On the first day of the GSX+ virtual trade show and conference, I was drawn to a session that promised to clarify a question being faced by security integrators and end-users alike: How do I attract the next generation to the security industry?
It is certainly a question that has no easy answers, but step one is studying this new group of potential employees and leaders as a group. On Monday, Angela Osborne, Regional Director at Guidepost Solutions, Jairo Borja, CEO at Borja Consulting Group, and Michael Brzozowski, Risk and Compliance Manager at Symcor went over several of the tendencies of Gen Z and how to attract them to our industry, as well as a closer look at the new normal of the job market in general with COVID-19 restrictions.
Certainly, defining Gen Z was the first order of business. Also referred to as post-Millennials, the iGeneration or the Homeland Generation, Gen Zers were born between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. With approximately 69 million members of Gen Z in the U.S., they are more numerous than their Millennial precursors, and they are just now moving into the work force.
As you may expect, Gen Z are quite technology-centric. They grew up with the technologies many of the older generations are just now becoming accustomed to. They are the generation that boosted TikTok to its current levels while rejecting Facebook; in fact, most Gen Zers have enjoyed a lifetime of exposure to social media – the only generation to do so. Their insights and perspectives can be invaluable to a security organization, Osborne explained.
“We want to be able to attract people who will bring in new ideas, who will challenge the way that we are doing things and will help us be more successful in the long term,” she said. “It can be easy sometimes to become stagnated, particularly in the security field. Perhaps you are working with a team who has worked together for many years; or perhaps you have always used the same technology systems. Maybe there is a new way to do things.”
So how do integrators and security departments attract this new generation’s potential and perspective? Osborne points out that Gen Z is very concerned with social issues such as equality, diversity, the environment and others. “One great thing about security is that we all have a tremendous mission – to protect organizations, and first and foremost, people,” Osborne said. “That is certainly a mission that everyone I believe can get behind.”
While salary is important to everyone, Osborne said that for Gen Z, salary tends to mean less than for other generations. “This is because they are looking to become good global citizens,” she said. “They are trying to find organizations where they can make a positive impact on the world. I like to encourage organizations to think about different aspects of corporate responsibility that they are engaged in, such as broad societal issues like sustainability, hunger or climate change. There are a lot of opportunities to showcase the different work efforts of the department or company outside of the core work of the organization as a whole.”
Osborne advised that organizations should be very clear about their values when it comes to attracting Gen Z talent. “One of the areas I like to encourage people to focus on with this generation is making them aware of things like ethics hotlines, and aware of the connection with managers so that they can reach out when they have questions or concerns,” Osborne said. “It is important to address these issues with transparency, and really having a diverse group of people can help identify when there might be challenges with ethics, or better ways to conduct work and business.”
Dealing with the Pandemic
Gen Z members are in need of work. As Borja reported, workers under the age of 25 have experienced a 93% higher rate of layoffs during the pandemic than those over 35 years old.
If an organization recruits a Gen Z member, Osborne pointed out that business owners and managers need to realize that for many Gen Z employees, this is their first job: “If this were your first job, and you had to adapt to working remotely in a pandemic condition, it would raise a lot of concerns, certainly a lot of stress, as well as a lot of ambiguities, which is why transparency is so important,” Osborne said.
“We are all experiencing what it is like to live in a new type of society,” Osborne added. “We have to be able to work in environments that are unusual, we have to be comfortable with uncertainty, and that can be exceedingly challenging. Again, for members of Generation Z who are just joining a security department, this is certainly a time of uncertainty. It is very important for us as established security professionals to reach out to these individuals to provide ways to support them and help them grow. It is a challenging time for everyone to work, but particularly for Generation Z.”
Finally, Osborne recommended to embrace new technology options to enable more efficient work as we move forward. “As our world continues to evolve and as we are considering remote working options, technology is going to be imperative for us and so it's important to embrace it, to learn more about it and to connect with people who have this those technology skill sets to help us grow and learn in our careers,” Osborne said.
Of course, this is just a small excerpt of the vast information provided by the three GSX+ panelists. ASIS will be making these GSX+ recordings available on demand…I would encourage business owners and managers to check it out.
Paul Rothman is Editor in Chief of Security Business magazine (www.securitybusinessmag.com).
