Working with Gen Z: what's the next challenge?

Cover story of the Italian Chamber of Commerce Magazine

 

 

Nowadays we often talk about Team, Leadership and growth but, specifically, how easy is it to navigate through the maze of social relationships in a workplace? How can one work in a team made up of different individuals, each with its own character, age and culture?

Our staff is indeed heterogeneous, but what catches the eye has always been its strong female component. Women tend to see a wider range of color shades; we are creative but also multitasking. Within the food and beverage and luxury restaurants sector, the creativity of some of us is an asset that cannot be given up, starting with advising on how to prepare a table and what colors match with a certain mood, up to getting the right packaging which, as known to many, is no longer just what contains the object but a true “experience”.

Our Team, recently, has been enriched with by the arrival of young Chinese girl from Chengdu, Rain, a fresh Art graduate, who will cover the development of Chinese Social media. We can say that we have, in our staff, a creative representative of Gen Z in all respects.

Tablo Team at Venedia

 

But what is Gen Z? Gen Z members were born between 1995 and 2010 and sit between Millennials and the Alpha Generation. An important feature of this category is its widespread use of the Internet since childhood. Gen Z members are considered to be addicted to the use of technology and social media, which significantly affects their socialization process. Therefore, they have been termed "digital natives".

We briefly asked Rain, our social media assistant, what it means for her to be the youngest in a team and what is the main characteristic of her Chinese peers: "I think as a young member in the team I have some space to use my creativity. However, the limit is that probably there are no peers to talk with or share our thoughts as young people. My generation in China is the biggest and the most potential market for luxury goods. Young generation in China is cultivating their own taste, so luxury companies should know this generation well. They like spending a lot of money on creative and interesting stuff ".

Interesting. But let's dive deeper. The development of China has been defined as a real "economic miracle" that has given birth to a new generation of luxury-oriented consumers. This economic boom, in the emerging market context that has characterized China for years, has led many Chinese to seek social recognition of their economic success; and the achievement of this "status-symbol" took place through the purchase of luxury products.

 

Among the youngest, seven out of ten own real estate properties, and are often supported by their parents for leisure or shopping activities. This generation is extremely careful to details, luxury conscious and curious about starting new trends.

According to a recent research conducted by Bain & Co and Tmall Luxury, China is the only world economy that had positive growth  in the year of Covid, and the expectation is that by 2025 the Chinese will account for 50% of the global luxury market.

Western companies wishing to successfully enter this market will have to fully understand its consumers (not only in terms of language), as well as define an ad-hoc digital communication strategy, capable of effectively reaching the target and communicating the brand proposition.

We are ready to accept this challenge!

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before being published