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The growing number of Generation Z (Gen Z) employees significantly shapes the modern workplace.
They bring a unique set of professional values and expectations that bring about technological and cultural shifts in organizations. Thus, many companies turn to business process outsourcing (BPO) to ease this transition.
Continue reading to learn how partnering with a BPO provider in Dallas, TX, can help you meet Gen Z expectations. This article discusses how Dallas businesses can decode this new workforce’s values and expectations and how outsourcing can help you align with them.
The Rise of Gen Z Employees and Their Impact on the Workplace
To better understand how your Dallas business can meet Gen Z workforce expectations through outsourcing, you must learn about the group first.
Generation Z comprises people born between 1997 and 2012 and is starting to significantly impact the Dallas workforce. According to The Dallas Morning News, over a fourth of employees will be Gen Z by 2025.
Growing up in a world where the internet, smartphones, and social media are everywhere, Gen Z is the first digital native generation. The constant exposure to technology, world events, and instant communication shapes their worldviews, principles, and expectations in the workplace.
They are value-driven and vocal, and they rarely consider long-term tenure with their employers. Here are a few of their expectations and values:
- Pay transparency. According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index, 81% of Gen Z respondents believe salary transparency promotes pay equality. Knowledge of wage ranges helps them ensure fair compensation, understand the company’s culture and values, and assess their stability and growth potential within the organization.
- Flexibility. Gen Z prioritizes work-life balance and values flexible work arrangements, such as remote work and nontraditional, lenient working hours. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 77% of Gen Z prefer a work-from-home (WFH) or hybrid setup. These arrangements help reduce stress and improve mental health.
- Inclusivity. For Gen Z, inclusivity in the workplace is not a preference but a requirement. Their generation is the most ethnically and racially diverse. They want to work in a place that mirrors this, where they can be authentic. Organizations that promote and record staff diversity, such as Dallas City Hall, are more attractive to Gen Z job seekers.
- Independence. Micromanagement is a deal-breaker for Gen Z employees. They value autonomy and can be more productive when working without supervision. The shift in work settings during the pandemic may have influenced this desire for independence. Their experience led them to prioritize a workplace that gives them a sense of control.
- Social responsibility: Businesses that embrace sustainability and strive to positively impact society and the environment are more popular among Gen Z. They prefer working for an employer that resonates with their values and beliefs. In the same Deloitte survey, 42% of polled Gen Zers are willing to change jobs due to climate concerns.
Meeting these expectations and integrating these values into your business model can be an excellent strategy for scaling your Dallas company. It increases innovation and creativity, enhances customer service, boosts collaboration, promotes diversity, and improves work-life balance.
To implement changes cost-efficiently, adopting BPO strategies has become popular among businesses. But what is BPO? Continue reading to find out.
Meeting the Dallas Gen Z Workforce’s Expectations Through Outsourcing
Outsourcing can help your business meet Gen Z workplace preferences in several ways. It allows you to focus on core competencies and access global expertise, advanced technology, and scalable services.
Before detailing how each benefit meets Gen Z’s expectations, let us first discuss outsourcing. It is a business practice where companies partner with a third-party provider to delegate non-core tasks. Customer service, information technology (IT), human resources (HR), accounting, and finance are the most popular outsourced functions.
The primary benefits of BPO include reduced costs, improved efficiency, increased productivity, and better business scaling. Thus, it has become attractive to businesses worldwide. According to Grandview Research, the global BPO market was valued at $280.64 billion in 2023 and will expand at a 9.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by 2030.
BPO trends and predictions, plus its myriad benefits, provide work arrangements and conditions that best fit Gen Z’s style. Below are a few ways outsourcing makes your business attractive to this generation.
Diversity and Inclusion Through a Global Talent Pool
Outsourcing lets you employ virtual assistants worldwide for front-office and back-office offshoring services. Business.com cites the Philippines, Mexico, India, and Brazil as popular outsourcing destinations.
By partnering with a BPO provider that operates in these countries or similar regions, you open your business to people of all backgrounds. Working with teams from different races, genders, religions, and ethnicities helps you build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Your Dallas business can become more culturally and socially aware, meeting Gen Z workforce expectations. Outsourcing also enables cross-cultural interactions that lead to a richer exchange of ideas and practices, breaking down silos that may exist within your organization.
Additionally, outsourcing HR functions can reduce bias in the hiring process. BPO providers can help you develop and implement fair and equitable recruitment, onboarding, and training processes.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Through Relevant Partnerships
In addition to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, here are a few ways outsourcing can make your Dallas business more socially responsible:
- Creating jobs in developing countries. BPO providers often employ staff from developing countries due to lower labor costs. Outsourcing offers them job opportunities and developments, boosting investments and economic growth in their country. For example, BPO accounts for 9% of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP).
- Supporting sustainable practices. Outsourcing even some of your business functions promotes sustainability. Hiring virtual assistants reduces the need for physical office space, equipment consumption, and waste production. You also have fewer travel requirements, reducing carbon emissions and other negative environmental impacts.
- Investing in CSR initiatives. Some BPO firms are committed to environmental and social responsibility. Such providers include those that operate in countries with extreme weather and societal conditions. Partnering with outsourcing companies allows you to invest in their greener practices and other CSR strategies.
- Focusing on internal CSR strategies. Partnering with a BPO provider gives you more time and energy for central business matters. Developing CSR initiatives requires extensive research and planning. Your Dallas business can focus more on this core competency and meet Gen Z workforce expectations through outsourcing.
Work-life Balance Through Scalable Expertise
As mentioned, BPO providers employ a global talent pool specializing in various non-core business functions. They train to better understand federal and state laws regulating Dallas companies in multiple industries. From payroll policies to data security acts, BPO teams can navigate through their complexities.
Additionally, your Dallas business can increase or reduce the workforce, depending on your needs and expectations, through outsourcing. Scalability benefits your growing business. It is also advantageous if you experience volume fluctuations due to economic or seasonal factors. For example, you need not ask your internal team to work overtime during peak season.
Finding additional qualified support may be challenging due to the tight Dallas labor market or limited company budget. A third-party workforce helps reduce the need to work beyond business hours and gives your in-house staff more time for personal needs.
Unity Communications’s case study on Wireless Watchdogs highlights how outsourcing helped its thinly stretched internal team. Before partnering with the BPO provider, its fast growth and scaling referral business pushed its technical support team to the limit. Thus, Wireless Watchdogs outsourced its IT helpdesk, freeing up the time of its top-paid in-house staff.
Outsourcing improves work-life balance, which promotes better mental well-being by preventing burnout and stress among employees. Gen Z job seekers also prioritize these benefits when working with companies.
Flexibility and Autonomy Through Advanced Technology
BPO providers leverage state-of-the-art software to help streamline business operations. Such tools, especially cloud technologies, allow for a more convenient work arrangement.
These software programs provide a way to store and access data anywhere online. It operates on a network of remote servers in data centers worldwide, making information readily available. Below are some types of cloud technology services:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) allows access to computing resources, such as servers, storage, and networks. Popular IaaS providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (CGP).
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) gives you a program for developing, deploying, and managing applications. Some examples of PaaS providers include Azure App Service, Google App Engine, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) provides access to web-hosted software applications, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Salesforce. Other examples include Dropbox Sign, Zoom Workforce Management, and Slack.
Your Dallas business can meet Gen Z workforce expectations by utilizing technologies provided by outsourcing firms. Such software lets you and your in-house team work anywhere and anytime if you have an internet connection, whether at home or in a cafe. It promotes autonomy by allowing professionals to choose work arrangements that are better for their productivity.
Common Challenges in Adapting to Gen Z Workplace Preferences
Integrating Gen Z values helps your business keep up with the city’s dynamic and competitive corporate landscape and tight labor market. However, adopting their preferences in the workplace may be difficult.
Below are the typical challenges Dallas businesses face when adapting to this workforce and their expectations. We also share how outsourcing can help.
Different Communication Styles
Gen Z prefers digital channels such as social media, video calls, and instant chats over in-person meetings. They also tend to have a more concise and informal communication style, which may be challenging if your business requires formal correspondence with partners and clients.
Outsourcing helps your business become more accustomed to digital communication tools since it involves regular collaboration with virtual assistants. You can implement these strategies with your internal team as well. Additionally, you can delegate the task of sending formal emails or making traditional calls to BPO teams.
Shorter Attention and Focus
Growing up in the internet and social media age has led to Gen Z’s falling attention span. The lack of focus makes them more likely to get distracted during meetings, experience difficulty completing tasks, and commit errors. Your business might need to provide extra training and support to ensure your Gen Z employees do not fall behind.
Strategic outsourcing provides additional staff for your business. These virtual assistants can help break large tasks into smaller ones to prevent Gen Z employees from getting overwhelmed. It also allows for more flexible job arrangements, which helps them divide their time according to what works best for them.
Less Conventional Work Structures
Eight-hour workdays and on-site setups are rarely compatible with Gen Z employees’ needs and expectations. The lack of traditional work systems can lead to weaker structures, support, and guidance, which their generation might need when starting their careers.
Outsourcing support teams, such as HR and IT help desk, can solve this problem by embracing technology. Providing digital platforms for project management and knowledge sharing benefits tech-savvy Gen Z employees.
Higher Turnover Rates
Gen Z employees have a higher tendency to job-hop, and some are willing to quit roles even without a backup plan. They view work more as a transaction, and if they are unfulfilled, underpaid, or overworked, Gen Z will quickly find a new job.
Partnering with a BPO provider can help internal Gen Z employees focus on tasks that align with their values and goals. Access to expert support and advanced technologies also frees up their time, reducing burnout. Additionally, outsourcing offers significant cost savings, leaving your business with more resources for competitive in-house team compensation and benefits.
Choosing the Right BPO Partner
Businesses in Dallas can maintain the quality of their services while meeting Gen Z workforce expectations through outsourcing. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure you partner with a BPO provider that meets both objectives:
- Set goals and expectations. Identify what functions you can delegate to virtual assistants and what Gen Z values you wish to meet through outsourcing. Do you want to prioritize diversity, CSR, or work-life balance? Clearly defining your goals and expectations makes finding the right BPO partner easier.
- Research potential BPO partners. Read about the services and rates of your prospects to ensure outsourcing is a cost-efficient strategy for you. Browse their websites, marketing materials, and client reviews to understand what it is like to work with them. Keep an eye out for the technologies and CSR initiatives they have.
- Conduct qualification projects. Narrow down your list of potential BPO providers by asking for project proposals. This additional step gives you an idea of how well your candidates understand your needs and processes. You provide them with a problem and timeline, then ask for possible solutions, implementation strategies, and pricing.
- Specify service requirements. Draft service-level agreements (SLAs) and set key performance indicators (KPIs) to define your outsourcing and output expectations. Setting these requirements helps your Dallas business meet Gen Z workforce expectations and ensure quality performance and growth through outsourcing.
The Bottom Line
The rise of Gen Z employees in Dallas brings a new set of values businesses need to recognize and adapt to. Outsourcing can be a strategic solution to meet these expectations. It offers work-life balance, diversity and inclusivity, social responsibility, and flexibility.
Let’s connect if you want a BPO partner to streamline your business processes and adapt to Gen Z workforce expectations. Unity Communications has over 350 outsourcing agents and uses the latest cloud technologies to ensure flexible working arrangements.
