Gen Z is Changing How We Communicate (for the Better)

EPISODE 146 | Derek DeWitt, communications specialist for Visix

Gen Z makes up 32% of the world’s population, and they have unique perspectives on technology, culture and communication, being the first true digital natives. They are expected to overtake baby boomers in the workforce this year, and any business looking to attract and retain this talented bunch will have to adapt or perish.

Gen Z is pushing us to be more honest, more equitable and more innovative in our communications. In this episode, we’ll look at what’s important to them and how to evolve your messaging to better engage Zoomers in the workplace:

Understand Gen Z priorities like transparency, authenticity and inclusion
Explore how Zoomers blend online and IRL connections
Get tips on the types of messaging, designs and channels they prefer
Debunk common misconceptions about this generation
Hear some common Zoomer slang for the workplace

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Transcript

Derek DeWitt: It’s commonly accepted that Gen Z was born somewhere between the mid-nineties and the mid-twenty-teens, with most sources specifying 1997 to 2012. They got the name Gen Z because the generation right after the baby boomers, my generation, was known as Gen X. So the one after that was called Gen Y at first, and then people settled on millennials. Z comes after Y, and so that’s the appellation. For the record, the one after them is called Generation Alpha, but right now they’re 11 and under, and so not really applicable to a podcast about the workplace and organizational communications. In today’s episode of the podcast, we will be talking about how Gen Z is changing the way that we communicate often for the better. Thank you for listening to the podcast and don’t forget, you can subscribe and follow along with a transcript on the Visix website.

Gen Z has unique perspectives on technology, culture and communication. The oldest ones were seven years old when Facebook first launched and 10 years old when the first smartphone came out. Though most of them were born during the rise of smartphones and social media. By the end of the Gen Z period around 2012, the foundations of the digital online landscape we all use on a daily basis were already laid down. Now, while millennials were comfortable with the internet having grown up during the rise of the internet and web browsers, Zers are the first truly online cohort, a group that once was referred to as digital natives. And they have some unique ways of approaching connected communications and the world both on and offline, especially since they carry the internet with them wherever they go in real life.

With so much nonsense out there, be it remixed content, hyperbolic rhetoric, dis and misinformation, outlets sometimes giving out conflicting versions of events, and a new cycle that increasingly relies on simply writing out the text of tweets instead of in-depth reporting and analysis, it’s probably not surprising that Zers embrace authenticity. Now, that’s a big change from the generations before who responded to image and presentation more than substance. People, brands and communication that seem open and honest are valued more highly by Zers. This reprioritization is forcing companies to become more transparent, more real in their messaging.

Perhaps because the online world is so seamlessly integrated into their lives, Zers want online content to stimulate meaningful and productive conversations that lead to genuine connections between people, which is all pretty hopeful, actually. Many in Gen Z see the online world as a method to affect change in the analog world and vice versa. They understand that one affects the other. This is a key insight into how businesses can engage Gen Z audiences. They’re an increasingly large part of the workforce, and they wanna know what’s going on even when it’s not technically part of their specific tasks.

That old attitude of, well, it’s none of your business, that doesn’t really fly with Zers. They have made it their business. And companies that don’t come around to their way of thinking will soon find themselves struggling to attract and keep them as employees. This generation is rather infamous for simply picking up and moving on from a job if they don’t like the way their employer handles information. This embracing of authenticity is one way that Gen Zers get what’s one of their primary driving motivators – to feel safe. How can they feel safe if they don’t have all the facts? And they don’t just take someone’s word for it, they want proof. This need for safety extends beyond just themselves. Gen Z seems to be a pretty live-and-let-live group, and inclusivity is an important part of that. This is big-tent thinking where all are welcome because everyone brings a unique perspective and set of skills or insights to the larger ongoing conversation that is work and life. So diversity is naturally a part of that.

Organizations that don’t go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and valued are also going to have a hard time getting Gen Zers on board, either as employees and managers or just as customers. This includes not only racial and ethnic diversity, but also diversity in terms of gender identity, sexual orientation ability and more. The way they see it, it’s just really not that hard, and why has this been such a struggle in the past for this to become important? Surely the more minds on a problem the better, right?

For Zoomers, which is another name for Gen Z, it’s important that they operate on a level playing field in a set of parameters that they see are fair. People are starting to use gender neutral language, for example, and are making an effort to include marginalized voices and conversations. This can lead to a more respectful and empathetic society where everyone feels seen and heard. But remember, authenticity. This needs to be real, not just tokenism, not just lip service. And they want feedback systems in place so they can update the organization on how they are or are not fulfilling these needs. Much of what Zers do in their normal lives is interactive, and so that’s what they expect everything to be like.

They’re also on the lookout for red flags from potential employers, and many Zoomers have a personal list of non-negotiables that they expect from any place they work for. They understand that their labor and their time have value to an organization, so they expect a little reciprocal backscratching beyond just a paycheck. Since Gen Z is the first generation to grow up entirely in the digital age, they’re well versed in using technology to communicate. Social media, messaging apps and other digital tools, connect them with each other and with a wider world. This has led to a more interconnected society where people can communicate instantly.

Is there an app for that? So went an online joke a few years ago, but seriously, is there? Can there be, should there be? Would an app make things run smoother? Can we see the company intranet on our phones? Can we leave comments or like or upvote posts there? In much the same way that almost every screen you see in a public space has fingerprints all over it because people assume it’s interactive, Gen Z’s default approach is to go first to a tech-based solution. For example, why would I buy a bulky paper guidebook and carry it around while I’m on vacation when I can just use Google Maps and reviews to see what’s worthwhile? One place this can be seen clearly is in the remote and hybrid office movement. The pandemic sort of fast tracked this, but it was already a trend, and everybody knew it was coming sooner rather than later. Well, now it’s here and it’s here to stay.

We’ve spoken at length about all the ways to engage a remote workforce, so suffice it to stay here, that this is very important to any organization that wants to find and retain good employees. Very few jobs outside of the service or manufacturing sectors actually require a person to be physically present on site all the time. It is time to embrace not only what’s available but what’s coming. Recent technological advances have enabled new forms of communication such as live streaming, both audio and video, virtual reality and augmented reality. These tools can be used to create immersive and engaging experiences that bring people together in new ways. In the next few years, we’ll see an explosion of these communications technologies as the tech gets easier and cheaper, and things like 5G interconnectivity, Iot, the internet of things and artificial intelligence will all evolve and become more prevalent. As more Gen Zers enter the workforce, they’re gonna start asking for them.

Now, that’s not to say this cohort is only about tech. While they’re comfortable using digital tools to communicate, they also highly value in-person interactions. They recognize that face-to-face conversations can be more meaningful and personal than online interactions, and they aim to balance their online and offline communications. This can lead to a more holistic approach to communication where people are able to connect with each other in a variety of ways. It can also lead to a more thoughtful approach to technology use where people are intentional about when and how they use digital tools.

Traditional communication norms are being challenged as Gen Z keeps pushing for new ways of interacting. They’re questioning the status quo, and they are not afraid to try new things. In fact, quite the opposite. They actively seek novelty and new more efficient ways of doing things. This can lead to more innovation and communications as people are willing to experiment with new tools and techniques. It can also lead to a more dynamic society where old ideas are challenged, and new ideas are embraced. A couple of years ago, a phrase started making the rounds on TikTok – “I don’t dream of labor”. This is something Zers say. Now this doesn’t mean that they’re lazy or that they don’t wanna work. It’s more like how TikToker put it, “I don’t want to be a girl boss. I don’t want to hustle. I simply want to live my life slowly and lay down in a bed of moss with my lover and enjoy the rest of my existence, reading books, creating art and loving myself and the people in my life.”

Now, naturally, that’s not true for every single one of the estimated 63 million gen Zers living in the US, which in turn is but a portion of the almost two and a half billion Zers worldwide. That’s about 32% of the entire population of the earth. Some have great ambition and will leverage the tech tools at their disposal to realize those ambitions. But for many, the attraction of a paycheck is simply just not enough. As a Gen Xer, I can tell you I’ve certainly felt some of the same levels of burnout and frustration that Zers express today. The difference is that Zers speak out about it sometimes even becoming temporary viral sensations if they find a particularly cogent or amusing way to express those feelings that they’re having, but so are many of the rest of us.

Speaking to Vox in 2022, associate professor of sociology and labor and employment relations at Penn State University Sarah Damaske pointed out, “It’s not necessarily that different generations hold different attitudes about work. For millennials and for some members of Gen Z, they’ve witnessed two recessions, back-to-back. This is a very different labor market experience than what their parents and grandparents encountered.” The American dream used to be finish high school, get a job, save some money, buy a house, raise a family. But then Gen X comes along and is told publicly that you will be the first generation to have a lower standard of living than your parents. Oh, and by the way, to get any kind of a decent job, you’re gonna need at least a BA. But millennials and especially Zoomers find that this kinda stuff no longer cuts it. Many of them will never be able to buy a home, and they already know this in their early twenties. Add to this an increasingly fractured sociopolitical space and a global climate that all but the most diehard skeptics can now see is becoming more and more damaged and erratic and suddenly Gen Z attitudes towards work make a lot more sense.

I recently read something that said that previously Americans almost always asked about or volunteered their own job title in the first two or three sentences of a conversation with someone new, whereas Gen Zers take much longer to get around to that subject and sometimes don’t really bring it up at all. What you do for a living was a vital part of American identities, but these days, not so much. Gen Zers approach things much more in the way that Europeans do. They work to live; they don’t live to work. So, they’re not so much seeking a company to work for, but rather a company to work with. By living partly in the analog world and partly in the digital world, Zoomers want to integrate everything into a cohesive process of change and flux and the expectations that they have in their non-work interactions are the same ones that they have for their work interactions.

On the one hand, this all might sound completely different from how things have been in the past and maybe even daunting for communicators who don’t share those viewpoints and have the same expectations. On the other hand, this hasn’t just suddenly landed on us in the year 2024. It’s been a process. Perhaps accelerated in recent years, but most organizations are already at least partway down the road towards that ideal Gen Z workplace. Digital signage has been around for quite some time now and is seen in more and more kinds of spaces. And many of the same ideas and ideals that make effective digital signage communications easily apply to Gen Z. In November last year, Forbes Magazine came out with an article Six Tips for Communicating Effectively with Gen Z in the Workplace. So, let’s take a look at those and how they apply to using digital signage to communicate with them.

The first item is to focus on output, not behavior. Just because a Gen Z employee has their phone out, it doesn’t mean they aren’t listening to you. Some studies suggest that they are “hypercognitive”, meaning that they process information very quickly. So, they may already see where you’re going and are just politely waiting for you to finish, and in the meantime starting something else. They’re also very good at multitasking, so listening to the boss and scrolling through a newsfeed at the same time is really not a problem for them. Also, since many of them have attended many or even most meetings remotely, they have different ideas about what constitutes etiquette in meetings. Things like formalities get shunted aside. Gen Z is quite informal and don’t like to adjust the way they speak or communicate to different contexts. They prefer to just be who they are all the time.

As Forbes says, “Evaluate them on meaningful metrics, and let the surface stuff go.” After all, what did you hire them for? That should be the only thing that really matters. And since they like being kept in the loop, share those metrics with them on your digital signs. This means not only what they’re evaluated on and how that process works, but the overall goals and aims of the organization as a whole. Showing up-to-date KPIs and metrics like progress towards goals that draw in data through a feed, so the information is always to-the-moment current is something Zers very much appreciate.

The second item they mention is to use the channels that Gen Z feels comfortable with. As mentioned before, despite their immersive use of technology on a daily basis, Zoomers like face-to-face communication way more than millennials do. This lets them pick up on nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language. Their next preference would be a video call. Then text messages or platforms like Slack or Teams, though Gen Z does seem to prefer WhatsApp as their default texting app. What they don’t particularly like is speaking on the phone and they almost never read emails all the way through. Now, if you have a lot of information to get across, you might think an email is the way to go, but that big block of text just looks like a time consuming to-do list and will probably get put on the pile of things to do soon and then never actually gotten around to. It might seem counterintuitive, but breaking a long email into several smaller texts might be far more effective. And of course, if your email really is that long to begin with, well then it should probably just be a conversation. Much more efficient and Gen Z greatly values efficiency.

Now, short but sweet has always been the policy with digital signage messages. The average message stays up for about seven seconds. So, you have to attract the viewer, get across the meaning of the message and prompt them to do something in that time. Maybe you don’t need three grammatically correct sentences in that message. Maybe just a couple of bullet points with that truncated language style that we’re all comfortable with in that format. Maybe that would be effective. Short videos even without sound are also great ways to compress lots of information in a short time span. Now, keep in mind, that seven seconds suggested display time is predicated on you having a short playlist, which means each message comes around again pretty quickly. So, in fact, it’s probably more like this. The first time someone sees it, they get attracted and get enough of the content that they decide that they are interested. Then they hang around and wait for it to come around a second time where they get the details and take the action.

Since people already have their phones with them all the time, the smartest way to get people to follow a call to action is to use a QR code, and that also lets you track ROI for your content. The fact is though, with so many different communication channels these days, many digital signage announcements kind of serve as reminders rather than new information. Digital signage is moving more and more towards displaying things like data visualizations and KPIs. For example, if you display a graph showing how much plastic and paper the organization has recycled in the past 30 days, you don’t also need a separate message telling people that you have a recycling program. That graph already tells people that there is one.

Now, we’ve already covered the third and fourth items on the list, which are recognize what’s important to Gen Z, and prioritize transparency and honesty. Forbes does point out that the work-life balance issue is front of mind for Zoomers. And they don’t just mean for them, but they mean for everybody who works there. Use those digital signs to tell people all the ways the organization is trying to accomplish that. And also, how are you trying to make the in-office experience as pleasant as possible? Need some new chairs for onsite workstations, make them ergonomic. Get desks that can also become standing desks, giving people more options. Enable office hoteling and hot desking using room signs, augmented reality booking platforms and other technological solutions. Make as many of your digital signage screens interactive as possible. Add voice or gesture controls on some of them for even more flexibility. And localize and personalize your content as much as possible.

The fifth item in the Forbes article is understand how they interpret silence, which I found eye-opening. Many Gen Z employees say they expect to hear from managers and or colleagues regularly. If not, they assume something has gone wrong somewhere and maybe they aren’t as safe and secure in their position as they thought. Again, there are tech solutions that can be used for a quick check-in like, “Hey, how’s it going?” message on Teams or regularly scheduled mini meetings. Digital signs can also show people that management knows what they’re up to and how they’re doing. Did the sales team just hit a goal early? Put that up on the signs so everybody can see. Has someone excelled at their task or taken on a new role? Put that up on the screens. In fact, employees shout-outs and other forms of recognition are easy to do, and yet they really resonate with Gen Z. They appreciate the kudos, especially in a public setting, and then also know that what they’re doing is being noticed and noted and that they’re making some sort of an impact.

The final item is to be aware of their fears. Yes, much has been made in articles and other media about how Gen Z is this fearful generation. As a few things previously mentioned should make clear, there are some concrete reasons for that. But I think much of what is said about Gen Z has also been said about millennials when they were coming up and was certainly said about us Gen Xers when we were coming up. Some of these supposed generational characteristics are not because they’re Gen Z, it’s because they’re still young people. Don’t forget the generation that birthed the boomers dubbed their own children “the me generation” back in the seventies. So really, to quote the Talking Heads, same as it ever was. Many years ago, someone told me the 20, 40, 60 rule. When you’re 20, you’re worried that everybody is talking about you. When you’re 40, you no longer care that everyone is talking about you. And when you’re 60, you realize that nobody was talking about you in the first place.

Gen Z is made up of young people. The oldest Zoomer is 27 and the youngest is 12. So only the older end of that group is even in the workforce at all, which means we have a lot of young people coming in, just like it has always been. Because there’s often so much disconnect between the way Gen Z processes and prioritize things and how previous generations did it, there’s been a lot of negativity out there. There are multitudes of articles saying how they’re lazy, how they’re the crybaby generation. They’re spoiled. They’re all so super emotionally fragile. Many employers say they have an active policy of not hiring Gen Zers, seeking out older people instead because they understand them better. Articles that mention this do nothing to alleviate Zoom’s concerns about their financial future, which is already less bright than the one their parents had at their age. Not to mention that this is a terrible business policy because you’re no doubt passing up some of the best and brightest candidates.

However, many studies, rather than the opinion pieces designed to get clicks, show that Gen Z employees are usually very reliable and efficient. Many of them have two or three jobs or side gigs and a multitude of interests. They just have a different way of measuring success than maybe us older folks do. They want concrete feedback that is specific and actionable. They want communications that are short and to the point, but they also want details. They wanna know not just the what, but the why, and how what they do day in and day out fits into the bigger picture. They want constructive suggestions for improvement. And they want all these things for everybody who works there. Yes, they have some serious and well-founded concerns about the world at large, but one of their biggest fears, if we can call it that, is just that the older generations don’t respect them. And every generation before has felt this exact same thing when in their twenties. I did, you did. So it shouldn’t be that hard to pull those memories out of your mental filing cabinet and take a look at them and empathize.

In fact, all this points to the fact that if there’s any real differentiator between Gen Z and the millennials, Xers and boomers who came before, is that communication is everything to them. As they age, they’ll start getting into management and even the C-suite, and that will change a great many things in workplace cultures. So why not get in on it now? It’s coming. You can’t stop it, so embrace it. All this certainly won’t affect the bottom line negatively, or at least not much. And the benefit of attracting and retaining good employees is something that, well, we’ve been talking about for years, and that does affect the bottom line.

Now, everything we’ve said here sort of had corporate environments in mind, but about half of Gen Zers are still in school. A university campus is where you really have an opportunity to use digital signage to its fullest to meet the needs and expectations of that Gen Z audience. Something as simple as a menu board can go a long way towards this. Not only can the students see what’s on offer that day in the cafeteria or elsewhere on campus, but they can access nutrition information, allergy warnings, maybe even see if the food in question has been ethically sourced. Making the menu board interactive lets you put a wealth of information at their fingertips and also gives them a sense of agency. Since then, they can choose what information is most important to them. And campuses are where Zoomers can really get involved. Create opportunities for connections through clubs, teams, groups and projects advertised on your screens. Recognize scholastic and team achievement. And again, be authentic and transparent when creating content for today’s students because they’re looking for lies and they will find you out. Even K-12 schools are getting digital signage in some form and students are responding very positively since this is how they’re growing up. It makes sense to continue communicating with them in the ways that they’ve now become familiar with.

This is the direction digital signage is already going, and that direction just happens to align with what younger people want and expect. By the year 2030, millennials and Gen Z together will account for almost 70% of the entire workforce, so they are the ones who will be driving these and other changes. So, doesn’t it make sense to get on board now?

Now, one way to truly let Gen Zers know that they’re your intended audience is, well, to use some of their slang. Well, every generation comes up with its own jargon, usually repurposing existing words or adding a new context. I mean, back in the eighties, there was the Valley Girl talk – “gag me with a spoon”, “barf me out”. In the nineties, people who were physically attractive were “fly”. If something was great, it was “sick”. Today, the Zoomers are using language in their own unique ways, and that’s getting analyzed. And as has been the case with young people for a long time, a lot of the slang comes out of marginalized groups, especially the black and LGBTQ communities.

Here’s a quick rundown of some common Gen Z slang being used in workplaces and on college campuses:

“Basic” used to mean something or someone has no originality or is just boring, old, same as it ever was. “That’s just a basic thing to say.”
“Bet” used instead of “okay”, used to indicate acceptance or confirmation. As in, “So, do you understand the assignment?” “Bet.” To say that something is true, you can say “facts”. Just the word “facts”.
“Brat”, which recently got in the news when someone called presidential hopeful Kamala Harris brat. If someone is “a brat”, then they’re a spoiled child or behaving like one. But if they’re just “brat”, as an adjective, they are a confident woman without worries and maybe even slightly rebellious. This comes from an album by Charli XCX (who, yes, is a young millennial) titled Brat, which has lyrics about things like “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, a strappy white top with no bra.” It’s sort of the opposite of the good girl aesthetic. Punky and cool and just kinda doing what she wants, not caring about what people think. It’s used mainly for women, though some male Zoomers are also starting to brat up. Lana Del Rey is brat or at least her music is about brat. Courtney Love was sort of proto-brat in the 90s. Punk was kind of prehistoric brat before that.
Another term is “delulu”, used to describe people who are out of touch with reality, a short form of “delusional”.
“Glow up” is used to talk about some sort of personal growth, though it originally meant a transformation in physical appearance, and it’s still used that way today. There’s a big glow up trend on TikTok, videos with advice on how to look or feel better about yourself.
“Ick” is used to express disgust, not unlike how it was used in generation. As in, “After that town hall meeting, I just got an ick, ya know? I worry things aren’t going so well.” A lesser form of this is “cringe”.
“Lit” is used to say that something is cool or enjoyable or even exciting. It’s an early 20th century jazz term, probably comes from lighting up a joint between sets. It’s used liked this, “The work we’ve done on this project to date has been lit.” In fact, it’s often used in the context of teamwork.
“Menty B” is used to indicate a sort of minor mental breakdown, just a temporary response to a sudden abundance of stress. Now, millennials might have called this “anxiety” and called in sick the next day. Xers would call it “ego depletion” and eat a candy bar during a ten-minute break. And boomers just said, “It’s called work. It’s not supposed to be nice,” and powered through. But for Zoomers, “I had a little menty b,” is something that they all completely understand.
“No cap” is used to indicate truthfulness and authenticity. Probably a short form of “no capping”, where “capping” in African American Vernacular English used to mean lying. It’s used like this, “No cap, Professor Stein’s lectures are amazing.” This term is fairly frequently used, and since Gen Z also likes to use irony a lot, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out if the statement is meant seriously or if its opposite meaning is intended.
The big one that got a whole bunch of news recently is “Rizz”. It’s used to indicate that someone has that special something, charisma. It originally meant someone’s charm and swagger used to attract people for romantic purposes, but it has evolved to mean any sort of pizzaz or flair. As in, “That presentation had so much rizz. We were all just waiting to see what you’d say next.” “Rizz” was the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2023. A lesser way to say something is similar is to say something is “fire”.
“Slay” is used as high praise. It’s akin to “killing it”. Like, “You really slayed that presentation, Amir.” A lesser form, but still fairly high form of praise is “that slaps”.
“Stan” means a really, really big fan of something. This comes from an Eminem song about a man named Stan who was pushed over the edge when the celebrity he was obsessed with would not respond to his many, many emails. Originally, it was used to indicate someone who was maybe clinically obsessed with a particular person or a thing, but that meaning has softened a bit over time, and now just means someone who’s a really big fan. (A “Star Wars Stan” is someone that you would always get Star Wars things for for Christmas or their birthdays.)
“Sus” is used to say something is perhaps untrustworthy, a shortening of “suspicious”. As in, “When the CEO said no, nobody was getting laid off, it felt kind of sus. He kept looking over at accounting and then fumbling with his notes.”
“Vibe” is used exactly the same way it’s been used since the 60s, to indicate an overall feeling about a person or environment’s mood or the feelings those evoke. It can be negative but it’s often positive. And if you are “vibing” on something, you are experiencing sustained positive feelings about it.
“Understood the assignment” is a phrase used to say that someone did a great job. It’s just an understated way to say that. As in, “You really understood the assignment when pulling together those numbers for the report. It’s so detailed and thorough.”

Now, there’s a lot more slang out there, as in a list of 50 Examples of Gen Z Jargon at Work. There’s a link in the transcript on the Visix website to that and other things mentioned in here. But the ones I’ve just mentioned are the ones probably most commonly encountered in the wild.

Now, the slang that Gen Z uses also gives you some insight into their priorities – feeling good about themselves, trusting (or distrusting) sources, temporary obsessions generated by social media, and mental wellbeing. So, I think we can see that Gen Z is changing the way we communicate, and in many ways, it’s for the better. By embracing authenticity, demanding inclusivity, harnessing technology, balancing online and offline communication, and challenging traditional communication norms, Gen Z is pushing us to be more honest, more equitable, and more innovative in our communication. As we continue to learn from this generation, we can create a more connected and communicative society that benefits us all. I for one am looking forward to what they do next.