Employment is always a give-and-take scenario, said Ross Quinn, but today’s complex NextGen workforce wants more than a paycheck for time spent on the clock. Millennials and Gen-Z workers often won’t feel satisfied with a position or a potential job if they aren’t given significant freedom and trust in exchange for the skill sets and tools they bring to the table, said Quinn, business development associate at KC-based startup Super Dispatch. “It does help having some sort of guidance or training to mesh with that,” he admitted. “We’re maybe like house cats. We’re like, ‘Pet me. Pet me. Pet me. Don’t pet me anymore!’ We’re complicated, but we can also survive on our own.”
Joining a Startland panel discussion on attracting the workforce of tomorrow, Quinn and his fellow panelists emphasized that young workers want to personally identify with an employer’s culture, mission and values. “We’re looking for companies that do what they say they’re going to do, and really live that culture,” said Sydney Steehn, a University of Missouri-Kansas City Entrepreneurship and Innovation student. Other core requirements: Opportunities for young workers to make a meaningful impact; company transparency; and a workplace environment that supports employees having a life outside the four walls of an office.