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In higher ed, leaders are uniquely positioned to provide support to Gen Z employees. The very nature of higher ed is conducive to learning, growth, and agility. Thus, managers of Gen Z employees in higher ed are a step ahead of managers in other industries.
It’s no secret that managing Gen Z digital natives presents challenges. Most leaders in higher ed are decades older than these employees, and bridging the generation gap isn’t easy. Additionally, the traditional work schedules and locations in higher ed often prove unappealing to Gen Z, who desire flexibility. Finally, Gen Z reports the highest levels of loneliness, the least positive outlook, the most severe levels of unmet needs, and the greatest need for mental health intervention. To ensure a healthy workplace, leaders must facilitate mental health intervention and improvement. What are the current challenges and potential solutions for higher ed leaders?
The Gen Z Mental Health Crisis
Managers in all industries face challenges when managing Gen Z, but there are some problems specific to higher ed. As leaders, it’s easy to dwell on problems and feel defeated. The trick when facing challenges is to focus more on solutions than problems.
First, let’s gain insight into the unmet needs of Gen Z employees and how leaders in higher ed can meet those needs.
Pandemic Effects
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted everyone working in higher ed. Regarding mental health, it seems Gen Z was hit hardest. A study in January 2022 by McKinsey reveals that Gen Zers report the least positive outlook, the highest level of unmet basic needs, and the lowest levels of emotional and social well-being of all respondents. For digital natives, who already reported the highest levels of loneliness of all generations prior to the pandemic, greater isolation and fewer face-to-face interactions impacted this generation during the first two pandemic years.
Sapien Labs’ May 2022 Rapid Report, entitled The Deteriorating Social Self in Younger Generations, reveals that nearly half of young adults suffered mental health decline during the pandemic’s second year. Additionally, Gen Zers’ ability to relate to and interact with others has been seriously impaired, affecting over half of Gen Zers globally.
Additional Mental Health Concerns for Gen Z
In 2010, psychologist Jean Twenge and her colleagues noticed a trend in Gen Z of the decline of the “social self,” which strongly correlates with smartphone usage and social media engagement. Even before the pandemic, Gen Zers admitted to spending hours online. In 2022, according to Pew Research, 95% of Gen Zers possessed smartphones, and 36% acknowledged they spend too much time on social media.
The impacts of time spent online have been evident for at least six years when Gen Zers began graduating from college and hitting the workplace. In 2017, 16% of Gen Zers reported that social media negatively impacted their self-esteem and body image. Merely two years later, 27% reported the same things. In 2022, 47% of Gen Zers admitted to believing social media was negatively impacting their mental health. The impact is increasing and widening.
Higher ed leaders cannot eliminate social media use amongst Gen Z employees. However, implementing solutions may encourage less screen time, boost morale, improve mental health, and decrease stress for employees.
Solutions for Higher Ed Leaders
The solution to the mental health crisis amongst Gen Z employees lies in giving back what was lost during the pandemic and what they may never have had as digital natives. Gen Zers crave and need real, palpable human connection.
It seems counterintuitive that digital natives, with short attention spans and a penchant for images rather than text, would desire face-to-face, genuine human connection, but it’s true. Just because Gen Zers are adept at technology doesn’t mean they want or need to immerse themselves in a virtual world. They admit to great loneliness and feelings of isolation, tend to seek help online, and rarely reach out to people.
Gen Z employees thrive when communicating face-to-face. They love collaborating and solving problems with others. Higher ed institutions provide on-site workplaces conducive to what Gen Zers crave. As long as the workplace on campus is positive, open-minded, and rewarding for growth-minded employees, Gen Zers will thrive and bring energy to other employees.
Encourage Collaboration, Communication, & Connection Minus Screens
Leaders should regularly provide opportunities for Gen Z employees to collaborate with those in their own departments and outside their respective siloes. This doesn’t necessitate happy hour every Friday or ping pong tables in breakrooms. Gen Zers crave real connection, not gimmicks.
Give them chances to get to know colleagues by inviting them to partner on projects, serve on committees, plan events, and participate in panel discussions. These opportunities solve two problems: they give Gen Z the communication, connection, and collaboration they crave while simultaneously building soft skills.
Normalize Asking for Help
While Gen Z is more likely to disclose mental health challenges, higher ed leaders should still work to reduce mental health stigma. It’s important Gen Zers feel safe and understand that asking for help will not result in workplace retaliation or rejection.
Gen Zers are quick to admit they’re struggling with burnout, stress, and mental health and wellness, with a whopping 68% acknowledging high levels of stress and feelings of burnout at work. However, they’re less likely to ask people at work for help. This is the gap, and higher ed leaders can fill it.
Talk about mental health and wellness regularly on campus — not just in newsletters and social media, but face-to-face with employees during meetings and conversations.
Check on Gen Z employees weekly to see how they’re feeling about work. Ask them to rate their stress levels from 1-10, then discuss their responses. Offer employee assistance plans and more. Genuinely be there for Gen Z employees. Be more flexible in scheduling if employees exhibit high stress levels. Allow employees to seek mental health counseling during the work day and pay them for it.
If higher ed leaders want to create an inclusive workplace and generate a sense of belonging, they must normalize asking for help. Members of Gen Z who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and children of immigrants may feel a negative stigma is attached to asking for help, particularly mental health. If they’re not directly offered help, they are unlikely to pursue it.
So, offer it. Repeatedly.
Build True Community
Creating connection won’t happen overnight, but it’s crucial to create a positive, healthy work environment and improve Gen Z employees’ mental health. Strategically think about providing connection opportunities and prioritize this along with — or over — traditional KPIs.
For example, onboarding and professional development days are wonderful opportunities to build community. Don’t just spend time covering policies and procedures. Incorporate collaborative exercises. Facilitate hands-on learning/training and less training online.
Encourage community-building daily. Let team members cross-train, and pair up Gen Zers with more seasoned, grounded employees. By doing this, leaders create natural mentorship opportunities, Consider hosting a volunteer day for employees, and minimize the number of sites and teams to ensure diverse groups of employees working together toward common goals.
You don’t have to spend money or reinvent the wheel to build workplace communities. Simply think strategically and invest time and energy to ensure connection, even at the temporary cost of lower productivity and decreased efficiency. In the end, your investment in Gen Z will result in greater productivity, increased efficiency, better communication, and a healthier workplace.
Conclusion
As a higher ed leader, you can only alter so many aspects of your workplace environment and job role responsibilities. Yet there are still affordable, creative ways to impact Gen Z employees positively. Connect with Gen Z employees, and many other challenges will diminish over time.
Disclaimer: HigherEdJobs encourages free discourse and expression of issues while striving for accurate presentation to our audience. A guest opinion serves as an avenue to address and explore important topics, for authors to impart their expertise to our higher education audience and to challenge readers to consider points of view that could be outside of their comfort zone. The viewpoints, beliefs, or opinions expressed in the above piece are those of the author(s) and don’t imply endorsement by HigherEdJobs.
