Invest in Your Gen Z Talent and They’ll Invest Back

company?I like that the focus of the, the larger business entity, 'cause I think that's what then builds a different perspective around HR's strat- strategic partnership inside an organization.

Mm-hmm.

Really important.

So what's the conversation about Gen Z in business that you wish was happening in cedar- senior leadership rooms that just may not be at this point?

You know, I think the biggest thing we're talking about right now, of course, is AI, and we're eliminating the entry-level workforce, which means that it's just a competitive job market, unfortunately, for everybody, but especially Gen Z.

You know, there's kind of this [laughs] this back and forth of, we won't hire you without experience, but how are you ever supposed to get experience if nobody will hire you?

Yeah.

The companies that recognize that AI is a great tool, but it cannot run our companies, are going to be far more successful than the companies who are eliminating their entire workforce.

Because at the end of the day, right, we want a good pipeline of leaders and talent for five, 10, 15 years when we have those management or senior leadership positions come open.

And, and I don't think that enough senior leaders are really considering, you know, what will happen to the future of the company, or, you know, how do you, again, get this talent that's ambitious and has drive and wants to try new things but m- might not know everything, but if they're given the right guidelines, they really can, you know, do a lot for the business.

So I think investing in those future leaders is important.

And it sounds like in your mind, too, you know, Gen Z should be embracing AI as part of that development for themselves.

I mean, I know my son is a little...

He uses it selectively, but he's also still a little cautious of it, 'cause he's, he's a creative, so he's doing more photography and things, and he's trying to make sure he thinks about it, his art, keeping his art pure from, you know, other ways of using it.

But it seems like this generation still needs to find the, the best use of AI for what they're trying to apply for, and how they can show that they have that capability.

Would you agree?

Yeah.

I think the wonderful thing about AI is that it allows you to be creative, and what I mean by that is, recently at one of our People in Profits Association meetings, we had a Family Feud style game, and I was able to go into Claude and, you know, analyze all the data.

We surveyed 113 people or something like that, and then create the game within Claude.

It took me probably 10 or 15 minutes.

Wow.

So I could spend a lot more time coming up with these brilliant ideas, and I don't have to spend, you know, 10, 15 hours like it would've taken me before to create this.

I mean, AI's not going away.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I think at the end of the day, the people who learn to use AI are going to come out on top.

And, you know, again, really using it to be creative, to be innovative, is just gonna make a world of difference in our careers.

company?I like that the focus of the, the larger business entity, 'cause I think that's what then builds a different perspective around HR's strat- strategic partnership inside an organization.

Mm-hmm.

Really important.

So what's the conversation about Gen Z in business that you wish was happening in cedar- senior leadership rooms that just may not be at this point?

You know, I think the biggest thing we're talking about right now, of course, is AI, and we're eliminating the entry-level workforce, which means that it's just a competitive job market, unfortunately, for everybody, but especially Gen Z.

You know, there's kind of this [laughs] this back and forth of, we won't hire you without experience, but how are you ever supposed to get experience if nobody will hire you?

Yeah.

The companies that recognize that AI is a great tool, but it cannot run our companies, are going to be far more successful than the companies who are eliminating their entire workforce.

Because at the end of the day, right, we want a good pipeline of leaders and talent for five, 10, 15 years when we have those management or senior leadership positions come open.

And, and I don't think that enough senior leaders are really considering, you know, what will happen to the future of the company, or, you know, how do you, again, get this talent that's ambitious and has drive and wants to try new things but m- might not know everything, but if they're given the right guidelines, they really can, you know, do a lot for the business.

So I think investing in those future leaders is important.

And it sounds like in your mind, too, you know, Gen Z should be embracing AI as part of that development for themselves.

I mean, I know my son is a little...

He uses it selectively, but he's also still a little cautious of it, 'cause he's, he's a creative, so he's doing more photography and things, and he's trying to make sure he thinks about it, his art, keeping his art pure from, you know, other ways of using it.

But it seems like this generation still needs to find the, the best use of AI for what they're trying to apply for, and how they can show that they have that capability.

Would you agree?

Yeah.

I think the wonderful thing about AI is that it allows you to be creative, and what I mean by that is, recently at one of our People in Profits Association meetings, we had a Family Feud style game, and I was able to go into Claude and, you know, analyze all the data.

We surveyed 113 people or something like that, and then create the game within Claude.

It took me probably 10 or 15 minutes.

Wow.

So I could spend a lot more time coming up with these brilliant ideas, and I don't have to spend, you know, 10, 15 hours like it would've taken me before to create this.

I mean, AI's not going away.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I think at the end of the day, the people who learn to use AI are going to come out on top.

And, you know, again, really using it to be creative, to be innovative, is just gonna make a world of difference in our careers.