Global nomads

They grew up with computers and smart phones, cable TV and the Internet. For them, movement and constant change are a way of existence. They are adaptive to the reality, and are too irreconcilable of everything that stops them from being themselves.

Work, but What Kind of Work

They were called “the future of Bulgaria” with irony, but they are already becoming part of the business present. Some of them are boldly trying to create start-ups, and there are those who really manage to develop something meaningful. They do not think locally, and act beyond the national borders. If they do business, it has to be global. The others are ready to join an inspired team of a company, but... here comes the great challenge for employers who are not part of their generation. People management, as it was presented until recently by management theoreticians, is not working in the same way any more.

Engine Fuel

They are impatient; they want everything to happen at once. They expect quick carrier growth, and if they do not see an approaching prospect, they change their workplace. They do not have sentiments; they have goals. They have no inhibitions; they have a vision for their life. And if the company does not pour a proper fuel for their engine, they find a next carrier rocket. Born in the sea of ​​information, they are part of the virtual reality network, and do not want to imagine life without this connectivity. They are freedom-loving nomads who redefine entertainment, consumption, the workplace and even the market.

Technological DNA

Technology is part of their DNA. For them, convenience is a key factor in everything. Therefore, the world will undoubtedly also change in this direction, since they are the future, and even already the present. This generation surely is innovative. “These young people are just different. They know nothing about the rotary phone and the radio-rediffusion set. They are not passive listeners, but they want everything to be interesting; they insist on doing things at the time they want and on the place where they are. We have to know their psychology. If, until recently, the payment factor was the most important to employees, now, they are more interested in the brand strategy. They prefer to be in companies with a good employer brand. They leave “the ship” if what is happening in the company is different from the notion created in the outside world. That is why the task of employers is to unify these two “worlds”, comments Detelina Smilkova, Chairperson of the Bulgarian Association for People Management and Vice-President of VUZF (University of Finance, Business and Entrepreneurship). She advises employers to keep an eye on social media because young people have a strong presence there and trust them.

Striving for Knowledge

Generation X and Z is ready to learn and develop throughout their whole life, but a key question for companies is how to attract these global nomads. People with skills are hard to keep, and they are the most valuable for every business. Young people want to work on major projects, summarizes Detelina Smilkova. According to her, the important concepts for the talented young people are meaning, significance, results. For them, information is one click away, and the role of education is to teach them how to think, analyse and interrelate.

The New of the New

If the entrepreneurs and managers from the older generation do not adapt to the peculiarities of the adolescents, if they do not make innovations, their business will fade away and their companies will disappear from the market. Companies that do not meet young people’s expectations will find it hard to come across the right employees, because they do not stay long in a business with an archaic approach to management, claims Detelina Smilkova.

It is said that Generation Z is the first real entrepreneur generation in the world that is ready to emulate the founders of thriving companies. This a generation of revolutionaries. If the environment does not correspond to their expectations, they will either change it, or replace it.  They are global nomads...