Medical technology company, Siemens Healthineers Türkiye did a new survey to assess how different generations can work better in harmony at the same workplace. Conducted by the company’s volunteer Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee, the Generational Diversity Survey prioritized Gen Z’s workplace expectations and needs.
With 500 participants born between 1995 and 2004, the survey assessed Gen Z’s strengths and weaknesses, goals and needs, and expectations in many areas, including workplace training opportunities, sense of belonging, leadership, performance, and communication.
The results demonstrate that Gen Z ‘seeks respect and sincerity’ at the workplace, ‘prefers socializing while working at the office,’ and expects ‘emotional support’ from managers.
Offering a wide range of healthcare services, from diagnostic imaging and laboratory procedures to advanced therapies and after-sales services and maintenance, Siemens Healthineers Türkiye did a new survey to find out the workplace expectations of Gen Z, which are increasingly becoming dominant in the business world, in collaboration with the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee. Prioritizing diversity, equal opportunities, and inclusion for its employees, Siemens Healthineers Türkiye explored the workplace from Gen Z’s perspective through the survey to find out how different generations can work better in harmony in the same workplace.
500 people, consisting of students from over 30 universities across Türkiye (69 percent) in addition to Gen Z company employees (17 percent: employees, 13 percent: student employees) participated in the survey. Survey questions were devised to assess participants’ personal traits, life goals, expectations, social activity and educational preferences, and expectations about motivation, recognition, and leadership. The survey also featured Gen Z’s expectations concerning the sense of belonging and communication preferences.
‘Respect’ matters to Gen Z
The Gen Z representatives, who evaluated their weaknesses and strengths as part of the survey, responded as ‘respectful’ by 62 percent when asked about the top strength of their generation, followed by the responses ‘adaptable’ and ‘sincere.’ ‘Being respected’ was at the top of their workplace expectations to reach their goals. Regarding a sense of belonging, Gen Z’s primary expectation was ‘being respected’ again. Among their other expectations were those about their opinions being valued, pay and fringe benefits, and non-discrimination.
They reported their top three weaknesses as ‘being detail-oriented,’ ‘emotionality,’ and ‘indecisiveness.’ 74 percent of the participants who were asked about their life goals responded with ‘success,’ followed by happiness, prestige/status, friendship/companionship, fun, and social responsibility.
Hard work is not something to complain about
‘Emotional support’ stands out among Gen Z’s expectations from leaders. Expecting a fair attitude, positive communication, and motivation-enhancing approaches from their management and leaders, Gen Z wants to be included in projects, asked about their opinions, and receive instant or quarterly feedback. Other expectations of the participants are having emotionally sensitive managers, who can manage their team, their work, and themselves.
Regarding the ideal work environment, Gen Z’s primary expectations are as follows: a coherent team, a peaceful environment, sincerity, information exchange, and respect for privacy. The top stress factor at the workplace is mobbing, followed by disrespect, contempt, and discrimination. Time constraints and hard work are at the bottom of the list.
Although the opportunity to work from home meets the freedom and flexibility expectation of the participants, who prefer face-to-face communication and training despite intense technology use, they demand working at the office and in open office settings for socialization, discipline, and information exchange purposes, which demonstrates that the most suitable working model for Gen Z is flexible or hybrid working.
‘They are emotionally affected by the transformation in the business life.’
Pointing to the fact that ensuring all employees feel valued and safe is their foremost priority at Siemens Healthineers Tuerkiye, Nalan Abdullahoğlu, Siemens Healthineers Tuerkiye CFO and Head of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee, said: “Our company’s main focus area is ‘people.’ We work to ensure that humanity lives in health. We have been operating in this country for the last 135 years, since the Ottoman Empire. The secret to our successful presence of over a century is our human-centered focus. We consider diversity, equality, and inclusion a decisive factor in our success and accordingly, embrace all diversity in our company. The age average of our company, which has a balanced male-female employee rate, is 34. We are among Türkiye’s youngest healthcare technology companies. We highly value the innovative perspective and contributions of the Gen Z representatives at our company and make an effort to understand their needs and expectations to ensure success both for them and the business world as our survey, conducted by our Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee, indicates. The survey results demonstrate the characteristic features of Gen Z, along with the effects of the pandemic and post-pandemic era. Remote education, remote working, and social isolation for a certain while impacted this generation differently than others in terms of business life. Regarding success, career, and salary, Gen Z has similar workplace expectations to other generations. However, they stand out with emotional expectations about self-actualization. They highlight respect, socialization, and office life with information exchange and expect emotional management support from their managers. We believe knowing these expectations is important for their and the business world’s success. Our company culture already meets these expectations and such surveys help us achieve a better mutual understanding. We will continue taking even more effective steps to ensure a harmonious work experience for different generations.”