Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - March/April 2024 - 21

REFERENCES
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Create an inclusive and diverse
work environment.
Numerous surveys and articles note
the importance of diversity and
equality among Gen Z employees
(National Restaurant Association
Educational Foundation, 2018; Rue,
2018). It is important that your
organization upholds these standards
if you hope to attract and retain Gen Z
staff.
Offer continuing education
opportunities for career
growth.
Among recent college graduates,
54 percent would turn down a job
without the potential for growth
and advancement (2023 State of the
Graduate Report, 2023). This can be a
challenge in food service, where there
may be limited growth opportunities
within one setting.
However, you can still offer continuing
education opportunities for your
employees that allow them to grow in
transferable knowledge and skills -for
example, leadership training. You can
play up the fact that many skills in
foodservice, like customer service or
conflict resolution, translate to other
industries.
Also, consider covering training
programs to become a CDM, CFPP.
There is a perception that foodservice
and hospitality jobs are more of a
" temporary occupation as compared
to a well-defined career pathway "
(Goh & Okumus, 2020). Providing an
opportunity to earn a credential breaks
that notion and advances career
outlook.
HOW CAN YOU BETTER
MANAGE GEN Z EMPLOYEES?
After hiring, here are a few strategies
to set up your Gen Z employees for
success:
Set clear expectations.
Fewer Gen Z employees are starting
adulthood with previous work
experience compared to past
generations (Parker & Igielnik, 2020),
so their role at your organization may
be their first forte in a professional
setting.
Lexie Mahoney, a Gen Z foodservice
employee, notes " I worked in the
common sense to you, it still needs
to be verbalized during training and
provided in written guidelines.
Embrace their technology skills.
As digital natives, Gen Z knows
technology. Managing a school
nutrition program? Why not have your
Gen Z employee help with developing
social media content. Working in longterm
care? Maybe your Gen Z employee
can be involved in implementing or
testing new tools, like service robots or
remote temperature sensors.
Be an authentic, open-minded
leader.
Gen Z is thought to value honesty and
open dialogue with their managers.
They want their ideas to be heard and
valued (Benítez-Márquez et al., 2022).
Numerous surveys
and articles note the
IMPORTANCE OF
DIVERSITY AND
EQUALITY AMONG
GEN Z EMPLOYEES.
dietary department in a nursing
home and found many people my age
don't know professional etiquette. For
example, they may call out instead
of finding shift replacements or
wear AirPods during their shift " (L.
Mahoney, personal communication,
January 19, 2024).
Be clear about workplace etiquette
and behavior. Even if it seems like
Tollefson mentions, " Most of Gen Z
has wonderful problem-solving skills
for difficult tasks...They may find a
better way to perform a task and teach
it to their peers. Older generations
will sometimes give push back on
new ideas from younger generations,
hindering their work ethic " (M.
Tollefson, personal communication,
January 22, 2024).
Are you giving your employees a
chance to provide feedback? Are
you showing true interest in their
ideas or solutions? Are you acting on
their feedback when feasible? Not
every solution will be one that can be
implemented, but a key sentiment is to
be authentically open to new ideas.
Teach them culinary skills.
Even among nutrition students and
Gen Z RDs, research from Ketchum
shows that many don't feel equipped
to cook in the kitchen. This generation
may not be as comfortable with
NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | MARCH-APRIL 2024 21
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