Latest / LIFE Podcast with Dr. C / How to Engage & Retain Gen Z Employees: Beating Burnout in the Workplace

Transcript

How to Engage & Retain Gen Z Employees: Beating Burnout in the Workplace · LIFE Podcast with Dr. C

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: C, host of the Life Podcast, and today we are talking about occupational wellness and how to engage and retain Gen Z employees.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start by sharing a figure from Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace Report that should keep every executive in this room awake at night.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: In the last five years, Gen Z has experienced the largest drop in workplace engagement of any generation.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Dead.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically, there has been a 13-point collapse in the number of Gen Z employees who believe someone at work cares about them as a person.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: In 2020, over half felt cared for.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Today that number has plummeted to just 41%.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: For those of us in the nonprofit world, we often assume our mission is enough to keep people engaged.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: We think, we're saving the world, of course they feel cared for.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: But the research tells a different story.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Gen Z is the most purpose-driven generation in history, yet they are also the most detached from their actual employers.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: To bridge this gap and turn a generation that is currently quiet quitting into the most powerful advocates your mission has ever seen, we cannot rely on the old ways of operating.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: We have to address this systemic burnout.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: That is exactly why I developed the LIFE Blueprint, a scalable framework designed to achieve organizational alignment and combat the root causes of burnout.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to look at the latest research from Gallup and Deloitte through the lens of our four core pillars learn, inspire, flourish, and evolve.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with learn.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: We first have to learn the new reality of the workplace.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: According to Deloitte's 2025 Global Gen Z survey, 89% of Gen Z consider a sense of purpose essential.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: But purpose alone does not create retention.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: They are seeking a trifecta: money, meaning, and well-being.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: In a nonprofit, you have the meaning part down.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But we must unlearn the legacy nonprofit culture built on the martyrdom model, low pay and high burnout accepted in exchange for a good cause.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Gen Z is flat out rejecting this.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Here is an actionable strategy to consider.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Audit your retention strategy.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you using your mission as a crutch to excuse poor workplace culture?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: You must formally recognize that organizational loyalty cannot be bought solely with a noble mission statement.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Second, it's important to stay inspired.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: To reverse that 13-point collapse in engagement, leaders must inspire their teams by demonstrating actual human-centric care.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: The days of performative pizza parties are over.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: If your team is emotionally exhausted, your organizational structure is failing them.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: An actionable strategy is to move from transactional communication to transformational connection.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Implement weekly one-on-one check-ins that have absolutely nothing to do with project deliverables.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ask what barriers are draining your energy this week and how can I remove them?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: When you inspire psychological safety, you rebuild trust.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Our third pillar is flourish.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Deloitte's research shows that meaning is no longer an acceptable trade-off for well-being.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot expect your team to do world-changing work if their emotional and physical dimensions of wellness are completely depleted.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have to protect their capacity to flourish.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Consider this actionable strategy.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you cannot raise salaries by 20% right now, you must implement structural value ads.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: You have to give them their time and mental bandwidth back.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Can you offer a four-day work week?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Can you provide fully subsidized mental health apps?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Find tangible ways to reduce their daily cognitive load.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, we must evolve our compensation models.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: We have to talk about the money part of the trifecta.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Deloitte found that Gen Zs who feel financially insecure are twice as likely to report poor mental health and low engagement, too.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: If your entry-level salaries haven't kept pace with inflation, your purpose becomes a luxury they can no longer afford.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: An actionable strategy is to conduct a transparent financial equity review.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: If immediate pay increases are impossible, evolve your transparency.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Show them the organizational roadmap for financial growth.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Aggressively pursue unrestricted funding specifically for staff salaries, and restructure your total rewards package to directly offset their living costs.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Retention isn't a mystery, it is a structural alignment issue today.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: If your organization is experiencing high turnover and you are ready to move past the martyrdom model, visit drwandacooper.com.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about bringing the life blueprint into your organization to create sustainable high performance.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep on learning, stay inspired, continue to flourish, and never stop evolving.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: C and this is the Life Podcast.