Gen Z and the new levers for attracting and retaining talent in companies

Two needs in particular therefore emerge: that of balance and that of autonomy. If good corporate welfare is the leverage, these are the footholds on which to position it.

Let's start with those who are already in the company. In a labour market where qualified personnel are precious commodities, the first rule is to hold on to the talent you already have. Especially when the talent in question belongs to a generation whose tendency to 'jump' from one job to another has even led to the creation of a neologism such as 'job hopping'. The activities by which a company retains its workforce fall under the Anglo-Saxon term of talent retention and encompass training, performance management, the creation of career paths, work organisation and compensation in the broadest sense.

Within this framework, corporate welfare has assumed a central role in recent years. 'You get in for the RAL, you stay for the benefits' is a maxim that frames a rather common situation. The one whereby, when faced with an improved economic offer, one realises how valuable the benefits are that one will have to say goodbye to: from supplementary health care to the gymnasium, from hourly flexibility to home-work mobility. The knot to unravel, for the employer, is that everyone has different needs and therefore a perfect formula for benefits does not exist. The company crèche is not relevant for those who do not have children, just as gym membership may not be a priority for those who do.

Here, too, we are talking about a common problem, but one that Gen Z experiences more intensely. Partly because they find themselves entering a world of work where there are already three other generations, with their already historicised needs. And partly because of the value that, as we have seen, it places on its own autonomy. In order to retain younger talent, it then becomes essential to provide a welfare system capable of helping each worker to better understand his or her needs and then see them met. If we imagine the benefits complex as an ideal supermarket in which employees will have to move, the point is not to build the biggest shop, but the one where the aisles are best organised and where the right product is easy to reach.

Before you can retain, however, you have to attract. And what attracts Generation Z is clarity. An analysis conducted by the start-up Joinrs on 1,200 people with three years or less of professional experience crowns 'transparency on salary and benefits' as the most appreciated quality in a job advertisement. Seventy per cent of the respondents ask for it, more than those who are immediately interested in location and working methods (53%), growth paths and even the work-life balance (both mentioned "only" by 40% of the respondents). The wording 'pay and benefits' is not accidental: for Gen Z, benefits are an integral part of remuneration. And this should also be taken into account.

Italy's imminent transposition of the wage transparency legislation, due by 7 June, will require at least a reference RAL range for each open position from the outset. Since the salary itself is the first element of attraction, presenting a structured offer that also includes benefits will be increasingly strategic. Firstly because the incidence of the tax wedge greatly compresses the possibilities of pushing the pay envelope, while welfare widens the competitive room for manoeuvre. And then because Gen Z expect it.

Again, the survey conducted by Joinrs offers an interesting snapshot of the benefits most coveted by those at the beginning of their careers. In first place is work flexibility, indicated by 84% of respondents. This is followed, at a distance, by professional training opportunities, appreciated by 55%, and structured welfare plans, which gather 38% of preferences. At the bottom of the ranking are meal vouchers, chosen by 28%, and company transport reimbursements, indicated by 21%.

A ranking that brings us back to where we started, confirming that balance and autonomy are always at the top of Gen Z's thoughts. From the point of view of organisational well-being, this is indicated by the first place of work flexibility. From the point of view of 'pure' corporate welfare, we understand it instead from how structured plans, which offer more options and more personalisation, are preferred to measures with a more circumscribed scope, such as meal vouchers or reimbursement of home-office transport.

Starting from these needs will make it possible to structure an attractive offer for candidates. Beware, however. An attractive offer will hardly be effective if it is not clearly illustrated throughout the entire selection process, from the company's career page (the classic 'work with us') to the social channels where employer branding is built, right up to the interview.

*Founder and ceo of Tundr