"Flexibility, work-life balance, and values-driven culture are non-negotiables," she emphasizes. "But harness their ambition, and you'll have a powerhouse team!"

In today's rapidly evolving workforce, understanding and embracing the unique qualities of each generation can be the key to success. Gen Z, the digital natives born between 1997 and 2012, brings fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and a strong sense of purpose to the workplace. 

To delve deeper into the dynamics of working with Gen Z, we caught up with Dani DiFalco, a seasoned People and Culture Manager at Showpo.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and journey into becoming a People and Culture Manager?

Mine certainly wasn't the traditional path! At Uni I studied Forensic Science & Criminology hoping to be a Scenes of Crime Officer. After a particularly gnarly GFC (resulting in police budget cuts) I found my way into sales and from there secured a Recruitment Consultant role in a London agency. After pounding the pavements (or cobbles!) of London for a few years, I made my way Down Under where I continued on the agency path before moving into an internal role. I joined Showpo as TA Lead for 2 years before I was then promoted into the P&C Manager role heading up the division - there lies the journey!

What does a typical day in the life of a People and Culture Manager entail? Could you walk us through some of your responsibilities and key tasks?

There's really not a typical day! We have our annual people cycle work (e.g performance reviews, engagement surveys etc) and then in addition to this we have L&D (manager and employee training), people operations, handling any people issues that arise and we also have our warehouse employees in Chullora who we support. In addition, we devise people engagement programs, drive our Showpo values and behaviours through our business and act as trusted advisors to our teams.

As a People and Culture Manager, you must have extensive experience working with different generations, including Gen Z. Can you tell us what it's like to work with Gen Z employees?

Compared to other generations (and each generation has their own way of working!) Gen Z have entirely different expectations of what it means to be in the workforce. They care a lot more about philanthropy and the values of the employers they are working with. In addition, flexibility and work-life balance in the workplace is an expectation not a perk. Mental health and DEI are front of mind and they are also as a generation much more likely to  leave if they don't like something, rather than bring it to their managers to try and resolve. Average tenure is lower and they are extremely ambitious, whereas those experienced in the workforce will have a little more realistic expectations around things like promotions. We find that when Gen Z join the workforce, the expectation is that its standard to receive a promotion every year! A huge part of working with Gen Z's from a people perspective is defining clear goals and expectations, as well as highlighting the rich learning they can gain at each job "level" and creating room for them to offer ideas and feel like they have a seat at the table.

Let's talk about why hiring managers should consider Gen Z in the workforce. What are some of the key advantages they bring to the table?

I tend to find they are a lot more mature minded (especially in comparison to Millennials in the workforce early years!) If their ambition and drive is channelled and managed in the right way you have a high achieving employee who isn't afraid to share their perspectives and ideas - which adds a completely different layer to business decision making. Coupled with their natural flair and understanding for digital channels such as social media, they are an inclusive generation who have a lot to bring to an organisation! 

On the flip side, what are some of the challenges in working with Gen Z, and what strategies do you recommend for overcoming them?

The main challenges are keeping engagement and managing very high expectations. We roll out employee engagement surveys twice a year and have adapted some of our questions to allow for our Gen Z employees to express ideas on what they want to see from us in terms of engagement/wellbeing etc. Implementing these, allowing for them to come up with their own ideas (they humour my Millennial mind!) and as mentioned previously making sure they have very clear growth plans aligned with business strategy is going to be the key to overcoming these.

Could you share some resources or articles that would be valuable for job seekers, particularly those from Gen Z, to further their careers?

Speaking the Gen Z language - there's only 1 place Gen Z's go for their information... Tiktok! Recently I asked a Gen Z employees if she had done her performance review, her answer - "Yes, i found some videos on Tiktok that showed me how to do it"... bearing in mind we had just rolled out 2 intranet pages internally full of information on how to complete performance reviews! There are plenty of videos on social media, and another avenue of information for Gen Z's are podcasts. Though ensure if you're taking advice from videos and podcasts that the people delivering them are credible professionals and not someone who has just been handed a microphone and given a platform. Thoroughly research the person and make sure they have experience and the content is relevant to your industry and role before taking the advice on board. 

Lastly, what advice would you give to aspiring People and Culture Managers who are looking to excel in their roles and effectively support a diverse and multigenerational workforce?

So much of People & Culture is emotional intelligence and adapting your style to the person you're supporting is key. Keeping up to date with industry information/networking among your peers and giving your people (whichever generation they are from!) a safe space to talk openly about their challenges might sound foundational for this sort of the role, but really is key. Balancing the needs of the business with the needs of your employees is a big challenge for People & Culture folk - that balance takes a while to fine tune. 

Watch Dani's hilarious reel here: What is it like to work with Gen Z?