Businesses must rethink talent strategies as Gen Z redefines work priorities

As Gen Z continues to redefine what work should look and feel like, organisations hoping to attract this new wave of talent are finding themselves under increasing pressure to move beyond traditional recruitment playbooks.

While traditional approaches to reaching future employees have so far sufficed, businesses aiming to attract the next generation of talent are now being urged to radically rethink longstanding recruitment strategies and how they position themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

Speaking at Reward Gateways’ Joy Factory event, Alex McVeigh, founder of She Graduates, explained that the challenge for businesses goes far beyond simply reaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha candidates; it’s about truly understanding what shapes their decisions and ensuring organisations are deliberately designed and positioned to meet those evolving expectations from the outset.

While this may feel confronting for businesses to hear, McVeigh stressed that the reality is far more encouraging, emphasising that organisations already possess “the skills that are needed to attract the next generation of talent”.

However, while she noted that the core skills employers need to attract young talent “isn’t that different” from those historically, McVeigh explained that success now lies less in reinvention and more in getting “the detail” right in execution.

A key misconception McVeigh has identified among businesses is the tendency to treat Gen Z and Gen Alpha as a uniform group when it comes to how and where they choose to work – an assumption she said urgently needs to be challenged.

Instead, she stressed that businesses need to recognise this next generation of employees is far from uniform, with career expectations and workplace preferences that differ significantly from one individual to the next.

“We cannot think about this group of people as a homogeneous group. They all have different wants, different needs, different desires based on a basically unlimited number of factors,” she said.

“When we think about what they want from a career perspective, that is very much going to change based on the industry that they’re in, the life stage that they’re in, their personal background, where you’re located, and what their individual drivers and values are.”

To help businesses navigate this space, McVeigh identified five consistent drivers shaping how younger workers choose employers and what they value most: reward, growth, meaning, leadership, and flexibility.

While these themes have all evolved in line with the changing expectations of Gen Z and Gen Alpha, McVeigh pointed to reward and meaning as the two areas that have shifted most dramatically – reshaping what younger generations now look for, and expect, from work in very different ways to previous cohorts.

McVeigh flagged that while reward and compensation have always sat at the core of employment decisions, there has been a clear shift among younger employees, who are becoming increasingly “open and honest” about discussing salary expectations and financial arrangements.

On top of this, she highlighted that meaning is now playing a more critical role in new ways, noting that while not every role is going to “change the world,” younger workers increasingly want to understand how their work contributes to something larger and helps “make a difference”.

While it’s encouraging to understand the themes younger workers are prioritising, McVeigh cautioned that this is only the starting point, emphasising the need for organisations to truly grasp what this generation expects from their employers.

Pointing out that many organisations tend to “overcomplicate” this step, she stressed that the most effective approach is often the simplest of just asking “your potential talent out there in the market” what they truly value.

“The main thing I would say to you is you really just need to make sure that you’re allowing people the opportunity to be honest, and that is not often done in a large group with a lot of HR people there sitting there listening to what they’re telling you,” she said.

Once those insights are gathered, McVeigh explained, the next step is for organisations to clearly define and communicate their employer value proposition and articulate exactly what they offer in return and why it matters.

Observing that much of today’s employer branding has become “very generic”, she underscored the need for businesses to cut through the noise by clearly and confidently showcasing what sets them apart and why they’re genuinely different from the competition.

“When it comes to EVP and employer branding, what I see a lot of people try to do is be very generic. People are quite scared. They shy away from anything that’s maybe slightly negative or controversial. It’s really hard to say what you’re not,” she said.

“But in this space, and more and more with the new generations coming through, this is really going to be critical, so make sure you’re keeping that in mind.”

However, even the strongest EVP will fail if it is not visible to the right audience.

One of the most significant yet often overlooked shifts McVeigh identified is that employers can no longer assume candidates already know who they are, highlighting the need for businesses to take proactive steps to ensure their target audience is actually aware of them and what they stand for in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

“A really important step that I see so many people skip is thinking about whether or not their target audience even knows who they are,” she said.

“This is applicable even to large organisations as the market becomes more fragmented and mass media becomes less influential with this generation.”

McVeigh stressed that, as digital and non-traditional platforms increasingly shape how Gen Z and Gen Alpha consume news and information, this shift presents a powerful opportunity for businesses to connect with and target this emerging audience.

Specifically, she advised organisations to lean into social media, pointing to data showing that 94 per cent of young people use these platforms daily and that 92 per cent turn to TikTok for career advice.

While it can feel like a ground-up shake-up, McVeigh was clear that attracting the next generation of talent is far less overwhelming than it appears, emphasising that with the right mindset and a few intentional adjustments, organisations already have the foundations in place to make a meaningful impact and truly stand out.

“The final message is simple: you can do this. It’s not as overwhelming as it seems. The core skills are already there,” she said.

“With some adjustments and a willingness to think differently, organisations can make a significant impact and stand out in attracting the next generation of talent.”