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Focus On: Protecting and promoting mental health at work

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/vicky-mckeever/">Vicky McKeever </a>



As veganism grows in popularity around the world, there is increasing pressure for employers to catch up and make the workplace more inclusive. 



Measures proposed by the U.K. charity The Vegan Society include dedicated vegan shelves in office fridges, as well as color-coded equipment and separate food preparation areas.



The number of vegans in the U.K. alone quadrupled between 2014 and 2019, growing from 150,000 to 600,000 people, according to the charity. Meanwhile, global internet searches for “veganism” have more than doubled in the past five years, according to Google Trends data, and the term is now seeing around three times the interest of “vegetarianism.”



Vegans don’t consume animal products and the subsequent shift towards plant-based diets led The Vegan Society to last week publish tips for employers on how they can create a more inclusive work environment for vegan employees.



This was in light of recent changes to U.K. anti-discrimination law which now protects “ethical veganism” — people who not only follow a plant-based diet but also avoid any products using, or tested on, animals.



The charity said employers should consider the following:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Sending out a dietary requirements sheet to staff for catered events.</li><li>Keeping kitchen utensils clean, providing color-coded equipment and separate food preparation areas.</li><li>Offering dedicated food storage areas for vegan, such as shelves in the fridge.</li><li>Ensuring access to vegan-friendly clothing, such as synthetic safety boots or a non-leather phone case.</li><li>Exempting vegans from attending corporate events such as horse racing, or others which revolve around animal products, such as a “hog roast” BBQ.</li><li>Considering exempting vegans from participating in the buying (or signing off on the purchase) of non-vegan products.</li><li>Supporting vegan employees to discuss their pension investment options with a relevant member of staff.</li><li>Creating a positive and respectful atmosphere towards vegan employees, for example by being mindful of “jokes” which could be deemed offensive.</li><li>Training staff on anti-discrimination law, highlighting to them that veganism is an example of a non-religious belief protected under this legislation.</li><li>Reassuring vegan employees that they should not feel anxious about raising complaints and that they will be taken seriously if they do so.</li><li>Taking prompt action on unfair treatment of, or complaints from, vegans.</li><li>Seeing how vegans can contribute to workplace policies and practices.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Equality law and veganism</h2>



In January, an employment tribunal in the U.K. confirmed that ethical veganism is a belief that is protected within the scope of the 2010 Equality Act.



This is the U.K. law which says it is illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of age, disability, gender and religion, among other protected characteristics.



The inclusion of ethical veganism within the remit of this law came after an employment tribunal ruled in favor of Jordi Casamitjana, who alleged he was fired from his job at the League Against Cruel Sports for his beliefs. Casamitjana claimed he was fired for telling colleagues that the League’s pension fund was invested in companies involved in animal testing.



Matt Turner, a spokesman for The Vegan Society, said the protections for ethical vegans in the U.K. are “long overdue.”



“As momentum in the U.K. continues to grow, it’s imperative that employers ensure that the ever-increasing number of ethical vegans are protected and catered for in the workplace,” he said.



Eric Brent, CEO of California-based online vegan and vegetarian restaurant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/02/london-ranked-as-top-city-globally-for-vegan-friendly-restaurants.html">directory HappyCow</a>, said he believed the same legal protections should apply to vegans in the U.S.



He argued that vegans should be included on the list of people protected under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws, which protect workers in the U.S. against workplace discrimination.



The EEOC, meanwhile, told CNBC via email that veganism could sometimes be considered a religious practice and be protected under its laws.



For example, in 2012, a federal district court ruled in favor of a woman who filed a lawsuit over her dismissal from a hospital. The woman refused to get a flu vaccination which she said went against her veganism and she used biblical extracts as the basis for arguing her beliefs.



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This article was first published on CNBC  <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/vegan-friendly-offices-tips-on-how-to-make-workplaces-more-inclusive.html?forYou=true">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/vegan-friendly-offices-tips-on-how-to-make-workplaces-more-inclusive.html?forYou=true</a> and is republished with its permission.

Young Asian blogger having vegetarian breakfast at work

Vegans want to change the workplace … and it all starts in the kitchen

By Dr Aradhana Ramnund-Mansingh, an academic at MANCOSA and former Human Resource Executive.



The Queen Bee Syndrome whereby women in power consciously impede the development of other women in the workplace, is slowly gaining ground in South Africa.



Queen Bees of the human kind are undoing the gains
of gender equality in the workplace.



The Queen Bee Syndrome is one in which a woman in a
position of authority views or treats subordinates more critically if they are
female, while favouring males when it comes to promotion.




In
nature the Queen Bee is the only queen in her colony; she is fed royal jelly
and is the largest bee in the colony with the most graceful body. Contrary to
nature, the human Queen Bee is anything but graceful &#8211; she is rude, arrogant
and patronising.



At a time when we should be seeing more women
enabling and empowering each other, there is a progressive rise in the number
of Queen Bees in many corporates. This is concomitant with more women assuming
executive positions than before. 



The
Queen Bee phenomenon has been documented by several studies. In one study,
scientists from the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Toronto">University of Toronto</a>&nbsp;speculated that the Queen
Bee Syndrome may be the reason that women find it more stressful to work for
female managers; no difference was found in stress levels for male workers.




Amidst
challenges women face to enter the workplace; to overcome socially constructed
norms; and to gain parity at work, women continue to experience the lethal
sting of a Queen Bee who succeeded in her career, but refuses to help other
women do the same.



Throughout
centuries, women faced the constant subjugation by men in terms of policies,
procedures, laws, harassment, power struggles and gender stereotyping. The
boys’ networks control all the power mandates which prescribe practice and
behaviour. When women report injustices and policy contraventions, the decision-making
panels are often made of men who stand in solidarity to uphold decisions which
discredit the woman in question. 



The
only individuals who understand the innate struggle and challenges women face,
are women themselves. However, this narrative does not translate into the
positive, happy ending that it should. 



Within
the South African labour spaces, the dialogue of the Queen Bee has begun but
has not yet gained adequate momentum. Very limited academic research showcasing
South African examples are available. 



Although
mostly unfamiliar in a South African context, Queen Bee
was a term coined internationally in the 1970s. A Queen Bee may display some
positive feminine leadership values, but she consciously chooses to impede the
development of other women.



The Queen Bee recognizes her struggles
towards success as a lonely journey. The widespread belief is that women have
to emulate men in order to maintain success. Women have to portray male
characteristics and personify men by exhibiting brash, harsh and tough
behaviour, to gain some notion of respect from her male counterparts. 



Queen Bees gain support from the “male
tribe” of the organization if she is seen as part of their group. What female
leaders fail to take cognisance of is the fact that their male colleagues will “allow”
them to climb only up to a certain point and thus the glass ceiling continues
to prevail. 



When support, development, mentorship
or advice is sought, other women will be met by aggression and a clear
condescending tone of the power lines being drawn. 



It is important for women to know and
understand the different types of women who impede their advancement and
success, and act strategically with this knowledge in mind. 



There are different types of women who
will obstruct; those who will agree to be your mentor but exploit you; those
who show you kindness but stand firm with the boys’ network when decisions for
development are put to the fore. It is critical to discern the extent your
fellow sisters will pull you down. 



The Queen Bee will offer no support to
developing women. The Princess Bee will support other women as long as they do
not violate her territory. Hence, she will mentor others only as long as they
stay separate from her domain. The Phantom Bee will not facilitate finding
another woman for a job vacancy &#8211; men are then allocated the job and fewer
women are afforded access to new job. Then there is the Cinderella complex &#8211; the ugly
step-sisters work together to undermine the success of one sister



There is,
however, a spark of light within the darkness. The women who support, encourage
and mentor other women by far exceed the Queen Bees. These women need to
continue the stellar work that they do. 



When faced with the double-edged sword in positions of power, women need to be steadfast in their recognition of challenges that the sisterhood face and not surrender their soul to the boys’ network.



Do not be hypnotised by power and lose sight
of logic and sisterhood. Remember the journey; remember the struggle when more than
20 000 women, crying “we’ve had enough” marched to the Union Buildings on 9
August 1956 to protest against the apartheid pass laws, regarded one of the
largest demonstrations of the time. 



Together we can accomplish and overcome. Be a mentor and give courage and support to as many women as possible. If you encounter the Queen Bee and members of her royal court, make the choice not to be dampened by their crude and cold demeanour.

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Op-Ed: Queen bees muscle out other women in the workplace

It’s been eight years since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/apple-steve-jobs-divided-people-into-2-groups-insanely-great-and-crappy-people-says-ex-employee-guy-kawasaki.html" class="">Steve Jobs</a>&nbsp;passed away on Oct. 5, 2011, but his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/amazon-billionaire-ceo-jeff-bezos-ask-yourself-these-12-questions-to-live-a-long-happy-life.html" class="">lessons about life, work and success</a>&nbsp;still live on today.



In a 1994, the Apple co-founder sat down for an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/steve-jobs-in-1994-the-rolling-stone-interview-231132/" class="">interview with Rolling Stone</a>. At the time, Jobs was at one of the lowest points of his career; he had long ago been booted from Apple, and the personal computer revolution seemed to be dimming. And yet, when asked if he still believed in the limitless potential of technology, Jobs answered yes.



“But it’s not a faith in technology. It’s faith in people,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Tools are just tools’</h2>



“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart — and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them,” he said. “Tools are just tools. They either work, or they don’t work.”



Put another way, Jobs believed that in order to achieve great success and create revolutionary changes in the world, we must learn to prioritize the intersection of technology and the humanities, because that’s how the best ideas emerge.



Jobs took this philosophy seriously. Years after he rejoined Apple in 1997, it was clear that he had become a far better leader. His goal, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537">“Steve Jobs,”</a> was to build an enduring company that prioritized people. Everything else — products and profits — while still important, would be secondary.



Jobs’ vision paid off: He had successfully shifted Apple’s focus back to making cutting-edge products, which resulted in a phase of unprecedented growth for the company.



Here’s how Jobs’ put his “faith in people” into practice:



1. He hired the right people and trusted them to perform



Jobs understood the cost of hiring the wrong people. He was heavily&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">involved in major hiring decisions</a>, and remained so&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">even after taking medical leave</a>.



Plenty of people have a breadth of knowledge that enables them to make good decisions under a variety of circumstances, but you can’t possibly be an expert at everything. The best leaders know what they don’t know, and they bring in experts to help them plan their next move.



As&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/steve-jobs-advice-on-hiring-helps-grow-this-ceos-talent-pool.html" class="">Jobs once said</a>, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”



2. He delivered his demand for excellence in a inspiring way



To many, Jobs’ version of “having faith in people” might not be considered the norm. His occasionally abrasive style of leadership has been described as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">“terrorizing”&nbsp;</a>and<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">&nbsp;“extremely demanding.”</a>



But, as proven by Apple’s success, it worked. “Jobs’ rudeness and roughness were accompanied by an ability to be inspirational,” Isaacson wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Harvard Business Review</a>&nbsp;article.



Indeed, Jobs knew how to “infuse Apple employees with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking products and a belief that they could accomplish what seemed impossible,” according to Isaacson.



The author recalled Jobs once telling him: “I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.”



3. He taught them about humility



Some people might get a chuckle out of this one, considering Jobs was known to have a certain degree of arrogance, but he also had the capacity to admit when he was wrong and change his opinion entirely.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/former-apple-employee-guy-kawasaki-once-stood-up-to-steve-jobs-here-is-the-amazing-response-he-received.html" class="">Guy Kawasaki</a>, former chief evangelist at Apple who worked closely with the tech visionary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">told CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that one of the most important lessons he learned from Jobs “is that changing your mind, changing what you’re doing and reversing yourself at an extreme is a sign of intelligence.”



When Jobs first introduced the iPhone in 2007, for example, it was a closed system — no one outside of Apple could create an app for it. A year later,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">Jobs made a complete “180-degree reversal,”</a>&nbsp;Kawasaki said. He opened the system to the public after realizing how much more the device could offer customers with apps written by anyone with a good idea.



In a world of stark dichotomies, it’s good to be fearless about changing sides or altering courses.



4. He taught them to focus



After his return to Apple, Jobs would take his top employees on annual retreats. On the last day of each retreat,&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Isaacson wrote</a>, he’d stand in front of a whiteboard and ask everybody: “What are the 10 things we should be doing next?”



People would fight to get their suggestions on the list. “Jobs would write them down — and then cross off the ones he decreed dumb,” Isaacson continued. “After much jockeying, the group would come up with a list of 10. Then, Jobs would slash seven of them and announce, ‘We can only do three.’”



The theatrics of the activity were meant to teach his employees about focus. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” Jobs told Isaacson. “That’s true for companies, and it’s true for products.”



5. He engaged face-to-face



If Jobs were alive today, it’d be unlikely for anyone to get a Slack reply from him. According to Isaacson, Jobs believed in the power of in-person conversations and always preferred face-to-face meetings.



“There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat,” he told Isaacson. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”



Even at Pixar, Jobs made sure the building was designed to get people out of their offices and interact with others. The front doors and main stairs and corridors all led to the atrium, which housed essentials like a fitness center, cafe, employee mailboxes and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technology-alone-is-not-enough" class="">only set of bathrooms</a>.



It was meant to be the heart of the headquarters, the place where people ran into each other, talked and came up with the most inventive ideas.



<a class="" href="http://marcelschwantes.com/">Marcel Schwantes</a> is a speaker, executive coach and workplace strategist. As a leadership coach, he addresses the elements required to create human-centered workplaces that result in high-performing cultures. Marcel is also the host of the “Leadership from the Core” podcast.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Steve Jobs: ‘Technology is nothing’—here’s what he said it really takes to achieve great success

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At the ongoing 2019 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole caught up with Paul Usoro, the President of the NBA and he examined the conversations that had taken place so far from the different panel sessions.

NBA President Usoro on tackling sexual harassment in the workplace

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/courtney-connley/">Courtney Connley</a> 



The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have brought huge attention to the challenges women face at work, but a new survey finds that 60% of male managers say they’re uncomfortable mentoring, working one-on-one or socializing with a woman.



According to the survey, released by&nbsp;<a href="https://leanin.org/mentor-her?utm_campaign=mentorher&amp;amp;utm_medium=social&amp;amp;utm_source=twitter" class="">LeanIn.org</a>&nbsp;and SurveyMonkey, that’s a 33% increase from last year.



Senior-level men also say they are 12 times more likely to be hesitant about one-on-one meetings with a junior woman than they are a junior man, nine times more likely to be hesitant to travel with a junior woman for work than a junior man, and six times more likely to be hesitant to have a work dinner with a junior woman than a junior man.



LeanIn.org founder and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg calls the results “totally unacceptable.”



She tells Julia Boorstin on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/05/17/facebook-sheryl-sandberg-metoo-women-in-workplace-women-leadership.html" class="">CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”</a>&nbsp;that the problem with this dynamic is that “women already weren’t getting the same mentorship men were, particularly women of color.” And in her experience, she says, “no one has ever gotten a promotion without getting a one-on-one meeting.”



Though some have argued that the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have had a negative impact on relationships between men and women at work, Sandberg disagrees. She says the movements have had an “overwhelmingly positive” impact on the workplace, especially in spotlighting the problem of sexual harassment against women.



“The thing is, it’s not enough,” she says. “It’s really important to not harass anyone, but that’s pretty basic. We also need to not be ignored.”



Rachel Thomas, president of LeanIn.org, tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that “sexual harassment is a lot of things, and it’s a really complicated issue, but a big piece of it is power dynamics.”



“We need more women in positions of leadership, more people of color and more LGBTQ people,” she says. “We need to change what leadership looks like in our organizations because we know that will lead to more safer and stronger workplaces.”



Both she and Sandberg point out that sexual harassment is twice as likely to occur in organizations where men dominate the C-suite. That’s why, Thomas says, it’s imperative that men speak up and take action. “My suspicion is that a lot of good guys don’t realize that by not actively mentoring, sponsoring or creating full access, that they’re inadvertently part of the problem,” Thomas says.



As a solution, Thomas and Sandberg say any man who doesn’t want to have work dinners with a woman should also not have work dinners with a man. Instead, they should have group dinners so that everyone is included.



“That’s one way to create equal access,” says Thomas. “I don’t fully understand it, but for whatever reason if a man is also uncomfortable having a one-on-one meeting with a woman or working with a woman, then leave the door open.”



Regardless of how a man may feel about working with a woman, Thomas says there is “no excuse for not being a good manager, not being a good leader and not offering equal access to the mentorship and sponsorship that we know all employees need to succeed.”



Correction: This story was revised to correct a headline. The researchers found that 60% of male managers now say they’re uncomfortable participating in work activities with women.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/60percent-of-male-managers-now-say-theyre-uncomfortable-mentoring-women.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/60percent-of-male-managers-now-say-theyre-uncomfortable-mentoring-women.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Improperly appointed boards spell disaster for organisations

60% of male managers now say they’re uncomfortable participating in work activities with women

By Deon Smit &amp; Muhammed Goolab, South African Reward Association
Your employees are your company’s most important asset. They are the ones tasked with serving your customers, implementing strategies and driving your teams forward to achieve their goals. According to 2018 Gallup research, however, 85% of the workforce is disengaged.
What is a ‘disengaged employee’?
They are mentally ‘checked out’ and sleepwalking through their workday without passion and energy. These workers withdraw themselves mentally and emotionally from their jobs. 
The economic consequences of lost productivity due to disengaged workers is estimated to be around $7-trillion per year, but many of the costs are difficult to quantify because these costs are often intangible and untracked.
Disengaged employees often have higher rates of absenteeism, resulting in more sick days taken, and they are more likely to be actively seeking other employment.This increases the associated costs of recruitments because these employees often need to be replaced at higher rates.
Employee engagement is generally measured or defined by a number of factors, including the extent to which an employee feels that his or her contribution is important and is recognized and how inspired the employee feels about the organization and the extent to which the organization can cultivate this inspiration.
Whether the employee perceives a workforce within the organization, and the extent to which an employee believes that he or she is paid fairly and equitably for the jobs they do, are also things that can be tracked to measure how engaged an employee is.
Turning disengaged employees into engaged employees in 3 steps 
Engaged employees are natural brand ambassadors and companies who want to turn their disengaged staff into engaged workers need to focus on three things: the organization’s culture, communication and rewards.
Employee engagement starts at the top and leaders need to invest in a culture of engagement and growth. Employees will be looking to their line managers for leadership, so these executives need to have the right leadership skills to actively engage the people that report to them and focus on reinforcing a positive work environment.
Secondly, companies also need to effectively communicate their objectives while at the same time taking employees along on the journey with them. Employees need to know and understand how their contributions make a difference in achieving the company’s greater vision, so their role and importance in the business needs to be clearly communicated to them.Communication allows the organization to be held accountable in driving engagement and deliver against what they have committed to.
Thirdly, the success and contribution of employees must be celebrated and recognized. This recognition must be done in a meaningful and consistent manner.
Organizations should focus on the individual by creating clear career paths, growth, and development programs, as well as career advancement planning. Although monetary rewards are not seen as a driver of engagement, employees will become disengaged as soon as payment is perceived to be unfair. Money is a reinforcement for achievements, so use this reward wisely.
The importance of an engaged workforce can’t be overstated. Reduce staff turnover, improve productivity, retain more customers and increase your bottom line by connecting with your employees in ways that count.

Op-Ed: 85% of your workforce isn’t engaged at work. What now?

By Professor Halton Cheadle, partner at BCHC, a specialist labour law firm. Danny Hodgson, a candidate attorney at the firm.
In September 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that certain provisions of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act were unconstitutional and infringed on the right to privacy. But what does it mean for occupational health and safety in the workplace?
One of the biggest changes will be around testing. In the past, the focus was on determining whether an employee was a user of cannabis and therefore urine, blood and hair follicle testing was appropriate. Now the focus is on whether the employee is intoxicated by cannabis at the workplace and therefore observational checklists need to be utilised as well as saliva tests in order to signal recent use, lawyers from BCHC, specialists in labour law, said.
“The intoxicating effects of alcohol are well known and, for that reason, most employers have a zero tolerance policy against being drunk at work,” said Professor Halton Cheadle of BCHC. “The effects of cannabis, on the other hand, are not as familiar and although dagga may not impair a person to the same extent as alcohol, it is a psychoactive drug.”
The Constitutional Court ruled that adult South African citizens are allowed to cultivate and use cannabis in a private place, which means it can no longer be described as an illegal substance. “Employers will have to reconsider policies that deal with substance use in light of this change,” he explained.
This means that if workers’ cognitive abilities are impaired, they could potentially pose a risk to themselves and others when it comes to operating machinery, driving a vehicle or performing other dangerous work. From these effects, it seems clear cannabis should be regulated in the same manner as alcohol, and a zero tolerance policy should be applied, said BCHC’s Danny Hodgson.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 requires employers to provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of employees. And if someone is intoxicated, with alcohol or cannabis, this could pose problems for employers and other employees.
“This means an employer is obliged to implement policies and put measures in place to limit any potential risk of harm, which include identifying intoxicated employees through observation and drug testing and excluding them from the workplace,” said Hodgson.
In light of the Constitutional Court judgment, cannabis use is likely to increase due to its new legal status and a corresponding change in societal norms, Cheadle reckons. “It is therefore important for employers to review their policies to ensure that they can adequately deal with intoxicated employees and comply with their obligations.”

OpEd: What employers need to know about cannabis in the workplace

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As the workplace is affected by global technological advancements, businesses are at risk of losing out to competition. As a result, conglomerates have turned to reverse mentoring.

Reverse Mentoring: How millennials can mentor boomers

Linda Trim | Giant Leap
Successful companies the world over are making the necessary shift of recognising the value of the workplace as a business tool to help hire and keep the best talent. 
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Linda Trim, Director at workplace specialists Giant Leap, said that for South African companies, the overarching imperative must be to see workplace strategy as a business opportunity rather than a just a design challenge and a cost containment exercise. 
 
With 80 percent of the average company’s costs tied to its talent, which is increasingly globally mobile, here are the top 5 workplace changes South African companies will need to adopt in the next 2 years to keep pace with international trends: 
 
1. Build the ‘internet of Workplace.’ 
In larger companies, “Internet of Things” (IoT) integration has so far primarily been at the building level, using real-time dashboards to track workplace occupancy, building water consumption, elevator usage, temperatures and more. 
“However, threads of the next stage of this are starting to emerge, “ Trim noted. 
 “Companies are starting to embrace everything from smartphone apps that control the window shades, to tablets in meeting rooms that enable employees to order a coffee through a virtual concierge or to adjust the temperature.” 
Companies that build a workplace linked by internet connectivity – an “Internet of Workplace” – will leverage devices, furniture and environments that interact digitally to drive productivity. 
For example, Dutch bank ABN Amro is using occupancy data to help employees find available workspaces, and analysing traffic patterns around lunchtime to manage lift rush hours.
2. ingrain the co-working mentality in real estate strategy
By 2020, there will be 26 000 co-working locations worldwide. By comparison, there are 24 000 Starbucks globally. Initially, co-working was simply a term for the use of a shared workspace that businesses – many of them individual entrepreneurs or small startups. 
“Today, top class co-working spaces like FutureSpace in Sandton, are used by a wide variety of businesses, including multinational companies,“ said Trim.
In the future, companies will also need to think more about accessing office space rather than owning or leasing it. This paradigm shift will require an evaluation of “core” and “ flexible” space needs so that businesses can execute a real estate strategy that minimises cost and maximises opportunities.
3. Make employee experience a core part of business strategy
While most business leaders already have an understanding of the importance of employee engagement, three-quarters of those surveyed in a Harvard Business Review study said that most of their employees are not highly engaged.
Said Trim: “Engagement and productivity can have a direct impact on the bottom line. One of the best ways that companies can ensure that their employees are engaged is to dedicate someone entirely to the employee experience. By creating a position of a chief experience officer, you can focus attention and resources to reduce work-day friction and create positive experiences for employees.” 
4. Create a workplace that makes people healthier 
Low productivity due to poor health damages companies profitability. In the U.S. for example, overweight workers and those with chronic health conditions account for more $153 billion in lost productivity annually. 
“To combat these trends, wellness is and will remain one of the hottest topics in workplace design, “ said Trim. 
“Employees will soon expect to be healthier when they leave the office than when they arrived. This will be thanks to access to high-quality air, natural light, water and healthy food choices, plus wellness programs with opportunities for exercise, health care services and social engagement.”
Technology can also play a role. Some European companies encourage employees to wear Fitbits and answer daily questions to assess exercise levels, stress levels, productivity and overall well-being. Employees then translate data-driven insights into decisions around how, where and when to work. 
“By 2020, we expect that the importance of benchmarking built- environment performance to wellness standards will increase dramatically,” Trim added. 
5. Enable an agile organisation
Most organisations have dedicated teams with certain expertise that work on specific products or services for clients. 
“Due to changing client demands, a quickly shifting environment and evolving technologies, organisations are starting to rethink these structures by prioritising collaboration between teams, breaking down silos. 
The “agile organisation” is a term that’s getting a lot of attention right now,” said Trim. 
To boost collaboration between people with different areas of expertise and backgrounds, agile organisations must be able to bring people physically together to work. Collaborations are key, which means that more people will come to the office and average occupancy rates will increase. Additionally, formal planned meetings are replaced by short, effective “meeting moments” and continuous informal collaboration within teams.
According to a study from McKinsey &amp; Company, businesses that are deploying agile development at scale have accelerated their innovation by up to 80 percent. 
“The year 2020 isn’t that far away. It is critical for South African companies to make space and location decisions that create engaging and productive experiences for employees,” Trim concluded.

5 workplace changes South African companies must adopt by 2020

Linda Trim | FutureSpace 
Today freelancers present 35% of the workforce in the United States, 16% in the European Union and while South African figures are harder to determine, the number is thought to be about 10% and rising strongly.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-283620 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Workplace_Pixabay.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640" />
Linda Trim, Director of FutureSpace, a joint venture between Investec Property and workplace specialists Giant Leap that offers high end shared working, office on demand, space in Sandton, said: “The data shows that freelancing is on the rise worldwide.
“And that’s partly because of the ‘gig economy’, people working independently for companies like Uber which is a relentlessly evolving phenomenon.”
In OECD countries, studies show that freelancers individuals work chiefly in the services sector (50% of men and 70% of women). The remainder are everything from online assistants to architects, designers and photographers.
A recent study called “A snapshot of today’s on demand workforce” by software firm Xero, showed that the majority of freelancers in OECD countries are “slashers”, meaning that their contract work supplements another part-time or full-time position.
These additional earnings can vary considerably. Those who spend a few hours a month editing instruction manuals from home may earn a few hundred euros (R3 to R4k)  a month. Freelance occupational therapists may pull in ten times that working full-time (R30 to R40k/month).
Said Trim: “Perhaps the most glamorous face of freelancing are the &#8216;creative classes’ an agile, connected, highly educated and globalised category of workers that specialise in communications, media, design, art and tech, among others sectors.
“They are architects, web designers, bloggers, consultants and the like, whose job it is to stay on top of trends.”
Freelancers constitute a diverse population of workers – their educational backgrounds, motivations, ambitions, needs, and willingness to work differ from one worker to the next.
“In addition to the rise if the gig economy, the search for freedom with income is another huge motivator. Freelancing is increasingly a choice that people make in order to escape the 9-to-5 workday.”
Trim added that many of the clients that have signed up at FutureSpace work for themselves and are developing their business or have worked for big businesses for years and are now independent consultants.
“We have also noticed that many large corporates are hiring freelancers and are wanting to use shared spaces like FutureSpace for specific projects or innovation drives rather than have them in the established where they will be exposed to how things have always been done.”
Trim noted however that full-time, company-based work is still the standard for employment in most countries, including South Africa.
“But with the rise of telecommuting and automation and the unlimited potential of crowdsourcing, it stands to reason that more and more firms will begin running, and even growing, their businesses with considerably fewer employees.
“This does not necessarily mean an increase in unemployment. Instead, it likely means more freelancers, who will form and reform around various projects in constant and evolving networks,” Trim concluded.

Op-Ed: Why the future of work could lie in freelance

Arnoux Maré | Innovative Staffing Solutions
“South Africa’s unemployment rate of 27.7% in the second quarter of 2017 is the highest since 2003. This translates into 6.18 million unemployed, a figure that can only be reduced through sustainable development, which is underpinned by quality education,” says Innovative Staffing Solutions MD, Arnoux Maré.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-120392 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/TEI-Diversity.jpg" alt="" width="1535" height="1024" />
&nbsp;
Maré says although South Africa is the second largest economy in Africa and has made significant strides over the past decade, it continues to be one of the most unequal societies globally.
Gini index estimates from the World Bank rank South Africa as the most unequal country in terms of income distribution. Statistics South Africa reports that the richest 20% of the population account for more than 65% of consumption while the bottom 20% account for less than 3%.
“This situation is exacerbated by an education system that is characterised by a high drop-out rate of high-school learners and a curriculum that does not deliver the knowledge and skills young people need to enter the job market,” he continues.
This scenario is likely to be compounded in the years ahead as the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution – characterised by fast-paced technological progress combined with other socio-economic and demographic changes – requires a different set of skills from the workforce.
Maré adds the root of unemployment is not only due to a lack of jobs, but also to a poorly educated and unskilled workforce.
“In some instances, corporate South Africa is unable to fill various positions with adequately skilled people. While there is an obvious shortage of skills in highly skilled professions such as engineering, accounting and finance, there is an even greater dearth of skills in the semi-skilled job arena.”
He proposes that one way for companies to address the skills gap is to outsource their skills requirements to an organisation such as Innovative Staffing Solutions, which handles workforce requirements on behalf of its clients.
“At Innovative Staffing Solutions, we contractually employ our clients’ staff on a permanent basis. This means we take over a client’s drivers, hospitality workers or farm workers by reinstating them as permanent ISS employees, but they continue to work for said client. In exchange, employees receive benefits they may not have received previously, while the client’s work force needs are carefully managed, such as, finding suitable staff and dealing with disciplinary issues.”
“Key to what we offer our clients is ensuring outsourced people are part of a process of continual learning and growth. We focus specifically on upskilling people working in the unskilled and semi-skilled sectors, creating opportunities for further education, on-the-job training, mentorship programmes and promotion.”
The outsourcing approach allows a business to concentrate on its core business while its outsourcing partner focuses on fulfilling the company’s workforce requirements. “Few responsibilities stretch businesses as thin as the hiring and firing process. While it may seem simple on the surface, finding the right employees can be taxing on many different levels. Getting help with these challenges not only impacts positively on the bottom line (with a saving of up to 60% on operational costs), it helps business owners to focus on the more entrepreneurial aspects of their businesses and less on the back-office daily operational matters,” says Maré.
His company keeps itself updated on scarce skills trends to help inform human resource planning and development for its clients. “We have an in-depth understanding of the employee management landscape. We keep ourselves abreast of the regulatory environment and develop solid relationships with trade unions and other relevant bodies such as the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).”
“This is a powerful way in which corporate South Africa – through companies such as ourselves – can help address the skills shortage. If our clients no longer require the services of the outsourced staff members, they will not find themselves out of work.  They will be placed at another client or upskilled for a different opportunity. This makes for a sustainable workforce that is assured of continued employment coupled with acquiring new, and often more relevant, skills. By moving them into new roles, opportunities are thus created for more people to enter the job market and to further benefit from improved proficiencies,” concludes Maré.

Getting to grips with the skills shortage challenge

Linda Trim | Giant Leap
Sitting and working at a desk for long hours may feel far removed from being a professional athlete but to improve at your job there is a principle you can borrow from them: rest.
Linda Trim, Director at workplace specialists Giant Leap, said:”If you want to improve at your job or any activity — from triathlons to theoretical mathematics to working productively — the method for getting better is remarkably similar.
“And it requires a key thing many of us neglect: rest.”
Trim noted that the key to improvement and continued success is finding a balance between stress and rest. “Contrary to what many of the productivity-obsessed may think, rest is as important as the stress of hard work.”
It&#8217;s easy to see why athletes need rest. Physical exertion, like lifting weights or running long distances, puts stress on the body parts the athlete is trying to strengthen. Those physical challenges actually damage the body. You aren&#8217;t getting stronger when you lift weight — you are tearing muscle fibers and getting weaker.
It&#8217;s only during the rest and recovery period that your body begins to heal and adapt so it&#8217;s better prepared for future stress.
This the fundamental principle behind basic athletic training.
A similar principle works for creative or professional work too.
Research has shown that a cycle of work and rest is key for people learning to master a skill, trying to be productive at the office, or striving for a creative breakthrough.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — renowned for his work on the concept of “flow&#8221; (fully immersed in an activity, in the zone) — spent decades interviewing geniuses from diverse fields  including inventors, artists, scientists, and writers.
“The research found that the brightest minds spend their time either pursuing an activity with ferocious intensity, or engaging in complete restoration and recovery, “said Trim.
“This approach not only prevents creative burnout and cognitive fatigue, but it also fosters breakthrough ideas and discoveries.&#8221;
Top performers follow a cycle of total immersion into their work, followed by a disconnected period of rest and recovery. Other productivity researchers have also suggested that regular breaks are essential for people who perform best in fields ranging from computer programming to agricultural work.
This cycle of intense work followed by a real breaks enables the &#8220;eureka&#8221; moments — since these revelations usually come when the mind is disconnected from work.
So when your energy runs low at work or you get stumped on a task, that&#8217;s the time to take a break.
“Get away from what you are doing for at least five minutes — longer if you are particular stressed — and do something that gives your mind a rest from what you were focusing on,” Trim advised.
That could involve taking a walk, sitting outside, or even taking a shower, but half-hearted breaks spent browsing the internet aren&#8217;t restorative enough to take your mind out of work mode.
The hard part is actually doing this.
“Many of us have been told before that it&#8217;s important to take breaks, yet we still eat lunch at our desks, half-working and half-browsing the internet,” Trim concluded.

The fitness principle you should apply at work to be more productive

Linda Trim | Giant Leap
The traditional 8-hour workday is an outdated, ineffective approach to work that actually diminishes productivity.
Linda Trim, Director at workplace specialists Giant Leap, said: &#8220;It’s time for a change of thinking.&#8221;
She noted the 8-hour workday was a relic of the industrial revolution created in an effort to cut down on the number of hours of tough manual labor that workers were forced to endure on the factory floor.
“But like our ancestors, we’re expected to put in 8-hour days, working in long, continuous blocks of time, with few or no breaks. Most people even work right through their lunch hour.”
Trim notes that if people want to be as productive as possible, they need to let go of this Dickensian approach.
Here’s a better way:
Structure Your Day
A study recently conducted by the Draugiem Group, a social networking website,  tracked employees’ work habits by measuring how much time people spent on various tasks and compared this to their productivity levels.
“They stumbled upon a fascinating finding: the length of the workday didn’t matter much. What mattered was how people structured their day. In particular, people who were strict about taking short breaks were far more productive than those who worked longer hours,” Trim said.
The ideal work-to-break ratio was 52 minutes of work, followed by 17 minutes of rest. They didn’t check Facebook or get distracted by e-mails. When they felt fatigue after about an hour, they took short breaks, during which they completely separated themselves from their work.
The Brain Wants an Hour On, 15 Minutes Off
People who have discovered this ‘magic’ productivity ratio tapped into a fundamental need of the human mind: the brain naturally functions in spurts of high energy (roughly an hour) followed by spurts of low energy (15–20 minutes).
“For most of us, this natural ebb and flow of energy leaves us wavering between focused periods of high energy followed by far less productive periods, when we tire and succumb to distractions,” Trim noted.
Instead of working for an hour or more and then trying to battle through distractions and fatigue, when your productivity begins to dip, take this as a sign that it’s time for a break.
Boss Your Workday
The 8-hour workday can only work well for you if you break your time into strategic intervals that aligns with your natural energy. Here are the best ways to do it:
Break your day into hourly intervals &#8211; We naturally plan what we need to accomplish by the end of the day, the week, or the month, but we’re far more effective when we focus on what we can accomplish right now. “Planning your day around hour-long intervals simplifies daunting tasks by breaking them into manageable chunks,” said Trim.
Respect your hour &#8211; The interval strategy only works because we use our peak energy levels to reach an extremely high level of focus for a relatively short amount of time. When you disrespect your hour by texting or checking e-mails you defeat the entire purpose of the approach.
Take real rest &#8211; Getting away from your computer, your phone, and your to-do list is essential to boosting your productivity. Breaks such as walking, reading, and chatting are the most effective forms of recharging because they take you away from your work. On a busy day, it might be tempting to think of dealing with e-mails or making phone calls as breaks, but they aren’t, so don’t give in to this line of thought.
The wrap
“Breaking your day down into chunks of work and rest that match your natural energy levels feels good, makes your workday go faster, and boosts your productivity.” Trim concluded.

Is the 8 hour workday outdated and ineffective?

Keith Fenner | VP, Sage Enterprise Africa &amp; Middle East
Think back to the last time you attended a meeting with millennials. Did they seem disengaged? Distracted by their devices? More interested in what was happening on the other side of the window?
Could you not help but think back to when you were that age, when you diligently recorded appointments in paper diaries; when you paid attention to every word that was spoken during long internal meetings; when email and mobiles were only just entering the workplace and collaboration was a face-to-face exercise?
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-258871 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Millennials-Meetings.jpg" alt="" width="1550" height="815" />
Young adults of today, right?
But let me tell you something about this  younger generation of today. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaearlemcleod/2015/10/01/why-millennials-keep-dumping-you-an-open-letter-to-management/#6edaddf560b1">These digital natives make up 35% of the workforce</a>. By 2020, that figure will rise to 46%. In ten years, they’ll represent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2017/05/11/how-to-harness-the-power-of-a-millennial-workforce/#7931d65f382b">75% of the working population</a>.
They are demanding change. They want to dictate their own hours, to work when they’re most productive, to use digital tools to collaborate, share information and get the job done – as quickly as possible.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
The winds of change are blowing through every enterprise but there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: meetings. If we’re honest, meetings are usually distracting, they often don’t achieve much and they hamper productivity.
And why are they always an hour long (or sometimes longer)?
If there’s one thing we can learn from this younger generation, it’s the value they place on their time. Why gather everyone in a room to discuss a project for an hour when it could just as easily be done in minutes over <a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a> or a quick chat at the coffee machine? Why pull everyone away from their work when a message on Skype for Business or WhatsApp is more effective?
Here are a few ways you can improve collaboration and productivity, while making the most of your meetings:
<ul>
<li>Embrace technology. Standardise on a set of collaborative digital tools that make it easy to coordinate tasks and projects. With Slack, for example, you can quickly set up ‘channels’ by project, client or team, so that you can chat and share files in real-time.</li>
<li>Set an agenda. Outline what needs to be achieved or agreed upon by the end of the meeting and send it to all participants beforehand. This gives them time to prepare, resulting in shorter, more effective meetings. The agenda keeps everyone on track and helps the organiser to prepare adequately. Also, never call last-minute meetings. These are almost always a waste of time because attendees don’t have time to prepare and may feel disrupted.</li>
<li>Schedule shorter meetings. Having an agenda keeps everyone focused and lets you achieve more in less time. Communications expert <a href="http://www.andybounds.com/84/section.aspx/82/never_have_onehour_meetings">Andy Bounds</a> suggests limiting meetings to a maximum of 45 minutes. Shaving off 15 minutes from one meeting a day buys back an entire working week at the end of a year.</li>
<li>If a meeting is not going to be a valuable use of your time, decline it. The meeting organiser should have a solid reason why you need to attend and should only include people who can make a meaningful contribution to the action points. Ask the organiser what they need from you and see if you can supply that information over email. If you can’t add value to the discussion, excuse yourself from the meeting.</li>
<li>Plan for internal meetings. Tell your team when you are available for internal meetings and ask them to respect your time. Similarly, if you’re the one organising the meeting, be considerate of your team and clients’ time – is it crucial that they attend?</li>
</ul>
Meetings aren’t all bad. They can be good for team morale, collaboration and brainstorming. Cutting down on the quantity and focusing on the quality of meetings can make an enormous difference to productivity and employee satisfaction.,.;
Make the few meetings you have more meaningful, and you and your team will find them more productive.

How to make meetings bearable for millennials

Linda Ronnie, University of Cape Town &#8211; In the next year or two, the workplace faces an unprecedented situation where for the first time, due to the fact that we’re all living longer, five generations may be working side by side: Veterans (pre-World War II); the Baby Boomers (World War II – 1960s); Generation X (mid-60s – late 1970s); Millennials (aka Generation Y) (1979 – 1991); and last, but not least, the largely unknown factor: Generation Z, born after 1992.
It’s estimated that there are more than 2 billion of Gen Z worldwide. In South Africa, a third of the population is under the age of 21.
It may be too soon to be definitive about the characteristics of this generation, but they are said to be realistic, cause and value driven, entrepreneurial, financially prudent, and have boundless curiosity.
This is the first generation born into a fully technological environment &#8211; a world of being connected, being digital, and having mobile phones or tablets as a matter of course . They’re therefore more advanced in searching for information and figuring things out on their own.
It’s said that Generation Z will have jobs that have not even been created yet. But that’s not the only thing we aren’t sure of. Although there’s some indication of who they are and the influences shaping them, their characters are still forming and their role in the workplace is yet to take shape.
And, let’s face it: organisations are still struggling to analyse the challenge that Millennials pose in the workplace. These include fitting in with organisational culture, their communication style preferences and negative stereotypes of each generation. All these need to be managed in the workplace.
What exactly are they going to do when Generation Z arrives?
Business as usual
Popular wisdom argues for a fairly predictable set of approaches – all of which are wise. And increasingly people are understanding that while there are important differences between generations, they can be complementary and there is a significant opportunity for both ends of the age spectrum to learn from each other.
Listed staffing agency Robert Half asked chief financial offices where the biggest differences (and therefore opportunities for learning) lay between generations in the workplace. Thirty percent said “communication skills”, 26% said “adapting to change”, 23% said “technical skills”, 14% said “cross-departmental collaboration”, and 7% noted “no differences”.
The gist of tried and tested approaches is to:
<ul>
<li>encourage collaboration between generations;</li>
<li>facilitate mentoring;</li>
<li>allow for a cross-pollination of knowledge, where older employees share their experience, and younger employees contribute technological know-how, newer techniques and innovation.</li>
</ul>
It has also been well argued that managers should take the lead in adapting their management style rather than expecting staff to change.
The crucial bridge for Generation Z
But just how different will Generation Z really be? The Millennials (aka Generation Y) has been described more than once as “Generation X on steroids”. All indications are that Generation Z will take this up a notch. Emma Davies, Human Resources Manager for South African construction company ALEC, says the organisation has already experienced this to some extent with work experience students:
They are a very politically aware generation, and they have been taught to question everything, but to do so respectfully. The toddler stage of asking ‘why?’ does not end!
Both inside and outside the workplace, listening skills, patience, tolerance and humility will become more and more crucial for older generations. And two-way mentorship will become even more important than it has been with Millennials.
Generation Y has already pointed to some important changes that need to happen. Because they want involvement and feedback and are generally outspoken they have played a role in creating a more inclusive workplace as teamwork has become central to their work life.
This will be a crucial tool in making the most of the skills of Generation Z. This, combined with their strong communication skills and self-awareness, will emphasise the importance of teamwork.
These integration skills may prove crucial in helping to manage Generation Zs. Millennials, in this sense, may function as a bridge. This isn’t to say it will all be plain sailing, even if older employees are patient and ready to learn from the youngsters.
Generation Y and Z’s desire for connectedness and relationships on the part can be used for more successful mentorships. A desire for learning could also help alleviate tension with Generation Xs, Baby Boomers and Veterans, who may otherwise experience them as disrespectful or arrogant.
Focus on the similarities
But stereotyping needs to be avoided. South African organisations are very familiar with the effects that negative racial stereotyping can have on teams and productivity. They need to guard against the same thing happening with different generations. By fixating on minor differences and taking them out of context, and by failing to appreciate similarities, organisations could be missing an opportunity.
More than that, the differences between generations might be smaller than we think. Research from the University of North Carolina showed that Millennials want the same things as Generation X and Baby Boomers: challenging, meaningful work; opportunities for learning, development and advancement; support to successfully integrate work and personal life; fair treatment and competitive compensation.
And all three generations agreed on the characteristics of an ideal leader – a person who leads by example, is accessible, acts as a coach and mentor, helps employees see how their roles contribute to the organisation, and challenges others and holds them accountable.
The chances are, Generation Z won’t be too far off this mark either.
Respect and common sense is key
Implicit in this list of characteristics of the ideal leader is respect – of self and others. In business, as in life, the fundamentals of mutual respect go a long way in building positive workplace cultures. Respect will be key in managing multiple generations too.
All that’s really needed is a commonsense approach that maintains a focus on individual needs, honours each person’s contribution, and strives to keep older workers engaged alongside newer hires so as to avoid losing institutional knowledge.
It may also help to remember that each generational shift evolves organically – and so, too, will the workplace, if we are open to allowing it to do so.
Linda Ronnie is a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and People Management at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business,

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Focus On: Protecting and promoting mental health at work

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Is the 8 hour workday outdated and ineffective?

How to make meetings bearable for millennials

Op-Ed: Here’s why you shouldn’t be worried about Generation Z joining the workforce

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