different perspectives than previous generations.
00:01:00
Speaker
The perspectives that Gen Z is taking into the job search and the workplace start long before submitting a resume or showing up to new employee orientation and onboarding. The job search is starting earlier.
00:01:11
Speaker
and the expectations of companies is arguably higher among this cohort.
Insights from Christina Sugimoto
00:01:15
Speaker
Quantifying these perspectives is something that I'm always interested in, but I can't do all the research myself, which is why I'm excited for this episode's guest to share more about a recent study that was done to capture the perspectives of Gen Z college students on a variety of topics, including what they think about work, how they're seeking out jobs, and what they expect of companies and organizations.
00:01:36
Speaker
In this episode, I'm joined by Christina Sugimoto, who works with Wasserman Nextion. The Wasserman team connects with businesses who had Gen Z and millennial consumers through custom research, peer-to-peer, social and digital, experiential and media, and community integration strategies.
00:01:53
Speaker
Christina has worked on a variety of different projects with Brain Ambassador, NIL Influencer, and Experiential Projects for Comcast and the Xfinity HBC Tour, Contiki, Intuit, TurboTax, and Duncan. She manages the day-to-day of ambassadors and influencers in various programs. And prior to her current role, she worked as a creative intern at Wasserman XGen and an art direction intern at BBDO New York. She's a cum laude graduate of Emerson College holding a BS in marketing communications
00:02:23
Speaker
with a concentration on creative design and a minor in psychology. In her spare time, you can find her at the beach soaking in the sunshine in San Diego, or indulging in some five-star pasta and oysters in Boston's North End. Christina brings so many great insights to the conversation, so let's get into it.
00:02:44
Speaker
Excited to welcome Christina to the conversation today to share more about what Wasserman NextGen is doing and the great work that they're producing as it relates to understanding generations. It's always wonderful when I can find people that like to nerd out about similar stuff and it seems like we've made a match. So Christina, welcome to the conversation. It's great to have you here. Thank you for having me. Super excited to be here.
00:03:03
Speaker
Well, Christina, you're really what people are here to listen to. So tell me a little bit more about your story, kind of what is it that you do and what is the journey that you took to kind of doing the work that you do with Wasserman NextGen?
Roles and Responsibilities at Wasserman NextGen
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah, so in my role, I am an associate manager of accounts here at Wasserman NextGen. So essentially, I handle the day-to-day of managing our brand ambassadors and influencers for various programs that we have for our clients. But I also work on some experiential marketing activations for brands as well.
00:03:36
Speaker
the really cool brands that I've worked on in the past or have like contributed to include like Comcast, TurboTax, Dunkin. So pretty big names, which is really cool for me to experience as someone so young in the industry. But as far as how I got started, I studied marketing communications at Emerson College and I had a focus on creative design. So a lot of the work that I did in college sort of
00:04:02
Speaker
was around that space. So I dabbled a lot in social media, graphic design. And it eventually led me to land an internship in art direction at BBDO New York, which is an advertising agency. And I really enjoyed the creativity of that and the brainstorming aspect of being an art direction intern and knew that that was the path that I eventually wanted to go on. And then in my last semester of senior year in college, I found an internship at Wasserman NextGen.
00:04:30
Speaker
And I was a creative intern for my last semester of college. And in this internship, I worked to brainstorm and doing creative ideation for clients. And it was really exciting because it was a completely different side than the traditional advertising space where we were marketing specifically to college students.
00:04:49
Speaker
as a college student myself at the time, it was really exciting for me to be in that space. And then from there I found interest on the account side of things and got to sit in on a bunch of account meetings, which was really exciting. And then eventually when this role opened up, obviously I applied and I got this job right after graduating in December of 2022. So I started in January last year and I have been going stronger since.
00:05:14
Speaker
Well, it's wonderful. It sounds like the thread through your experiences, like understanding your target audience, right? And I'm not in advertising, but I know enough that like you got to know who you're trying to communicate with, right? And I feel like we're going to get into that, but can you share a little bit more about what Wasserman NextGen is and what is NextGen really striving to do to help others understand and work with Gen Z?
Understanding Gen Z Through Census Data
00:05:40
Speaker
So Next Gen focuses on helping other brands really reach that audience and so we hold an annual student census that helps us sort of gain insight into the behaviors and habits of Gen Z and what they're really interested in in all aspects of their life.
00:05:57
Speaker
Our 2023 census asked around 1,000 students in college in the US and in Canada questions about, you know, their school life, their personal life at home, their interests, how they engage with brands, things like that. And we use that information to create these programs so that brands can really resonate with this audience and, you know, drive really great brand affinity and
00:06:25
Speaker
just keep the consumers engaged for a really long time. So I think that those insights are really important and we're going to definitely get to that aspect of what your census and the kind of that study does along with kind of like keeping a pulse through the data. What are some ways that you all
00:06:43
Speaker
are working with brands to understand, I mean, right now Gen Z, some millennial and a bit of Gen Alpha, but give us some examples. I know you talked about some of the clients that you worked with and you don't have to give away all their secrets, but aside from providing some of the insights to those companies, what are some ways in which you're helping others better work with Gen Z? Yeah.
00:07:04
Speaker
Based on our census data and all of our insights and also what the client is looking for, it obviously varies from brand and company just based on what they're looking for for like KPIs. And so we curate programs based on their needs and utilize those insights to back it up wide. Wonderful. That's fantastic to hear a little bit more about the work that you all do to help brands and in some ways bridge the gaps, right? Like they want consumers. You all are helping them understand their consumers and how to work with them.
00:07:34
Speaker
A big piece of that we already kind of teased is that study that you mentioned. I would love to learn more about the study that you all conducted with recent Gen Z college students and really what are some of the key findings of that new study? What are the things that we need to pay attention to from that?
00:07:48
Speaker
Yeah, there's, I mean, we ask them a lot of different questions about their lives, but the five main key takeaways from this census last year is that there's a lot of changes happening. So there's changes in the way that Gen Z measures success. There's a lot of changes in living situations, screen time.
00:08:05
Speaker
Brand engagement and investing specifically about money. So I can dive into a couple of those points now in terms of like measuring success. Gen Z has shifted their like interests and focuses a lot since COVID happened. So during the COVID lockdown, specifically students had more defined idea of college success in the sense that
00:08:25
Speaker
a lot of people valued happiness and fulfillment and academic achievement was on the lower end. But in our census from last year, we saw the top choice was still happiness and fulfillment of 15%, but academic achievement is a lot higher at 11. And so we can see in a post COVID world that students actually care a lot about their academic achievement, but regardless, brands should be encouraged to find solutions that propel student success and students define that on their own terms.
00:08:55
Speaker
just being able to adapt to that. In terms of living situations, we found that 21% of the people that were surveyed still live at home with their families. And so this obviously has a big shift in consumer needs and what they purchase. And for example, if you live at home, you might have greater commuting needs. So you might pay insurance. You might have car payments rather than someone who lives in an apartment on campus. They are obviously paying rent and groceries and all that kind of stuff. So a little bit of shift there. Another thing I mentioned was screen time and brand engagement.
00:09:24
Speaker
This one kind of scares me because I definitely see myself in this space, but 84% of the people surveyed spend four plus hours per day on their phone or mobile device. And 39 of those people that responded said that the volume is over seven hours. And I can definitely say that I found myself in that group, you know, a couple of times throughout the week. And it's really interesting because even though the screen time is really high, like social media is not necessarily
00:09:54
Speaker
Like the primary way to reach Gen Z digitally, which is really interesting because a lot of people use it for socializing with their friends and to pass the time when they're bored rather than looking for, you know, things to purchase or things like that. So that's really interesting. And, um, people always say that like Gen Z has like a really short attention span. And I feel like that definitely like sometimes may be true, but I think as generations like evolved, you just have to reach them in different ways. And so.
00:10:22
Speaker
I feel like if people are trying to reach them, you just need to earn our attention in new ways and with new kinds of stories. And utilizing technology is a good way to do that, but adding different perspectives and connecting with communities rather than the generation as a whole is really important since all of us are so different. And then lastly, I mentioned investing specifically about money.
Gen Z's Financial Interests and Job Values
00:10:44
Speaker
What's really interesting about our census data is that 39 of the people that we surveyed currently invest in some capacity, but a lot of people don't understand how it works or 54% were interested but had no resources to start. And so I think with our current economy, Gen Z is really wanting to understand their finances, especially with
00:11:06
Speaker
you know, inflation and all of those things going on, but are really unsure how to start. And so strategic brands have a really great opportunity to guide and really bring to light all the great ways to like invest your money to Gen Z to really bring
00:11:23
Speaker
them to the point that they want to be at, because I definitely fall in that group where I want to invest in more, but I don't necessarily know how. And so I think if a brand really wants to reach this audience, it's like understanding that is definitely helpful, especially if you're in the finance space looking to connect with this generation. Christina, thank you for that. I mean, I could sit and gobble up stats for days. So I appreciated that fully. I think there's so much to really explore with that, because while you are
00:11:49
Speaker
capturing insights of college students. College students are just pre-employees, if you will, right? Like their next step usually in life is either grad school or they're gonna go work somewhere. And eventually even grad students go work somewhere. And so I think there's a lot that companies specifically that are working to want to attract this new generation in terms of potentially a new employee population can pay attention to some of those insights. And some of the ones that stick out to me is like,
00:12:18
Speaker
What is success in college if achievement is, I believe you said like academic achievement was kind of a rising trend. What does that mean kind of for our employers that might be thinking, hmm, how does academic achievement eventually translate to the workplace? When I think about screen time and you said like kind of the digital space that they occupy.
00:12:41
Speaker
It's much more than just they're looking to buy things, it's how they're connecting. It's like, how does that impact people trying to recruit Gen Z? Things are just my immediate musings and riffings. And then this idea of investing in money and wanting resources and understanding how to financially prepare. And there's different ways in which I think companies can assist with that. So I think my question really is,
00:13:06
Speaker
From the insights that you all have generated from this study, what are the things that people who want to attract higher and retain Gen Z professionals? What are the things they need to be paying attention to? Yeah, I think Gen Z graduates look for a lot of things when looking for a job. So when it comes to getting their attention, I feel like there's a couple of things that companies should be aware of and keep in mind. In our survey, we asked for brands to make a meaningful social difference, what
00:13:35
Speaker
does Gen Z care about the most? And they care about ethical hiring policies or like the makeup of the workforce, providing mental health days for employees, and then also donating to causes. Those are the top three answers that came in from our study. And so I think to retain people generally just providing an environment where they want to stay and they feel connected to the company and all the coworkers is super important. I'm going to shout out Wasserman for this one because I think they do a great job of
00:14:03
Speaker
you know, incorporating group chats or communities that you can join based on your interests or identities. And I think that's a great start for any company that is, you know, looking to, you know, explore this space. So we have a bunch of things like dog owner group chats to like documentary lovers and also groups for like different ethnic groups that make up our
00:14:23
Speaker
you know, employee workspace. And so I think that that's a great way to, you know, touch on all these points. And they also expect companies to, you know, address DNI issues in their local communities. And, you know, nationwide, our city says that, you know, 71 percent of them like care and they want to see companies showcasing support and addressing these issues in their local communities. And so I think it's really important for companies and especially people that are hiring
00:14:53
Speaker
to really understand that and to highlight those initiatives to attract those new hires and to showcase the support and the representation that they have in all the communities within their company. And I would say if a company
00:15:06
Speaker
say like maybe doesn't have that in place. I feel like there are ways to, you know, obviously work on it. So I would say like advice would be to be sure that you can share ways of how the company is striving to get there and that, you know, showcasing that the work is being done because Gen Z is really not afraid to take a stance on things that they care about and aren't afraid to call people out and companies and brands. So it's important to showcase that, you know, your company's putting in the work to make a difference both inside and outside of the workplace to really
00:15:37
Speaker
you know, attract them and retain them and keep them for as long as possible. I really liked you said Christina about the idea of like inside and outside, right? So like the work needs to be done, not just from like a HR marketing perspective, like we're a great place to work, right? Like there needs to be a lot more, um, I think with this generation, because for lack of better words, like we know that Gen Z can kind of see through the BS, right? Like they can see through the marketing BS, like you all can,
00:16:04
Speaker
In my opinion, you can sniff it out better than most generations can. And I think you bring up a good point of you have to be intentional about the sharing and not just when we're trying to promote why this is a great place to work. Like it needs to be very authentic and very robust and not for what can feel like that's kind of that hidden motivation of painting a pretty picture.
00:16:32
Speaker
the picture actually needs to be pretty as it is, not doctored. And I think that that's something that there are some companies we know that do that really well. And then there's others that try to kind of mask what's going on behind the scenes. And I don't know what's going to happen to those companies, but that was something when you said both inside and outside, there's that link of truth and honesty. I think that we see that's really present
00:16:56
Speaker
with Gen Z job seekers and those who are not even just job seekers, those who are like, am I going to be a consumer of this brand because they have bad employment practices? Maybe not. Or I know people have divested of different companies for different reasons because of their practices. And I feel like there's just less that companies can hide these days that can impact both their hiring retention of employees and their ultimate consumers.
00:17:23
Speaker
I appreciate
Job Search Priorities for Gen Z
00:17:24
Speaker
you sharing that. Based on the study, what are some expectations? You know, these are the things that Gen Z is coming into their job search and their career preparation that they might expect of employers or potential employers.
00:17:38
Speaker
The most important things when looking for a job, according to the survey, 33% really care about salary when choosing a job after college. I think this ties directly into the investing aspect and money, just really being at the forefront of a lot of decisions, especially with the economy now, when a lot of Gen Z, myself personally, I feel like
00:17:57
Speaker
have had moments where you stress out and you are scared for what's to come and the struggle to afford things like rent and basic needs on top of spending money to hang out with your friends. So I know salary is a really big part of people's decisions. And I have a lot of friends who chose to have a job where they maybe
00:18:20
Speaker
make a lot of money, but have really long working hours and value that aspect more than another. And then 30% choose jobs based on how well they fit the description. And I think this is a good baseline just to see what kind of positions are out there. But I found that they're not always representative of all the different opportunities because for me personally, I looked a lot on LinkedIn when I was searching for a job and a lot of the job postings that have like entry level listed on the posting say that you need five plus years of experience.
00:18:48
Speaker
you know, someone straight out of college isn't necessarily going to have that. And so it can be a little bit discouraging sometimes for someone trying to break out in the industry. That's definitely a baseline of how people decide. And then what was really interesting from the survey was that company culture and benefits were pretty low at 11% each, which I found really interesting because
00:19:08
Speaker
In my job search, I definitely prioritize company culture and also the benefits because I knew that I was going to be living alone or like away from my family and that I would be on my own insurance and things like that. And so I definitely think it's like obviously a case by case thing, but I was shocked to see that it was that low, especially because I think it's really important to enjoy the workplace that you're in and
00:19:29
Speaker
enjoy the people around you as well. So that was really interesting. But in terms of prepping for career search, in terms of like timeline, a lot of people start early in their senior year, 20% of students start their job search in their early senior year.
00:19:44
Speaker
and 18% start the summer after junior year and before senior year. And so the timeline is mostly around that time in their lives. And I definitely started fall of my senior year, which was technically my last semester because I graduated early. So I know my timeline was a little bit skewed, but I still felt a lot of pressure to find a job, even though I knew.
00:20:06
Speaker
that I had a lot of time compared to other people in my class. And in terms of how people are finding jobs, 59% of them utilize networking as a primary source for finding jobs. So going to conferences, utilizing professors, career fairs, other mentors that they've had in the past, that's definitely the most popular option that people go for. And then 50% utilize LinkedIn and social media. I think
00:20:33
Speaker
That's definitely new in the sense that a lot of brands are starting to post on things like TikTok, being like, we're hiring. And a lot of people see it that way. And so I know some of my friends have definitely found jobs that they're interested in through, you know, those brand handles. And then 42% rely on their internship. So going from that intern to full-time pipeline.
00:20:53
Speaker
I feel like personally I utilized all of those options, really leaning into my connections and talking to my professors for advice and all that kind of stuff for different opportunities and also utilizing the people that I met throughout my internships. And I think being very vocal about it eventually got me to where I am today. And so I would say it's really important
00:21:15
Speaker
to support those people that are reaching out to you as someone that, you know, is an employee at a company and someone reaches out to you that is really interested in a job position. But also, if there's any, you know, Gen Zers that are looking for jobs listening to this, I would say, you know, reach out to as many people as you can because you never really know when those opportunities are going to come.
00:21:34
Speaker
And then in terms of location, the majority of the students wanted to live in a city after college. New York City was the most popular of our survey at 20% and 16% wanted to work in a city, but didn't have really a preference. And then in terms of like company size, the majority wanted a medium-sized company. So anywhere from 51 to 500 people. And so those are some of the things that Gen Z looks for when they're starting out their job search and career prep.
00:22:03
Speaker
So there's something really interesting because as you're sharing kind of the things that like their expectations are like they're looking for like obviously salary like that matters. I think I was also shocked by the idea of benefits being so low and I think that it might be a little bit of like you might be a unique experience where you were potentially off your parents like insurance earlier than others but you also kind of know that benefits is a monetary game, right? So like paying for insurance
00:22:31
Speaker
through your employer is cheaper than paying for insurance elsewhere. And so like I do find that interesting. Maybe that's just an opportunity for companies that are looking to attract salary driven.
00:22:45
Speaker
young people like Gen Z or like monetarily driven young people of understanding and giving really good education about like the full scope of company benefits and how sometimes there are things that are included in those benefits that don't feel immediately directly financial, right? So like if your company is going to pay for your gym membership, that's potentially anywhere from $50 to $200 a month, right? That could be
00:23:10
Speaker
not coming out of your pocket. Same with health insurance, having a really good company plan can save you money down the road. It's not the sexiest version of a salary, but it does impact your financial bottom line in general. That might just be companies that are listening, HR professionals that are listening, if you're out there, let's help
00:23:31
Speaker
the young people understand that benefits are not so sexy, but very important. So important, right? And those benefits, I certainly have seen some really interesting benefits that have come out of jobs of
00:23:47
Speaker
certain companies will pay for your at-home work set up or if you're completely remote like paying for lunch once a week right like little things like that that do impact your bottom line. The other thing that really stuck out to me and I don't necessarily know if it's shocking but I do think it is a shift that we've gradually seen happen is that
00:24:16
Speaker
for seniors or rising seniors, the job search is starting earlier than it was. I think previously if seniors were graduating in the spring, they were doing a lot of the job searching in the spring. And it sounds like from what you're hearing in your survey and what you're understanding in the survey is they're really like, if they're graduating in the spring, they might be job searching in the fall or the summer, which feels almost a year prior to when they would start that job.
00:24:44
Speaker
And what I hear from that is, Gen Z wants to have a plan, and they want to minimize the uncertainty of what could happen after graduation. Is that a fair assessment? Yeah, I think that's really fair. I think it also depends on the industry that you're trying to go into, because I know some industries hire a lot sooner than others. I have a lot of friends in the tech and engineering spaces, and a lot of them secure jobs in their junior year of college.
00:25:14
Speaker
through their internships or something like that. And as far as like my timeline with like marketing, it was much later. So I think that's also the thing. But yeah, I agree that, you know, a lot of college students just want to have that job security and, you know, have that path after graduation because graduating college is scary and, you know, you don't have school anymore unless you're going to grad school.
00:25:40
Speaker
like it's a really stressful time for students and so I think it's very fair to say that you know having a job lined up and having that pathway just helps with a lot of the uncertainty that you know comes with growing up and and moving on from a big chapter of your life.
00:25:58
Speaker
Absolutely. So I've got, you know, two more questions. One more really focused on people that are potentially wanting to hire or attract Gen Z. So this is really, if you had the ability to give advice to HR professionals, let's just say that. What would you suggest to organizations that want to create a positive workplace experience for Gen Z employees?
Creating Supportive Environments for Gen Z
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's important to create a really positive and supportive work environment for Gen Z. Obviously with like COVID happening, a lot of us had to go through college through that and a lot of other things going on in the world. And so just providing support is really essential.
00:26:41
Speaker
like providing resources like, you know, mental health days, we talked about different DNI initiatives and just a positive work environment of like, you know, being flexible and offering the resources for people that need it. And I feel like we're constantly learning or wanting to find new ways to learn and absorb information.
00:27:04
Speaker
if you give it to us, like we'll be able to adapt. And so just providing that good environment for us is honestly key because Gen Z is really passionate and driven and outspoken. And I think that if you give them the tools that they will succeed and put in their best efforts and perform in whatever role that they're in. And so providing resources like that will just better them as an employee and
00:27:29
Speaker
help them help you pretty much. And so I think it's important to provide those resources. I guess this falls under benefits, but just providing ways to make the work experience better in terms of support and different resources that they can utilize when or if they need the support.
00:27:50
Speaker
I really appreciate that because I think some people could listen and say, oh, Gen Z needs all this support to even just get their job done, right? And I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think that what Gen Z is asking for in terms of support, guidance, resources, training, actually is a cry for give me the things and the training I need to be eventually autonomous and resilient, right? Because I think Gen Z is actually quite
00:28:18
Speaker
tough. They just want to do a good job and they don't want to waste their time guessing if it's a good job. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. And I agree. I think like also our generation like
00:28:30
Speaker
we just learned how to set really good boundaries for ourselves individually and like watching other generations go through what they've been through. It's like, we know when to say yes and when to say no. And I think that some people might take that as, you know, we're being lazy or something like that. But I think that we just have standards and boundaries and we're very strong about them. And I think that that's a good thing. And I think that eventually it creates for an environment where all of us can really enjoy, you know, what we're doing on a day to day and
00:28:58
Speaker
eventually thank ourselves in the future for creating that really nice environment for us to all be in. Because I think like you said, if you give us the tools, we're going to put all of our 100% effort into it and perform really well. And so I think that that's just super important. Absolutely. And I think that that's a really
00:29:27
Speaker
I think it's really healthy actually that Gen Z is like, I can't commit to something if I don't have the things I need to be successful in it and playing the guessing game and trying to figure it out is not going to be conducive for your efforts, right? And so I think that there's something that other generations can look to that of, I don't think Gen Z is being needy and desiring support and resources. I think they're being smart and planning ahead and saying, if I'm going to give it 110% or 100%,
00:29:56
Speaker
I need X, Y, and Z to do that effectively. It's just asking for what you want and then not sacrificing your values, which I don't see a problem with it at all.
00:30:06
Speaker
We got to look to the younger generation to help us think about work a little bit more healthy. So, Christina, our time is almost to the end, and I don't really let anybody get out of this podcast without answering my favorite question. And, you know, what is your favorite thing about your Gen Z peers and kind of the Gen Z that you get to study in your work and help kind of provide a voice to through what you do at Wasserman Next
Gen Z's Creative and Proactive Nature
00:30:32
Speaker
Gen? What's your favorite thing?
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's really awesome because my job, you know, allows me to learn more about my generation, but also like collaborate with, you know, my friends who are also part of this generation. But I just really love how we're really proactive in creating that better environment for ourselves in the future. And we're outspoken about the topics that we care about and that we're passionate about. I think that that's really great of us as an entire generation that
00:30:58
Speaker
you know, we value that in ourselves. I also just love how creative this generation is, whether it's in like a traditional art sense or even through like videos and humor, like on TikTok or like Instagram. I think that a lot of us in our generation use it as a sense of, you know, finding community and bringing a light to something during a dark time or, you know, just using humor to connect with people, I think is a really strong thing. And I think our generation does it really well.
00:31:26
Speaker
And I think through engaging with people on social media and in person, I think that no matter where you're from, you can always find something that you've seen before, you have experienced before. And I think that that's a really cool thing. And it inspires me to explore new things and share them with the world too. And so I just really love how we're not afraid to show who we are. And we do it in a really fun and engaging and really artistic, creative way.
00:31:56
Speaker
I appreciate that. I think Gen Z is serious about the things they know they need to be serious about, but don't take them too, there's themselves too seriously about the things that they're allowed to be silly about. So again, pretty sure these young people are helping us find balance. Um, well, Christina, thank you again so much for being here, sharing some of the insights about what you do and kind of the work that, uh, you all at next gen are helping brands and companies better understand.
00:32:23
Speaker
this generation and other generations.
Stay Connected with Wasserman NextGen
00:32:26
Speaker
But if the listeners want to keep up with you in the work that you are doing, what's the best way that people can follow along with some of the great work that you are doing at Wasserman NextGen?
00:32:37
Speaker
Yeah, well, I would recommend following Wasserman NextGen at wassnextgen on social media on all platforms, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter. That's where we always post about our work and all the great things that we're doing. We highlight a lot of our students and influencers that are part of our programs and just bringing in a new set of community members to this fantastic community that we've built up.
00:33:03
Speaker
So I would recommend that people check that out and also our website. So yeah. Well, wonderful. Everyone, I'll be sure to include those links that if you would like to follow along and learn more about the great work they're doing at NextGen. But Christina, thank you again so much. It's been fantastic to learn from you. Thank you so much for having me. I had such a great time talking about this.
00:33:29
Speaker
Another thank you to Christina for bringing such data-informed insights into the conversation. It's one thing to observe behavior and another to use data to measure it and make changes. The work that Wasserman NextGen is doing is helping companies and organizations not only better connect with their consumers, but better understand their future and their current Gen Z employees.
00:33:50
Speaker
While it can be easy to write off differing perspectives from other cohorts, it's important to recognize that changing these perspectives is very difficult, if not an impossible feat. So the best thing that companies and organizations can do is listen and do their best to adapt differing perspectives if they want to effectively engage members of Gen Z or any other generational cohort. If we're willing to listen, understand, and validate perspectives that are different than our own, it's much easier to work together to create meaningful and engaging workplace experiences.
00:34:20
Speaker
And luckily there are groups like Wasserman NextGen that are doing great work to capture the perspectives of Gen Z. There are more great episodes and guests coming up in season six that you likely don't want to miss. I'm not going to tell you to live your life, but subscribing is a great way to be sure that you don't miss any new episodes when they become available. So if you haven't yet, now is a great time to hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:34:42
Speaker
And while you're at it, share this episode with a friend or a colleague. You know, my preference, the more the merrier and the more the listeners, the more learners, which is my favorite. And I'm always looking for new topics to explore and guests to chat with. If you have a suggestion of a topic or a guest, I now have a pitch form on my website, so you can just share it directly with me. You can find that form at Megan M. Grace.com slash podcast. That's M E G H A N M.
00:35:12
Speaker
G-R-A-C-E dot com slash podcast. And if you want to hang out, you can also find me on Instagram, threads, and LinkedIn at Megan M. Grace. And I couldn't wrap this one up without a thank you to Leah Kramer, the Gen Zer behind the scenes editing this podcast and bringing it to life. Thank you Leah for all that you're doing. And one more thank you for you. Thanks for stopping by for this episode and this season so far. Let's continue the conversation and we'll chat soon.