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IO1.2. - Company survey

Transnational report

October, 2017 / Trebag / Hungary

Interwork between Generation

Z and Employers

2016-1-CZ01-KA202-023939

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only

of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

contained therein.

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Table of contents

Introduction – The project...................................................................................................................... 3

National contexts ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Research design ....................................................................................................................................... 16

Questionnaire survey ............................................................................................................................. 16

Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 16

Results of the questionnaire survey ...................................................................................... 17

Focus group sessions .............................................................................................................................. 29

Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 29

Results of the focus group sessions ....................................................................................... 29

Interview sessions ...................................................................................................................................... 34

Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 34

Results of the interviews ............................................................................................................... 34

Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 39

References ................................................................................................................................................... 41

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Introduction – The project

The project „iGEN – Interwork Between Gen Z and Employers” is implemented in the

framework of Erasmus+ VET programme. The subject of the project is cooperation

between two main actors on the labour market – members of generation Z and

employers. The main goal of our project is to try and close the gap between employers

and youth, building up cooperation between the two major players of job markets

and creating an effective and successful work environment.

The first output of the project will be methodology providing methods, tools and best

practices for SMEs to create an attractive, supporting and retaining working

environment.

The second output will be the Mentor training, developed based on our surveys of

European SMEs and demands of Gen Z.

The third output of the project is a soft skill training material produced for members of

Gen Z, based on the company survey and further research, prepared in a form

adjusted to learning ways of Gen Z. This will help young employees to be more

prepared for, and more confident and content at work, more assertive and able to

solve problems due to understanding the demands of the job market and the working

styles of older generations.

To have relevant information to the development of these intellectual outputs, we

planned to conduct two exhaustive surveys using the methods of focus group sessions,

semi-structured interviews and questionnaires; one of them involving members of gen

Z (16-21yrs) with relevant work experience, who are able to compare their

expectations with existing conditions (which makes the research unexampled); and

the other researching company demands and experiences with the generation.

The project in progress:

The partners already conducted one survey with generation Z in their country and

produced the national report of its results. This document includes the results of the

second part, the national company survey conducted in Hungary.

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National contexts

Czech Republic

The most important player in the mentoring and coaching context is the “National

Institute for Education” (Národní ústav pro vzdělávání) in the Czech Republic. The

mission of the Institute is Education Counselling and Continuing Education of Teachers.

The aim is to enhance in various ways the continuing development of a general,

vocational, art and linguistic education, and to support schools in the area of their

pedagogical-psychological, educational and career counselling, as well as in the

methodology used in the continuing education of teachers. All these services

emphasize a general focus on lifelong education while maintaining close cooperation

with the EU.

The institute monitors the transition of graduates from schools to the labour market, the

rate of their unemployment, whether they work within their fields of study, what

motivates them towards enhancing their qualifications, and how successful they are

in tertiary education. The institute also monitors the employers' expectations regarding

the graduates' abilities and proposes changes in the education that could help

graduates to be more successful on the labour market.

The Institute ensures the monitoring of the labour market needs and provides thus a

needed feedback to both the initial and adult education as well. It offers within the

Information System on the Labour Market Success of School-Leavers (available at

www.infoabslovent.cz) information from sphere of the labour market and the

education to following recipients: the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, regional

authorities, labour offices of the Czech Republic, schools, pupils and their parents or

employers.

The education level is represented also by the “Czech Mentoring Association in

Education” (Česká asociace mentoringu ve vzdělávání). It is a non-profit organization

focused on education of teachers and trainers and its activities are supported both

by national and international subsidies (Czech ministry of Education, EU funds).

The entrepreneurial level represent two other organizations:

a) “Czech Mentoring Association – CMA” (Česká asociace mentorů) which is a

member of the International Mentoring Association. The CMA is a non-profit

association of mentoring professionals in the education, business and government

sectors. It monitors and offers the most current information in the constantly evolving

field of mentoring practice in publications (small articles) and tailor-made paid courses

for interested institutions both entrepreneurs and schools. The CMA offers (in close

cooperation with the two certificated programmes a) Certificated Mentor, and b)

Certificate Manager. Both certificates are accredited by the Czech Ministry of

Education.

b) “The International Coach Federation Czech Republic – ICF CZ” (Mezinárodní

federace koučů Česká republika) which is a member of The International Coach

Federation (ICF). The ICF CZ seeks to advance the art, science and practice of

professional coaching. The ICF CZ offers the only globally recognized, independent

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credentialing program for coach practitioners and three certificated courses (under

guarantee of the CMA): “Associate Certified Coach”, “Professional Certified Coach”,

and “Master Certified Coach”.

Big companies organize mentoring and coaching processes within their “Personal

Management – PM”. This is organized at professional level and do not need special

support.

SMEs (especially those with less than 100 employees) do not apply professional

approaches to mentoring and need to be supported in this area.

The quality and the form of cooperation between education and employers at

institutional level in the Czech Republic depends on the attitudes of those, who are

responsible for the cooperation. An important prerequisite for a successful

cooperation is a mutual trust among all involved partners. Both cooperating partners

have different starting points in the Czech Republic – schools are subordinated to

legislative norms and to other rules set by the statutory authority. The employers have

to react on the current capacity, business strategy and the economic stability of the

enterprise.

The Ministries provide different instruments strengthening the mutual institutional

cooperation, on the regional level exist following measures: employment pacts,

incentives for pupils, centres serving as a meeting points for both schools and

enterprises. The Czech government supports systematic the cooperation by setting

new legislation aimed at the possibility to apply tax reductions for employers.

The cooperation between secondary schools and employers was supported by the

national project “POSPOLU” (TOGETHER, 2012–2015). The main goal of the project was

to suggest legislative and system changes that could enhance effective and easier

cooperation. Based on the discussions with the social partners was developed a

conceptual study with recommendations, that was pilot tested by a network of 38

schools and 115 employers, enterprises and further subjects in practice.

Education and labour market strategy for EU 2020 in the Czech Republic:

It is important that school leavers entering the labour market receive already during

the educational process training that enhances their employability. The school leavers

should be able to adapt flexibly to new conditions, to respond to new tendencies and

trends, and should be prepared to develop their potential and take adult training.

However, this requires well-working connections between the world of education and

the world of work allowing the school system to respond to the changing requirements

and needs of the labour market. At the same time, it is important that the

communication between the two worlds works well and effectively.

Analytical document of the Czech Ministry of Education on the coordination of the

education and the labour market needs for the conceptual and strategic decision

making recommends to turn the attention to the following topics:

− Early school leaving from the secondary education

− Distance study in the secondary vocational education

− Summary information on school leaver employment

− Structure of pupils in secondary vocational and tertiary technical education in

the Czech Republic

− The unemployment of school leavers

− Transition of school leavers from schools to the labour market or their entry into

the tertiary education

− Labour market needs

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− The needs of employers

− Labour force structure by occupation, industry and educational attainment in

the context of the sphere of education

− The changes within the structure of the offer of secondary vocational schools

Hungary

Generation Z makes up just 3 % of the workforce today in Hungary, but this rate is

getting higher and higher in the upcoming years.

The Hungarian „How Generations Think: Research on Generation Z” study (2014)

surveyed the characteristics and lifestyles of today’s 15–24-year-old young people in

Hungary, who are members of either the Generation Z or the late Generation Y. The

results are the followings.

80% of the respondents live with their parents, 60% of them study and 23% of them

work.

Participants were asked to evaluate their awareness about everyday news on a five-

point scale and the mean value was 3.31, which is not an outstanding result.

35.4% of the respondents watch the news on television almost every day. 32.5% read

online news portals and 21.9% listen to radio news almost every day.

However, online sources are considered to be the most important in terms of active

information seeking. Most members of the age-group (56.7%) find answers to their

questions on the Internet, and they usually use search engines if they need information.

Personal contacts are regarded important when they seek information. 48.8% of

young people ask their peers and friends for information, and 45.8% of them ask their

parents. Only 31.3% of the respondents use social media on a regular basis to find

information.

59% of respondents in this age-group have such a device and 45.5% of them even

have mobile Internet connection. Whereas 11.1% of smartphone users have never

downloaded any applications on their telephones, 45.8% of them regularly update

applications.

According to the research, young people have regular contacts with others mostly on

online platforms, with 37.2 people on average. One of the respondents reported to

keep in touch with 1,500 other people on the Internet, which indicates the contact

intensity of online platforms. Naturally, most of these online relationships mean weak

connections because an average 15-24 year-old young person considers 11.1 people

as friends, while there are typically five people in a circle of friends. A good indicator

of an active social life of the age-group is that only 15 people reported to have no

friends at all.

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Outdoor activities of youth are fairly active; respondents spend 4.58 nights out of 10

on average out of their homes.

An average young person between 15 and 24 years of age read 5.23 books the year

before the research, which did not include compulsory reading and textbooks.

It is a popular free time activity among the youth to watch movies and series. 67.0% of

them watch series at least every week and 16.9% watch every day. Women and the

younger members of the segment seem to watch series more actively than the

average. 31% of those who watch series follow the series in a foreign language, mostly

in English. The rate of other languages is very low.

On the basis of the findings of the research, high confidence is typical of the

respondents. 64% of young people think that they are successful in what they do. 62.2%

even think that they can always get, receive and achieve what they really want.

In the survey, respondents were asked about satisfaction with their life. The average is

closer to 4 on a five-point scale (3.77), while the median and the mode are also 4. Two-

thirds of the respondents are quite or absolutely satisfied with their lives. 7% reported

that they were mostly dissatisfied with their lives. It can be considered a tendency that

as the respondents’ age increases, their satisfaction with life decreases. There is no

significant difference between the satisfaction of men and women.

Appearance is really important for this segment. 63.6% of the valid responses gave a

value higher than three about the statement that ‘I take a good care of my

appearance.’

According to a gallup poll of Tárki (2015), 15 % of the Hungarian population are willing

to leave Hungary and move abroad, while this rate is very high, 67 % among the young

people in Hungary.

According to a research conducted by GKI Digital and Jófogás (2016) among 18-24

years old young people, there are just 8 % of this age group who have never worked

before. Most of them think that they have a big influence on their life and they can

reach the set goals on their own. Work means salary, self-determination, responsibility

and opportunities for them. They are looking for a job, where the working hours are

flexible and the work/life balance is provided. They are not a loyal generation, 70% of

them worked for maximum 1 year at a company and they are willing to leave the

workplace easily if they find a better one. Regarding their future planning, most of

them would like to establish their own enterprise or find a job which fit their interest.

Regarding their personal future plans, 80% of young people expect to have a university

degree in ten years, and most of them predict they will work as employees, but 20% of

them see themselves as entrepreneurs. Only every sixth-seventh respondent is

planning to do physical work. They would accept a job for gross €875 (269000 HUF)

monthly wage, and a monthly €1400 (420000 HUF) payment would be a good income.

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Cyprus

No much can be said about Generation Z in Cyprus, as there is no available data

specifically for this age group. Only some demographics of 2016 which show that iGEN

represents 14.37% of the country’s 1.2 million population. Unlike many countries, males

have a biggest share of 54.4% of the iGEN population while females the other 45.6%.

Unemployment among iGEN in Cyprus is very high. By the end of 2016, one out three

iGENs were unemployed (30.40% to be exact), compared to 12.90% of the overall

unemployment rate. The European Union Youth Unemployment Rate is 17.30%.

The workforce in Cyprus in 2016 was 367,332. iGEN has a share of 7.2%. The iGEN

workforce consisted of 48.2% males and 51.2% females, 36.8% hold a tertiary degree.

United Kingdom

This section provides an analysis of the challenges and issues facing employers,

managers and young people within the UK context.

The Employer’s Perspective

Some 71 per cent of business leaders are concerned and 55 per cent are highly

or moderately concerned, about how well they (i.e. young people) will fit in.

Forty-seven per cent of employers recruit young people because of their

willingness to learn, 43% for their fresh ideas and new approaches and 42%

recruit them for their motivation, energy and optimism.

Graduate employers believe Gen Z employees inject new ideas and can apply

current thinking from academia.

One in four employers had not recruited a young person aged 16–24 in the last

12 months, rising to three in ten organisations in the private and voluntary

sectors. Public sector organisations are most likely to have recruited young

people over the last year, with 74% saying this is the case.

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The number one reason employers recruit young people is that they want to

grow their own workforce.

Just 56% of UK employers report they are likely to recruit young people within

the next 12 months. In all, 58% of private sector employers, 52% of public sector

organisations and 46% of voluntary sector employers say they are likely to recruit

young people over the next year.

Almost a quarter of employers say that an increase in the quality of applications

from young people would encourage them to recruit more young people.

A further 22% report that they need greater assurance that the education

system is delivering more ‘job-ready’ young people would encourage them to

recruit young people.

Nearly half of employers (47%) agree that young people are disadvantaged in

today’s labour market. They also believe that young people need an

opportunity to prove themselves, with 64% agreeing or strongly agreeing that

this is the case.

Some employers expressed concerns about young people’s readiness for work,

with 59% agreeing they have unrealistic expectations about work and 63%

agreeing they lack insight into the working world. In all, 57% of respondents

agree young people lack work experience and 53% think they lack adequate

career guidance. Almost half of employers believe that young people are not

prepared for work.

Among Human Resource professionals that have recruited young people in the

last 12 months, satisfaction levels are generally high. In all, 91% of employers are

either very satisfied (26%) or fairly satisfied (65%) with the young people they

have recruited. Just 9% of respondents report they are fairly or very dissatisfied.

A quarter of employers identify that the cost-effectiveness and improving

workforce diversity are important arguments that can be used to make the

business case for employing young people.

Giving young people early exposure to the workplace through initiatives such

as work experience and internship placements is most commonly viewed by

employers as being part of their role in helping young people and tackling

youth employment. Three-quarters of employers (76%) cite this as being a way

that they can help young people.

Around 70 per cent of employers say that they could help young people by

offering more entry routes into their organisation for non-graduates.

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Nearly two-thirds (61%) of employers think they can help young people by

providing career insights in the classroom through school visits and talks to

schoolchildren.

Around 56 per cent of employers think they could help young people into

employment by providing them with insights into recruitment, such as mock

interviews and help with writing CVs.

The Manager’s Perspective

Managers believe that Gen Z has a need for instant gratification (39 per cent),

are resistance to authority (30 per cent), have poor face-to-face

communication skills (26 per cent) and an expectation for quick promotion (24

per cent) - these represent some of the biggest challenges that need to be

addressed.

One in five managers think that conflict between generations at work could be

a problem.

Only 8 per cent of organisations invest in training to prepare managers with the

skills to handle Gen Z workers – more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of

managers feel ill-prepared to do so.

The Generation Z’s Perspective

The top five most important things Gen Z looks for in a job are: salary (67 per

cent), flexible working and good work-life balance (40 per cent), job security

(39 per cent), regular training and development (29 per cent) and good

holiday allowance (18 per cent).

Unlike their elders, Gen Z - and contrary to employer’s expectations, do not

place so much importance on the values and ethics of their employers, with 14

per cent thinking equality and diversity policies are important and 3 per cent

worried about working for employers with clear corporate social responsibility

programmes.

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Only 7 percent thought the latest technology was essential in a job and just 4

per cent worried about working in an office with the latest facilities and

permission to use social media at any time. Around a quarter of leaders thought

this would be important to them.

A third of Gen Z respondents were annoyed by bosses who were unclear in their

instructions, and a fifth were put off

by leaders that gave very little

face-to-face contact. Nearly a

third disliked managers who gave

little praise and recognition, or

appeared untrustworthy or took

credit for another's work.

Note: The survey of 250 Gen Zs and 750

business leaders was undertaken by Forum

(http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5665).

Poland

The introduction to the previous report has provided an insight into Generation Z in

Poland – their history, characteristics and expectations. The objective of the

introduction to the second report will be providing the facts and opinions from the

opposite point of view - the perspective of companies’ owners, managers, mentors,

leaders and HR specialists.

At the beginning it is important to mention that Poland is currently under a big

transformation of our educational system. All the changes are unsure; most of the

organisations have new names and responsibilities. It is impossible to evaluate any of

them at this stage. We decided to focus our research more on companies and less on

the national education policy.

Since this document is focused on people working with Generation Z members, the

search for other similar surveys has been conducted. Unfortunately, existing studies

and articles don’t provide any specific answers – they are usually very general and

focused on Gen Z members, not people working with them.

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This might be due to the fact that the group of entrepreneurs in Poland is extremely

diversified. The first group are Baby boomers, who developed their businesses in the

communist times or took advantage of the economic transformation in 90’s. Then

there are generation X members, who are younger and more open but still not always

comfortable with the changes. There is also the youngest group – Millennials, who own

small businesses and innovative start-ups with different profile and modern

management style. Each of these groups might have diversified approach and

expectations towards new, young employees. The differences are even bigger when

taking into account the industry, the size of the company, the management style and

personal traits of owners and managers.

As stated in the previous report Gen Z is the first generation born in Poland that has

lived entirely in a free and independent country since 1795. The differences between

them and older generations are incomparable to western EU countries. The conflicts

of interests and lifestyles can cause difficulties for both: people looking for employees

as well as the ones looking for employment.

One thing is certain – expectations of owners and managers are surely important,

however, polish labour market is at the moment more favourable for employees.

Economic growth and constant exodus of Polish people to work abroad made it

difficult to find a qualified and affordable employee. The companies might be afraid

or feel uncomfortable with the Gen Z work style but they will have to adapt and

change their approach and HR strategies if they want to stay on the market. They will

have to develop the training and mentoring system if they want to be attractive for

young people.

The approach of Gen Z members have been studied quite well, the expectations of

young people are widely known and have also been explored in the first stage of our

research. However, we couldn’t find any valuable information about the perspective

of companies’ owners, managers and mentors. That’s why we have conducted the

research ourselves. We believe that this comprehensive approach is what makes IGEN

project innovative and useful.

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Portugal

It is expected that the population of Portugal reduces in the future, according to the

projections of the Eurostat1 (2017a). In 2015 the population was 10 374 822. It is

expected to be 10 209 628 in 2020 and 9 880 173 in 2030 and decrease till the end of

the century.

As for the average age in 2015 it was 43,5 while in 2020 it is expected to be 45,7 and

in 2030 49,8. As we can see the Portuguese population is getting older and old

(Eurostat, 2017b). These figures lead us to think that the number of citizens in the

generation Z will decrease in the years to come.

We crossed this information with the number of pupils enrolled in early childhood.

Figures show that in 2013 there were 266 666 pupils. This figure decreases in 2014 (265

414) and decreases again in 2015 to 264 660 (Eurostat, 2017c). If we take into

consideration the pupils enrolled in lower-secondary education figures show that for

2013 there were 400 478, in 2014, 383 421 and in 2015, 384 971 (Eurostat, 2017d). Finally,

we also checked the figures for the pupils enrolled in vocational upper secondary and

post-secondary non-tertiary education. In 2013 there were 182 518 pupils, in 2015, 177

169 and finally in 2015, 176 573. We found, again, this tendency for the population of

Portugal to get older.

Currently, the iGen generation co-exists in the labor market with different generations,

being the differences between them, evident. If the generations Y and Z (the latter still

not very representative in the labor market) are determined to challenge the rigid

standards of their previous 'congeners', the older confess not to bear the arrogance

of the younger. An analysis of Global Trends reveals that knowing the generational

profile of workers, anticipating the needs and values of the next generation that will

enter the market in the coming years, is an important step to increase productivity and

business success. And avoid inter-generational conflicts. Knowing and perceiving the

characteristics of each of these groups (especially those that bring young people into

the labor market) is fundamental for companies, as it allows them to adapt their offer

to the profile they seek (and who seeks them).

Mobility and flexibility are the "magic potions" to attract young people.

Although separated for a considerable period, there are several aspects that these

age groups (Y and Z) have in common, especially with regard to the conditions they

value at work. Flexibility, mobility, and immediacy (or thirst for the "here and now") are

the characteristics chosen as the most appreciated. Living in "real-time", combining

and articulating work with personal life, is fundamental for these workers, particularly

those belonging to generation Z, who view social networks and cyberworld in a way

that members of previous generations cannot understand or even accept.

Privileging well-being, they defy conventional working standards (considered rigid or

not very flexible), for flexibility and mobility, leaving fixed working hours, but not

commitment. Seeing life and enjoying every moment - not making a distinction

between work, family and fun - is one of the great characteristics of these new (and

future) workers, who are regulated by the maxim "work hard, play hard".

1 http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=proj_15ndbims&lang=en

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The way to look for work is one of the main points of "disunity" between the two

generations: a study by the Center for Executive Education reveals that while

generation Y prefers to look for opportunities in specific sites for this purpose, social

networks and outsourcing companies or temporary work. On the other hand, while

the Y does not show a real preference for the size of the companies in which they work

or intend to work, when considering a potential future employer, generation Z will be

less interested in working in large organizations.

Although both generations do not dispense with the world through electronic devices,

their attitude towards technology is also very different: the former has grown with

computers and is adopting the new technologies as they become more

sophisticated; The second, in turn, was born in the digital world. For these so-called

digital natives, a world without touch screens, intuitive gaming devices, mobile phones

and applications is simply unthinkable. As IT will increasingly become a must in the

workplace, employers, present and future, will need to bear in mind the importance

of IT about information demand, skills to collaboration. However, both generation Y

and, most likely also Z, will continue to choose face-to-face communication with their

leaders. In addition, if generation Y has become accustomed to the execution of

several tasks at the same time, Z will be "compulsively" adept of multitasking.

Social and environmental responsibility is another major concern of these new

generations. According to a global questionnaire on the future of talent, 70% of

respondents aged 18-34 said they preferred to work in companies that were

concerned about their social and environmental impact. A curious fact is that

respondents in emerging markets are even more concerned about this (77%) than

their peers in developed countries (67%). Also, engaged in "doing good" and

"generating impact", generation Z places greater importance on social issues, seeking

to articulate their functions with the resolution of problems such as discrimination or

poverty. This is linked to the ambition expressed by both generations to seek inclusive

enterprises that do not discriminate against their employees based on age, race or

culture (a concern expressed by Generation X, although not so pronounced). These

generations support diversity and see in it a learning and a tool to become better

people. It should also be emphasized that social entrepreneurship occupies a

preponderant position in terms of future career.

Creative, Impatient and Transparent

Often there are comments about the fact that baby boomers or members of

Generation X still remember things they learned in elementary school (such as the

tables, the names of rivers, railway stations), and that younger generations forget

everything (or learn nothing) quite easily. And it is true ... According to this report, the

brains of generations Y and Z are not as prepared as those of previous generations to

store information for the simple reason that they have never had to do this exercise.

On the other hand, as already mentioned, they are much more apt to perform several

tasks simultaneously and to change registration almost immediately.

However, easy access to information generates a great feeling of impatience in these

generations, especially when they do not see their work recognized (perhaps because

they are aware that nothing lasts forever, or because they have grown up in a

"feedback culture" motivated by social networks). Moreover, for these generations,

transparency and information are obligatory for a good working environment, since

they do not understand or accept the traditional model which presupposes that all

information is only accessible to the higher bodies of the companies and is prohibited

to the rest workers.

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One of the "secrets" to attract and retain these workers is to motivate them and

engage them in the "mission" of the company because they value the praise or

constructive criticism of colleagues or superiors who dominate the area where they

work. However, and partly motivated by the economic crisis, Y-generation workers are

now starting to value money more for a rewarding job, contrary to the Generation Z

elements who claim to prefer jobs or companies where they can evolve. In addition,

both groups prefer "leaders" (who show them how to do it) to "bosses" (who tell them

to do something).

Mobility and flexibility, combined with creativity, allow us to do different and innovate,

without the rigidity of a schedule but with equal commitment.

Spain

Generation Z breaks with the old paradigms and represents a new and different reality

of the Spanish youth. Nowadays, in Spain, according to the National Statistics Institute,

they represent around 16% of the total country population: 7, 4 million people.

Their characteristics and specificities make them a different target for companies; their

needs, demands and in fact, the consumer behaviour is different from previous

generations. The digitalisation, personalisation and massive information exchange

require companies certain adaptation in order to reach them. They google

everything, they compare before buying and they give their opinions in social

networks. Generation Z members need specific publicity, they want to be the main

character of the campaigns and products, specifically designed for them.

In case of Spain, Generation Z members would also represent the generational

replacement. This young generation is now entering into the workforce and this

entrance to the labour market is in itself a huge challenge. The gap between previous

generations with their own work methodologies, behaviours and values do not fit with

their methods and makes difficult their integration. Sometimes, previous generations

reject such innovative and quick changes and feel surpassed by them, not adopting

an open attitude towards this Z members. Moreover, companies´ labour conditions do

not match either with Generation Z requirements nor needs. They do not expect a

permanent job, they require more flexibility, they use ITCs to accomplish their tasks,

and they are not used to authoritarian hierarchies. Generation Z members look

forward to immediate results, continuous renovation and advancement.

In Spain, as well as in other countries, companies, previous generations’ staff and

Generation Z members would need to put their differences aside and adapt and work

together in the near future.

In this research, we studied the companies´ views and opinions about Generation Z

and their current and future integration into the labour force.

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Research design

In our research we combined different technics and methods. Firstly we prepared a

detailed questionnaire, which we used to collect larger amount of data about the

employers’ attitudes, experiences related to Generation Z. In the questionnaire we

would like to summarize the methods used to recruit and motivate Gen Z. The

questionnaire contains 20 questions, Likert scales, multiple choice questions and

ranking questions and one question which needs answer in a short text format. During

the interview we aimed to map the existing mentor programmes and we asked open

questions to the participants to tell us about these programmes. We asked a few

general questions, these were followed by the specific questions regarding mentor

programmes, the mentors themselves, their recruitment, allowance and the period of

mentoring. During the focus groups we rather wanted to get knowledge about the

carrier management systems, the recruiting systems and the apprenticeship at the

company with open questions.

Questionnaire survey

Methodology

The basic, English questionnaire was made online, in a Google questionnaire format

and thereafter all partners translated it into their national languages. After that all

partners could use their own online version to promote it widely. During the

promotional period, the following dissemination tools were used: links of the

questionnaire on partners’ own website, invitations on partners’ Facebook site and

also in relevant Facebook groups; direct mails to the potential members of the

partners’ network, etc.

The questionnaire survey was carried out from May to August, 2017 in all partner

countries.

17

Results of the questionnaire survey Altogether 392 representatives of companies were involved in the questionnaire

survey in 7 countries.

Country Number of

questionnaires

Czech Republic 65 Hungary 58 Cyprus 52 United Kingdom 42 Poland 70 Portugal 52 Spain 53 392

Profile of the participating companies:

Number of employees of the participating companies:

Regarding the size of the participating companies, around more than a half (59,9%)

have at most 50 employees and 20,4 % of them employ more than 250 people.

Less than 10

Between 10 and 50

Between 50 and 100

Between 100 and 250

More than 250

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF YOUR COMPANY

18

Age of young employees within the respondents’ companies:

Most of the represented companies (84,7%) employ young people from generation Z

and not surprisingly these young employees are usually aged between 21-22 years.

Work experiences available for young people within companies:

The represented companies offer internships (52,7%) and part time jobs (39,1%) for

young people the most often as work experience opportunities for young people.

Under 18 years

19-20 years

21-22 years (under

graduated)

21-22 years (graduated)

None of the above

DOES YOUR ORGANISATION EMPLOY YOUNG PEOPLE AGED

16,1%19,5%

52,7%

39,1%

21,4%

10,5%

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

Open days Jobshadowing

Internships Part time jobsfor young

people

Volunteering No anypossibilities

What kind of possibilities do young people have if they want to have some kind of work experience

at your company?

19

Opinions about generation Z at work

How well prepared are generation Z for the world of work?

According to the respondents’ opinions, young employees from generation Z are

rather not well prepared for the world of work.

Which skills generation Z need to improve?

The skills that young people need to improve in order to be more effective at work are:

problem solving skills (45,7%), meeting deadlines (45,5%), decision meeting (39,6%),

public speaking (35,9%).

35,9%30,1% 28,9%

45,7%

33,9%

45,5%39,6%

18,9%

29,2%

9,3%15,5%

33,4%

1,9%

0,0%5,0%

10,0%15,0%20,0%25,0%30,0%35,0%40,0%45,0%50,0%

Which skills do you think generation Z need to improve?

2,85 2,85

20

How could employers help gen Z to be better prepared for work?

Employers and companies should provide internship placements and other work

experience opportunities to young people and also they need to cooperate with

education institutions much stronger in order to make gen Z better prepared for work.

The rate of positive, negative and neutral traits

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

Providingwork

experienceopportunities

Providinginternship

placements

Providingrecruitment

hints and tips

Strongercooperation

witheducation

institutions

Providingcareer

guidancethrough

school visits

Educationshould make

themprepared

I don’t know

How could employers help generation Z to be better prepared for work?

Neutral

Positive

Negative

THE RATE OF POSITIVE, NEGATIVE AND NEUTRAL

TRAITS:

21

How easy/difficult is to recruit generation Z?

Respondents think that it is not so easy and difficult equally to recruit generation Z, the

rate is 2,98 on a 1-5 scale.

What methods do you use if you want to recruit gen Z?

Companies use their network most often in order to reach potential young employees

from generation Z, the other two most popular recruitment channels were the

company’s own website and online job portals.

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

What methods do you use if you want to recruit the younger generation?

2,98

22

How easy/difficult is to keep the generation Z workforce?

Respondents hold quite difficult to keep generation Z at their companies for long-term,

the rate is 3,51 on a 1-5 scale.

What qualities do generation Z value most in a leader?

Respondents think that the most important leader qualities for generation Z are:

supportiveness, respect, knowledge and communication.

18,6%

42,2%

58,4%

44,7%

15,9%

28,7%32,9% 31,4%

42,5%37,0%

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

70,0%

What qualities do you believe generation Z value most in a leader?

3,51

23

What can younger people learn from the older generation?

Participants think that young people can learn practical skills, professional skills and

problem solving skills from the employees of older generations.

What can employees of older generations learn from gen Z at?

The skills employees of older generations can learn from genZ: digital competencies

(65,3%), creativity (57,8%), social media usage (57,5%) and fast information seeking

(52,4%).

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

70,0%

What do you think younger people can learn from the older generation at work?

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

70,0%

What do you think employees of older generations can learn from generation Z at work?

24

Which of the following motivates generation Z the most?

The most important motivational factors are recreation during work and bonus holiday

according to the respondents’ opinion.

What can make generation Z loyal to your company?

Respondents think that friendly environment, a good salary and a good team can

make generation Z loyal to their company.

3,803,904,004,104,204,304,404,50

Which of the following do you believe motivates generation Z the most?

0,0%10,0%20,0%30,0%40,0%50,0%60,0%70,0%

What can make generation Z loyal to your company?

25

How might your organisation benefit from employing more young

people?

Employers want to employ more young employees because their bring more ideas,

more enthusiasm, better language skills into the workplace.

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

70,0%

How might your organisation benefit from employing more young people?

26

What are the main challenges of working with generation Z?

The main challenges for employers of working with generation Z are that they expect

too quick promotion, require flexible hours, they don’t tolerate a decision if they think

it is unfair and they are lack of coping with repetitive/administrative tasks.

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

What do you think the main challenges are of working with generation Z?

27

Mentoring within the participating companies

Mentoring possibility for young people:

Most of the represented companies (53,8%) reported having mentoring possibility

offered to young employees.

The types of trainings mentors get before they start mentoring:

Companies who have mentoring opportunities offer communicational or special

training for their mentors most often, but most of the companies don’t offer any

trainings for their mentors at all.

Yes; 53,8%

No; 39,3%

DOES YOUR ORGANISATION ALREADY PROVIDE MENTORING TO SUPPORT

YOUNG PEOPLE JOINING YOUR ORGANISATION?

0,0%5,0%

10,0%15,0%20,0%25,0%30,0%35,0%

What kind of trainings do mentors get before they start mentoring?

28

The number of companies, who are interested in Mentor training:

Almost half of the respondents (45,6%) would like to join our free course for Mentors.

And finally, we asked respondents to mention 3 typical traits of generation Z at

workplace. Here you can find the most frequently mentioned traits:

YesNo

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE FREE COURSE GETTING THE MOST

FROM YOUNG PEOPLE AT WORK THROUGH MENTORING?

29

Focus group sessions

Methodology

Addressing participants were realized by sending direct invitations via e-mails,

promoting the focus group events in local newspapers, on partners’ own website and

also on social platforms. Some of the partners also created an event on the

www.eventbrite.com and on Facebook and published these events in relevant

Facebook groups. The focus group sessions took place in partners’ own office, in a

meeting room of a hotel, or in a café and they lasted around 1,5 – 2 hours.

Results of the focus group sessions

Profiles of participants

We had 60 representatives of companies altogether involved in the focus

group sessions in seven countries, the number of involved participants per

country is seen in the table below:

Country Partner Number of

participants Date

Cyprus Dekaplus 4 September, 2017

Czech Republic CULS 11 May – June, 2017

Spain Media Creativa 12 July, 2017

Hungary Trebag 10 May – August, 2017

Poland Inneo 9 June, 2017

Portugal ISCAP 3 September, 2017

United Kingdom ETA 10 June, 2017

The participants were mainly HR professionals, company owners, leaders and

mentors representing also smaller and bigger companies.

30

Summary of the results

About generation Z in general:

Some of the participants did not consider the different needs of Generation Z,

they just realized the differences through the discussion.

In general, participants assumes that companies are not prepared to employ

generation Z, while some of the attendees expressed opposite opinion.

Specially, bigger companies and those who work in more practical or physical

fields believe that they are quite well prepared to employ generation Z, but all

agreed that much more need to be done to attract and retain this new

generation and organisations recognized the importance of creating a

working environment suitable for genZ. What companies hold the most

important to do in order to make their organisation attractive for the youngsters

is making the home office and flexible working hours possible for employees,

hence they can work whenever and wherever they want as long as they can

perform their tasks in time. Additionally, HR experts highlight an interesting

aspect: it is not only the enterprise who needs to be prepared but also the

young people themselves should adapt to the reality of the workplaces.

Strengths and weaknesses of GEN Z

Some strengths attendees mentioned:

When young people are interested in their work, they are very enthusiastic and

learn very quickly. They are realistic and well-informed. They keep up with the

technology and know the potential of social networks. They aim to be involved

and interacting in everything. They are aware of the importance of some

aspects like gender equality and they work perfectly in multicultural

environments. They are flexible and have high language skills.

Some weaknesses need to be improved:

They lack logical reasoning, critical thinking, proactivity, conflict solving and

social competences in the everyday life. They are impatient, require

immediate results and need regular feedback. They have problems with public

speaking and don’t like repeatable tasks. They are not loyal to the employers

and leave the company easily when they face difficulties and stress.

31

Retaining strategies

According to the participants’ opinion, recruitment of this generation is easier

than retaining them. The retention strategies differ in each company, the

following methods were highlighted as examples:

- On the job trainings at the beginning

- Dedicate a colleague from the HR team to each new employee who

keeps in touch with them

- Ensure mentoring system

- Organizing so called “Office days” to bring employees together

- Establishing awards in order to recognize the effort and performance of

employees

- Regular lunches together and common celebrations for instance at the

end of the projects

Participants believe that the first workplace has a big influence on their

expectations and motivation. If they start their working life at a company,

where the free coffee, water, fruits, etc. are freely available, these conditions

will become requirements for them further on and they will expect to them. On

the other hand, if they start working at a company where these conditions are

not available, they will be attracting factors.

Another practice that one participant mentioned is when the new employee

get a very basic salary at the beginning and then a pay raise is given on a

regular base to be an incentive to young employees.

Creating a friendly, attracting working environment and supportive team can

also be a very strong power that keep employees at the company for a longer

period.

Some IT companies have also the solution to give shares of their most promising

products to their most dedicated employees.

Motivating factors

The applied methods regarding the motivation of generation Z is more

sophisticated in larger companies. They have for example monthly one-to-one

meeting with the employee’s manager, team bonus system and also individual

sales target commission scheme, or monthly awards for the best employees.

Flexibility, regular feedback and moral recognition were also considered as

very important motivating factors for young employees.

32

Mentoring:

First of all, it is important to consider that the meaning of a mentoring system

can be different in each company.

Few of the participating companies offer a kind of mentoring system, but all of

them believe that it can be an effective practice to support and retain young

employees. Those, who don’t have a mentoring opportunity say that they do

not have time and money to set up such a system. A participating coach’

opinion is that if the company owners can see the business case and the

benefits of establishing a mentoring system, they would be interested in it.

In most of the cases, the mentoring process is carried out in an informal way,

there is no established structure and the mentors don’t get any trainings. If they

get any, it is more a team management or a project management training.

Usually, there is no special policy in matching mentors to young employees. At

some companies there is always the same person in the team responsible for

teaching young people, at others the pairing of mentors and mentees is

carried out by the Human Resources Department according to the internal

assessment criteria of the department.

The period of the mentoring is varied according to the needs of the position

from a few weeks up to a few months and the time sometimes is also adapted

to the learning abilities and skills of the learner.

The process includes different types of activities in different companies, like:

getting to know the history of the enterprise as an important aspect of the

enterprise to identify where we came from and who we are and the culture of

the enterprise to identify how we do our work; getting to know the team and

all the departments in order to make young new person understand where the

enterprise is expected to go. At some companies the focus is on professional

mentoring regarding the certain position, the system and methodologies used.

A good mentor is someone that knows how to listen, shares knowledge and

important information, he/she is a good storyteller, open-minded, patient and

has teaching skills. Mentor should be able to criticize in a correct way. And

finally, it needs to be someone that creates relationships easily.

Reverse mentoring:

Many participants had the concern that calling it a mentoring would make

older staff members feel uncomfortable. It can likely to be of value in relation

to the use of digital technology and social media.

33

Recruitment strategy

Most of the participating companies don’t use new recruitment strategies and

techniques, although they recognised that the ones they use are getting less

effective and that is why they are interested in a guideline to how to attract

the new generation. However they use new channels to use the youngsters,

like Facebook, LinkedIn, involving other players, like local colleges,

apprenticeship providers into the process and also the recommendations from

other workers are also getting more popular. They probably hold applying new

recruitment techniques less important, because recruiting new employees is still

easier than retain them. Some of the bigger companies changed their

recruitment strategies even so and put less focus on the advertising but more

focus on the candidate experience.

Career management

Smaller companies don’t, bigger companies do offer career management

system within their organisation, because this can provide a professional

growth and a motivating goal for them within the company. Some companies

have rather informal systems, where recruiters ask employees about their skills,

aspirations and a vision of their future and try to find them the right position in

the company.

34

Interview sessions

Methodology

Participants were invited to the interview sessions via direct phone calls and e-mails.

The interviews were semi structured interviews, so that partners used a common list of

topics and certain questions developed by the partnership, but they could change

the questions according to the actual procedure of the interview. The interviews were

carried out in a calm and silent place and they lasted around 30 minutes – 1,5 hours.

Results of the interviews

Profiles of participants

We had 39 interviewees altogether in seven countries. Partners conducted interviews

mainly with leaders, managers and company owners.

Country Partner Number of participants

Cyprus Dekaplus 7

Czech Republic CULS 7

Spain Media Creativa 5

Hungary Trebag 5

Poland Inneo 5

Portugal ISCAP 5

United Kingdom ETA 5

Summary of the results

Preparedness of companies for Gen Z

It is hard to find a dominating trend. In general we can say that companies are

more or less prepared for generation Z, they have some processes established,

but not enough, especially in terms of smaller companies. Some of the smaller

enterprises pointed out that they haven’t got time to deal with the younger

generation separately, they did some changes in their recruitment and

retentions strategies concerning not just for the younger generation, but for all

35

generations. Almost all of the participants agreed that there is a need to be

prepared to this generation, but they don’t know the key factors to it, they

need help in developing processes suitable for the new generation. Some of

the representatives expressed their concern about the appropriate

preparedness of the youngsters for the world of work, so that the question

should refer to not just the companies but also to generation Z.

Expectations towards Gen Z

They expect them to bring new ideas, innovative attitude and technological

knowledge into the company and be able to learn quickly, be proactive and

independent in their work. They have also expectations related to some basic

skills, like writing an e-mail, creating a simple document and making very basic

calculations (because managers don’t have time to teach them these things)

and also some soft skills, like hard-working, the ability to listen, good adaptability

skills, critical thinking, teamworking.

The main challenges of working with young people

Keeping them interested is one of the main challenges. They refuse to do simple

tasks if they find it too easy for their qualifications. They need regular feedback.

They don’t accept hierarchy, they respect their leaders if he/she is seen to be

competent in his/her work. They don’t like repetitive, boring tasks, they have

difficulties to focus. They are used to instant gratifications and give up easily if

they need to face problems, or stress.

They require help in how to do things and leaders have to check on their work

continuously, but they don’t have time to do it. It is hard to make them feel as

a part of the organisation.

Many participants also mentioned the problem of communicating with this

new generation, because they use different channels to communicate with

each other and companies have to adapt to these channels if they would like

a good cooperation with tem.

Special supports for Gen Z at work

Most of the companies don’t have any special and systemized practice in

order to help generation Z integrate into the organisation, but they are aware

of the importance of providing professional and moral support.

Few companies have one of these programs, which can help new employees

incorporate:

36

- Apprenticeship programs, through which they can become qualified in

their work.

- Induction programs that help to be a part of the organizational culture.

- Mentoring programs which are more professional in most of the cases.

- Coaching that help them be more effective and successful in their work.

Some of the interviewees highlighted that a solution can be a person between

the educational institutes and companies, who can help young employees at

the beginning of their working life and accompany them during the induction

process.

Motivations

Most of the respondents agreed that the incentives depend on the certain kind

of work, but generally they can be motivated by verbal commendation,

trainings and proper IT system, flexible working hours, more interesting tasks,

possibility to move forward, recognizing their effort and of course, the finances.

In common work we can motivate them by involving them in planning and

general discussions, asking them what they think and showing interest in them,

not just in their work, but also as a person.

Leadership style young people need

All participants agreed that the leadership style needs to be adapted to the

personality of the individual, but some common points could be found.

They prefer consultative leadership style, but sometimes it needs to be more

directional. They appreciate a leader, who is relaxed, youthful, patient and in

most of the cases, who is not very far from their age. Transparent

communication and flexibility are also essential to them. They feel more

comfortable if the leader is available to listen to them, to help them, to support

them. The behaviour cannot be aggressive, or didactic.

According to the participants’ opinion, the process of leading young

employees should be something like this:

At the first period, young employees need to be very close to their leaders so

that they can observe, and ask, while leaders can check on their work

regularly. After that, when they know what they’re doing, some work and more

responsibility can delegated to them.

37

Handling a multigenerational team

This sentence perfectly summarizes the main advantages of a

multigenerational team: “If there are more generations in one team the

weakness of one generation might be supplemented with the strength of the

other one.”

Other strengths of a generationally diverse team can be: different skills,

different competences, different points of view and opinions.

Weaknesses of a multigenerational team can be: different values, work ethic

and expectations, different working tools and preferences, problems with

respect and authority, unhealthy competitiveness, miscommunication that

makes the work less efficient, stereotyping and marginalisation.

Most of the managers believe that youngsters can learn a lot from their more

experienced colleagues, but some of them highlighted also that it’s not just a

one-way benefit, colleagues from other generations also can learn from the

youngsters mainly in technological and IT areas. The problem can be that the

senior employees are usually very busy and don’t have time to deal with

younger employees in some problem-solving, they are often impatient and at

the same time younger employees can get frustrated because of the old,

uneffective systems and processes and these can create conflicts among

them.

Participants mentioned also some solutions to these problems emerged from

handling a multigenerational team:

- Clear rules in the workplace

- Clear roles in the team

- Roles in the team should be adapted to the employees to make full use

of their potential

- Open communication about problems, fears and expectations. Also a

problem-solving, or assertive training can be hold to the employees.

- Respecting all individuals and asking for their feedback

- Team building activities

- Putting emphasis on cooperation and learning from each other

- Training employees to enhance their teamwork performance

- Explaining the generational differences and describe possible problems

in advance

- Being careful with stereotyping

- Inclusion as a priority

- Mentoring programme

38

Mentoring system:

Most of the represented companies don’t have formal mentoring system. They

have some processes established, like a list of procedures that have to be

followed in case of a new worker, or when the manager takes the role of a

coach or a mentor for the new employees, or sometimes the newly hired

employees get a training, which can be an on the job training, or small trainings

in different areas of the company.

Time can be a significant problem and obstacle in introducing a mentoring

programme at a company, because senior managers don’t have time to hold

mentoring sessions.

The bigger the company the better structured mentoring system they have. For

instance, some of the companies follow international standards of the

International Mentoring Association.

Regarding the selection criteria of mentors, mentor will be someone who is an

experienced specialist of a field, or he/she is chosen according to his/her

pedagogical skills. What is very important that the mentor should be trustful as

well as respectful.

At one of the represented companies there are two important tutor figures

during the integration process: an internal one, who teaches young people

how to develop the activity correctly and an external one who helps young

people in problem solving, teaches them practical and technical knowledge,

gives feedback and finds strengths, weaknesses and expectations of the

mentee in order to develop their career and profit the company.

Mentors don’t get any trainings in most of the companies, just some of them

have specific mentor training for those employees who are going to be

mentors.

All of the managers and professionals participated in interviews are interested

in a Mentor Training provided by the iGEN partnership.

39

Conclusions

In generally we can say that nor the young employees from generation Z is not

prepared to work in a professional environment, neither the companies

haven’t create yet the working environment that suits generation Z the best.

Sometimes they are not aware of the new requirements of the new generation

entering the workforce today. Sometimes they realize this difference, but they

don’t find the key to them. Bigger, usually multinational companies are

pioneers in establishing those working conditions that can meet the new

generation’s requirements. The home office and flexible working hours are

usually considered as these fundamental conditions. Smaller enterprises don’t

have money and time to implement such practices separately for the new

generation, but they made some strategic changes in their recruitment and

retention practices according to the new job market trends.

What should generation Z do in order to be better prepared for the real-life

world?

Most of the companies pointed out that they need to improve their problem

solving, decision making, public speaking and time management skills. Some

others also mentioned the critical thinking, proactivity, logical reasoning and

conflict solving as those soft skills that need to be developed. Employers’

expectations towards young employees are such basic skills like writing an e-

mail, creating a simple document and making some very basic calculations,

because (especially) smaller companies don’t have time and workforce to

teach these elementary skills.

Companies are aware of the importance of their urgent contribution to the

youngsters’ preparedness for the world of work and help them in their career

choices at an early stage by offering more work experience opportunities like

internships and part-time jobs and also establishing much stronger and earlier

cooperation with education institutions.

HR professionals use the company’s own website and online job portals

frequently to find the youngest candidates and also the social media

platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn are considered as efficient recruiting

channels. The recommendations from other workers are getting even more

popular and effective attracting method and companies start to put more

focus on the candidate experience.

After they find the right candidates, rarely use systemised integration

techniques in order to help them fitting the company and the organisational

culture, although such supporting systems could help retaining them and

according to the employers’ statement the retention of generation Z gives

more challenges to employers than the recruitment.

It is not so easy to motivate them. Most of the participating companies

assumed that the recreation and bonus holiday opportunities can motivate

them to reach a higher level in their performance. As motivating factors verbal

40

commendations, trainings, interesting tasks, quick promotion and higher salary

were also highlighted. The incentives can also depend on the certain job.

Even more difficult to make them loyal to the company, because they quit very

early and easily if they face stress or get a better offer from another company.

According to their perceptions, the friendly environment, a good salary and a

good team can keep them longer at a company. At a teamwork it can be

important to involve them in a very early planning phase and afterwards in

continuously discussions asking them about their ideas.

Apprenticeship, induction, mentoring programs and coaching can have a big

influence on their attitude toward work and company, but just some of the

companies provide them these opportunities.

The attitude of their direct leader also can be a decision-making factor and

employers generally think that employees from younger generations

appreciate if the leader supports and respects them, have deep professional

knowledge and good communicational skills. Regarding the leadership style, it

needs to be adopted to each individual, but they usually prefer the

consultative and coaching leadership style.

It is not so easy for employers to meet the young employee’s requirements and

needs. Notably, quick promotion, flexible hours and required regular feedback

mean big challenges for them and they can’t handle effectively that they

don’t like repetitive tasks and don’t accept unfair decisions. They are very

enthusiastic, have better language skills and bring a fresh, creative attitude into

the company, though.

It is clear, that each generation can learn from the others and the strengths of

one generation can supplement the weakness of an other one. What

youngsters can learn from the older generations are practical, professional and

problem solving skills and reversely, younger employees can bring more digital

competencies, creativity into the cooperation with the experienced

colleagues and can teach them how to use social media and how to seek

information faster in the virtual space.

Some companies have, some don’t mentoring system, but all considered it as

a very effective retaining method. If they have, it is established in a more

informal way and mentors don’t get any trainings before their start to work as

a mentor. Time is the biggest obstacle to not just establish, but run a mentoring

program. Bigger companies have more structured mentoring processes.

Mentors are often chosen according to their high professional skills or good

pedagogical skills. They have to be trustful and respectful. Most of the

participated companies are interested in a free mentor training course, if it is

available.

41

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49, 168–177. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.02.014