New Generation Entering Workforce Voting With Their Feet

AUCKLAND; Thursday November 2, 2023; A unique festival designed to address the ‘great resignation” and ‘quiet quitting’ movements kicks off next week.

“Prepare to have your mind blown,” says Stephanie Love, HR specialist, Kaitiaki of Love HR and creator of the HR Changemakers Festival 2023.

Love says organisational leaders are struggling to meet expectations of a new generation entering into the workforce for the first time, who have different expectations of mahi, with organisations not yet set up to cater for these different expectations and needs.

“With advancements like AI, technology is moving fast, as are the changing expectations of people in the workforce. Employers now, more than ever, need to focus on the employee experience, otherwise they will not be able to attract the people they need to meet business objectives, and will lose talented people to competitors,” she says.

One of the speakers, Martin King, Director of Pride Pledge, says approximately 30 percent of Gen Z identify as Rainbow, with a surprisingly high number of Gen X (43 percent) actively seeking out information about an organisation’s commitment to diversity and inclusion before applying to their current role, compared with nearly two thirds of millennials (64 percent) and almost three quarters (72 percent) of Gen Z’s.*

Love says attending the festival will arm participants with the latest progressive HR practices in diversity, equity, belonging, wellbeing, 4-day work-week, rainbow, gender, parental, and ethnic inclusion, mental health, mindfulness, flexible working, neurodiversity, and menopause, to really challenge the status quo about what it means to be an employer in 2023 and beyond.

The Festival is for anyone that is responsible for employing people or working in areas that support the employment of people, including HR administrators, coordinators, generalists, specialists, executives, business partners, HR support partners, CEOs, GMs, Operations Managers and small business owners.

Keynote Speaker Charlotte Lockhart of 4 Day Week Global will speak at the HR Changemakers Festival 2023, alongside 14 expert speakers from progressive HR organisations.

Recent research* from employees trialling a 4-day week, shows a 44.3 percent decline in sick or personal days taken, with 96 percent of employees wanting to continue their 4-day week and 27 percent of men in heterosexual relationships increasing their share of housework!

“I’ve gathered the very best speakers in one place for employers to quickly access the latest information, to create thriving workplaces, and offer a solution to current attraction and retention challenges,” says Love.

“Each speaker was personally hand-picked with against the criteria of inspiration, disruptiveness, relatability, innovation, story-telling ability, progressiveness and humour – this is the ultimate line up,” says Love.

The Festival is designed to support organisations to be aware of and learn about progressive HR practices to take back and implement in their own organisations.

Love says the percentage of employees with neurodiversity in New Zealand is a critical yet often overlooked aspect of workplace diversity. Neurodiversity encompasses a range of neurological differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and more.

“Currently there is a significant gap in our understanding because there is limited data. Speaker Rich Rowley, from Brain Badge, will address this data gap and shed light on just how important it is for us as employer to understand the prevalence of neurodiversity in our workplaces,” says Love.

Love says it goes without saying, that if you look after your people, they will look after your business.

“By attending the festival, you will learn new ways to take care of your people’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, increasing attraction and retention and reducing burnout, absenteeism and attrition,” she says.

Click here to view the event and read the speaker’s bios: https://www.lovehr.co.nz/festival

The two-day HR Changemakers Festival is at a Wild & Co event space, 28 Ethel Street, Morningside, Auckland, on Thursday 9th November and Friday 10th November.

*Australia and New Zealand - https://www.4dayweek.com/anz-2023-pilot-results

**The Deloitte Global 2023 LGBT+ Inclusion @ Work Survey reveals a third of respondents are looking to change jobs as they want a more LGBT+ inclusive employer

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