What can I say? Gotta love our clients! 😉
There is a growing perception that Generation Z has no real intention of working hard, lacks commitment, and no longer sees a job as a passion, a purpose, or a meaningful way to spend their working lives, as previous generations supposedly did.
But I have to ask: Are we so quick to blame the younger generation that we fail to look in the mirror? Could employers themselves be part of the problem?
In recruitment, we encounter client after client insisting on finding the perfect candidate. Someone who ticks every single box. The right qualification, the exact job title, the precise level of experience, the industry exposure, the personality, the cultural fit — and sometimes, it feels as though we are looking for the right shoe size, too!
Seriously, in an ideal world, perhaps. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and people are not products manufactured to a precise specification.
A candidate’s qualification, previous job title and years of experience do not always have to align perfectly with a job specification for that person to be capable of doing the job exceptionally well.
Whatever happened to potential? To transferable skills? To the willingness to learn, grow and develop?
What happened to considering a candidate who may not tick every box today but has the intelligence, character, attitude and ability to grow into the role tomorrow?
Widening the talent pool does not mean compromising on standards. It means recognising that talent comes in different forms and that some of the best employees may not look perfect on paper.
And this raises an uncomfortable question: have we become so focused on finding someone who can hit the ground running that we have forgotten the value of investing in people?
Are employers genuinely prepared to train, mentor and develop their employees? Are they willing to invest in building a sustainable talent pipeline for the future, rather than expecting every new appointment to arrive fully formed, requiring no guidance, no development and no investment?
Or have we become so accustomed to demanding immediate results that we are no longer willing to create opportunities for people to reach their full potential?
The irony is that employers may spend months searching for the perfect candidate, only to restructure, retrench or replace employees when business circumstances change. We demand loyalty, commitment and long-term thinking from candidates, yet how often do we demonstrate the same commitment to them?
Recruitment is not a commodity. And neither is the person behind the CV.
Every candidate is an individual with ambitions, responsibilities, financial pressures, strengths and potential. They are not simply a collection of qualifications and years of experience to be compared against a checklist.
As recruitment professionals, we see the human side of this process every day. We see capable people overlooked because their experience is not an exact match, while employers continue searching for that elusive perfect fit.
Perhaps it is time to reconsider what we are actually looking for.
Let’s give people with the right character, sound foundations, relevant skills and genuine potential a chance. Let’s create opportunities for growth and recognise that developing talent is not a weakness in the recruitment process — it is an investment in the future of a business.
And while we are at it, perhaps we should be a little slower to judge Generation Z for moving to another employer for an extra R1,000 a month.
Yes, commitment matters. Loyalty matters. A strong work ethic matters.
But so do fair remuneration, meaningful opportunities, career progression, recognition and respect.
If we expect employees to demonstrate commitment to an organisation, shouldn’t that commitment work both ways?
Respect cannot be a one-way street.
Perhaps the real challenge facing today’s workplace is not simply a generation that supposedly doesn’t want to work. Perhaps it is a changing relationship between employers and employees — one in which expectations have evolved, but our approach to attracting, developing and retaining talent has not always kept pace.
At Elchemie, we believe good recruitment is about more than matching a CV to a job description. It is about recognising potential, understanding people and building relationships that create value for both the employer and the employee.
Because sometimes, the best candidate isn’t the one who ticks every box.
Sometimes, it’s the one an employer is willing to give a chance.
What do you think? Are employers expecting too much from candidates, or has the younger generation genuinely changed its approach to work? Or is the truth somewhere in between?