How Upskilling Your Gen-Z Talent Unlocks Their Huge Potential

As the workforce becomes increasingly dominated by Gen-Z, companies are facing the challenge of how to attract and keep this young talent while also ensuring we equip them with the skills they need to succeed. And as the competition for top talent in the job market continues to heat up and companies look for ways to stay ahead of the competition, it's more important than ever for businesses to invest in their junior talent. One area that is often overlooked, but can have an enormous impact on your ROI, is upskilling your Gen-Z workforce.

Gen-Z is the youngest generation in the workforce and is quickly rising through the ranks – in fact, they will make up 27% of the workforce by 2025. However, 70% of Gen-Z talent don't have the mastery of skills needed to do their jobs effectively. This lack of skills affects the performance of junior talent and can lead to high turnover rates, with 31% of Gen-Z talent quitting their job in their first 6 months due to lack of training. It's pretty alarming given this generation of young professionals is key to driving the innovation, productivity, and growth of your business’s future.

This is where upskilling comes in. By investing in the development of your Gen-Z workforce, not only can you attract and retain top talent, but you can also see a significant increase in ROI. In this blog, we'll explore the direct benefits of upskilling your Gen-Z talent and how it can help your business in many ways, including insights from our CEO and Co-Founder, Raphael Eder, and his experience from working at McKinsey.

Getting your talent client-facing faster keeps you ahead of the competition

It enables them to provide real value, ahead of the curve

In today's fast-paced, competitive environment, staying ahead of the competition is crucial for success. 

One way to do this is by getting your junior talent client-facing as quickly as possible. Upskilling your Gen-Z workforce ensures they’re equipped with the soft skills and knowledge to handle client interactions and projects with confidence and effectiveness. This not only helps them grow but also helps your company stay ahead of the curve by having a strong, client-facing team in place faster.

Raphael predicts a shift where “Knowledge is going to be of less and less importance. What's going to be very important going forward are those so-called soft skills or power skills, as we call them here, which means how you interact with people, how you communicate, or how you manage your manager. We pay close attention to this and work to enhance productivity through this evolution – which is why it’s so important to upskill Gen-Z talent.”

It gives your Gen-Z talent the skills to not only do the job… but do it well

As businesses grow and evolve, so too must their workforce. 

The key to staying ahead of the competition is to have a team of well-trained, motivated and productive employees. This is especially true when it comes to Gen-Z talent. As mentioned, with 70% of Gen-Z talent lacking the mastery of skills needed to do their jobs effectively, investing in their training is essential. 

Not only does it improve their performance, but it also eases the workload of managers and increases retention rates. This investment in your junior talent is especially important in industries like professional services, law, consulting where a strong team of client-facing talent translates to success.

Looking across these sectors, Raphael reveals, “What we’re seeing right now is that these sectors are where there's the most demand for soft skills. Why? Because traditionally they have already invested in talent, but they have only focused on traditional hard skills and company-specific skills.”

It means you can harness Gen-Z’s potential quicker

As a business leader or manager, you know that staying ahead of the competition requires constant innovation and adaptation. By upskilling your junior talent through effective and efficient training, you'll not only be investing in their future but also the future performance of your business or team. 

This allows you to take advantage of their fresh perspectives, new ideas, and unbridled energy at an earlier stage and utilise their skills for concrete benefits – so they can really hit the ground running. The positive impacts of investing in your junior talent are significant, with a +20% increase in their productivity – and that’s just in the short-term. This results in more independence, self-drive and higher performance going forward.  

Upskilling your Gen-Z benefits your business as much as your talent

“We have built a product and platform that enables every organisation to offer programmes usually only reserved for those types of companies. By joining Hyphen as a Gen-Z talent, you could work for the company you really want to and still get the sort of training you truly want, and deserve too.”
- Raphael Eder

We specialise in providing world-class training, a culture of learning and raising the growth level of your talent, taking your team to the next level. Through our structured courses, curated by world-class business leaders and managers, you can ensure your Gen-Z talent has the soft skills they need to be more productive, innovative, and engaged in the workplace. If you want to maximise your ROI, then it's time to invest in your junior talent and create a brighter future for your team’s performance. Partner with Hyphen to help you achieve this.

Contact our team below to learn more about how we can help you upskill your talent and drive your business forward. Gen-Z is a talent game-changer, so let's work together to develop the next generation of leaders and drive your team’s success.