Effects of the New-Generation Business World on Human Resources
We have been discussing lately how the business processes will be digitalized and due to the pandemic, we have witnessed that a process can digitalize even within a day. There is no doubt that the HR managers of companies were the first to adapt. This period which requires a remote work environment actually created the business model that digital process management brought us and directly affected the recruitment processes. Of course, while this situation turned some company management processes upside down, it did not change the current operation of others. It became clear that the corporate culture and rate of change of companies whose processes are not affected are actually still appropriate.
Change Management is Important
With the pandemic, change management capability in companies has become crucial. One of the competencies that takes candidates one step ahead is being able to easily adapt to the processes during possible mandatory or strategic changes. Assuming that this global pandemic will not end immediately and that new permanent changes will occur in many business lines with the new normal, the importance of change management continuation will increase day by day. Therefore, being able to manage change can be considered as an indispensable competence for new candidates or existing employees.
Considering that employers will tend to employ more functional employees, a difficult period will be expected for job seekers and employees who want to maintain their current position. However, although this may seem like a difficult process, it will not be very alarming for candidates who, apart from their technical knowledge and competencies, are able to personally deal with new changes and adapt easily. Of course, it is anticipated that companies will redefine their norm staff in light of the new competencies that are sought. Although a rapid change of employees is unacceptable, companies will unconditionally change their employees due to the inability of existing ones to comply with the change management. Of course, this can cause both a financial and moral loss. However, it may become a necessity and even an obligation within the strategic decisions to be taken for the sustainability of business processes.
Technological Investment-Driven Companies are Lucky
There are some companies that are not affected by this difficult turn that the business world is going through – on the contrary, they have got the best of it. Companies with an organism in which technology-based digital business processes are managed are the luckiest. These are companies that prevent damage to their current processes, set sail for more value-added businesses, and grow with more positive outcomes. As a company, we are one of those who have the chance to take part in this industry. However, being in this industry is not enough on its own.
Our company’s situation has been positive and it remains that way. Some of the main reasons behind this success are having a strong foundation with goals and objectives, incorporating continuous innovations, making solid planning for the future and creating a strategy accordingly. We made this change and the right planning by including both our employees and our new colleagues who can accompany us on our way, and we continue to do so.
Every day it is becoming more difficult for employers and job seekers to meet at a common point in the business world. Adding the pandemic period to this challenge may cause employers to recruit more selectively, perhaps to employ less staff, and force job seekers to apply for the wrong jobs due to unemployment concerns. Since this type of recruitment process is not based on correct procedures, it will cause a short-term, high turnover rate of personnel and will lead to an inefficient workload.
Shining Employees
People with high potential and strong internal motivation will be the winners and sought after, regardless of the conditions, positions, or period they are in. Considering the new dynamics that have been tried to be established in the period we live in; multi-functional social workers who accept the continuity of change in business and can adapt quickly to the renewed order, who can step out of their comfort zone and who can create new areas will be one step ahead.
According to the new rules of the business world, it is important to not only invest in the theoretical business processes to function smoothly but also to invest in the norm staff consisting of employees who can remain strong in specific psychological and sociological circumstances and reflect the aura of this power. This starts with hiring the “strong character”. As a company, we carry out a recruitment process in which we evaluate the candidates in this perspective before evaluating their technical skills. The fact that our team as a whole switched to a new process in one day during the pandemic and continued functioning flawlessly proves the accuracy of our recruitment strategy.
Autonomous Culture Surpassed Dominant Hierarchy
Of course, the cause for the emergence of new dynamics in the new business world was not foreseen. However, many businesses that had already received the signals that new norms were on their way and that shaped their central structure strategies with this vision have even profited from this situation. In business life, where human management plays a very important role, we once again understood that the question of how to manage it has to be answered.
One of the most important risks is that many employers try to continue their business processes with traditional and unchanging norms. These types of work environments are generally created by companies that are managed by a single person, it can’t be acted outside of the approval mechanism regardless of what happens, and there are difficulties when making fast and correct decisions.
It would be unrealistic to expect that people who normally work under a hierarchical order surrounded by rigid rules and are not allowed to take any initiatives, work smoothly and properly during this period when work is on a remote basis. We can see that the winners during this pandemic period consist of businesses that can work autonomously. However, being able to work autonomously is more than a competence, it is a corporate culture. It is expected that the autonomous working culture is formed by the head of companies’ hierarchies. If this culture isn’t formed, it will not be the right approach to expect it from existing employees.
Of course, people will always need a hierarchical structure. Especially when a problem occurs, the eyes in the community will always turn to the person who can make a decision. However, authoritative management and leadership approach should not be confused with each other.
New Digital Generation
The new generation (“generation Z”) is entering the business world day by day and has started to form the employee structure at the center of the corporate culture. It would be unrealistic to ignore this vast majority and try to create and preserve the corporate culture and values that have existed so far.
As generation Z constitutes the largest practitioner in the digital world, they have also been born into technology. This enabled them to adapt quickly and to be agile. This generation which embraces and is curious about many of the technological tools, expects the same diversity and speed from the business world. Therefore, considering that the large norm staff will be formed by generation Z in the near future, we are faced with the necessity of creating work environments adapted to this situation.
It is important to provide different options and a training platform where generation Z can get efficiency quickly, which in turn can lead to change and inspire discussions.
Business models to be built in order to understand digital generation and support the development of critical thinking skills will contribute to the formation of more efficient business processes in the near future.
Generation Z, which drives change in many business models, actually enables employees in current positions to leave their comfort zone.
Generation Z is Prioritised in the Recruitment Process
Generation Z, which is most prone to the remote working model during this period, works more efficiently, and actually has a good understanding of the business . This will enable HR professionals to take action on new recruitment planning and direct them towards a new process involving more frequent human relations with a person-oriented approach.
We are faced with the fact that generation Z does not own their workplaces as much as they own their social accounts. In the light of this fact, we as HR need to do the right planning with the responsibility of being a bridge between new processes and productive work outcomes.
We witness that many processes, from seniority to the total time they can stay in the company, from the variability of the working environment and types of training they can receive to the working hours, are changing and evolving into a more person-oriented matter. In a way, they create their own recruitment conditions. Hiring them on their own terms will perhaps be one of the first changes.
It should not be forgotten that there is a big potential that internal entrepreneurs, who are especially needed in companies, are more likely to come from this generation. It is known that internal entrepreneurs do not only consist of people who assume the role of managers, on the contrary, they create a much more positive effect in a role undertaken by any of the team members. Internal entrepreneurs create the biggest brand ambassadors for the creation and adoption of the corporate culture you want to create.
Strategic Approach to Generation Z
Generation Z, who were born into a world with many technologies offered by digitalization, have started to take their places in companies. Although the human resource of generation Z is quantitatively qualified, its quality is of great importance. It is one of the most important tasks that we, HR professionals, work on the planning and structuring of the new generation business models that are formed with the participation of the Z generation in the business world.
Each period passes to another whose conditions enable us to reach better and more information. Generation Z consists of people who can reach information faster than the previous generations and establish communication in a more interactive manner, closely follow technological developments and immediately internalize them. They draw attention thanks to their enthusiastic and inquisitive personalities and their interest in digital applications used via the internet. Since technology age children are natural born consumers, they are very result-oriented, impatient, indecisive and unsatisfied. However, if we consider that our country already has a young population, it will be necessary to make strategic decisions as a country with broader implications for the Z generation.
The most important of these decisions is the interviews during the recruitment process. It would be a correct approach to evolve the job interviews parallel to a generation that meets almost all of their vital needs through the internet. It may be possible to conduct interviews digitally with short introduction videos prepared by candidates for themselves rather than a CV.
Before hiring generation Z, which will constitute the majority of the working staff of companies in the near future, it is necessary to understand their dreams and expectations correctly. They do not want to work devotedly without loving, internalizing, and understanding its purpose, and even their sense of belonging in companies depends on it. They do not want to stay in a single job or industry during their career. In the light of easily accessible information and rapidly developing technology, they can act very hastily when it comes to their expectations. Therefore, at the point where their expectations are not met immediately, it is very difficult to keep them because of their impatience. Although these features are perceived as negative, a positive approach to creating the conditions that will win them should be taken, considering the contributions Generation Z will create in companies.
Considering the conditions that the new generation wants to work in, we have made some plans to transform our corporate culture and dynamics in this direction and make them attractive for the employee. We made many arrangements based on the question of “how would the new generation want to work” with the motto of “happy employee”, which is also the focus of generation Z. The remote working environment, which we started in the company before the pandemic and which became mandatory during the pandemic, enabled our young colleagues to work efficiently and comfortably. We have always attached importance to work-life balance. We also provide extra paid performance leaves for our new colleagues, regardless of their annual leave. Again, we have included a more casual communication style, which the new generation adopts by dropping all the Mr.’s and Ms.’s as they find it more sincere, among our values in our corporate culture. For this generation that wants to get fast results, we have provided the opportunity to advance in all ways of their careers. Since we believe that, as a company, we pursue the same goal with the employee, we created performance indicators and objectives of the contribution expected from them in the given tasks. We try to evaluate the success against their output rather than the hours they worked.
As Medianova, we always try to prioritize establishing business models and establishing recruitment norms which aim to keep different generations together. Therefore, we have created the business lines in which the old and new generations share a common denominator and enabled them to work in harmony, thus helping them produce more valuable and efficient work. We can compare this diversity with the taste of honey produced by bees from a wide variety of pollen as being much more delicious and beneficial than the honey made of fewer kinds of pollen. Of course, we shouldn’t forget that it is hard for businesses to manage such diversity. However, nowadays, when even the seats in management can be filled with the generation Z, it will be a correct and permanent method to ensure that people are placed in the right positions where they’re more competent and have strong potentials when it comes to the concept of dynamic leadership.
The technology that shapes generation Z also shapes the business world. Meanwhile, innovations and regulations are becoming inevitable in many new business processes. New policies will be needed in order to create a work environment where business processes are formed in the light of technological developments, that are far from the dominant bureaucratic structure and more autonomous, and that allow employees to take more initiative and allow them to prove themselves.
