Gen Z Challenges and Opportunities During a CCCA Excellence in Training Webinar in Jan- uary 2024, Tanita Maddox, D.Min., associate regional director for Young Life, shared that Gen Z can present unique hiring challenges in Christian camping. When asked what CCCA members are seeing when it comes to Gen Z, attendees responded with answers like:
• Tey seem afraid to commit to something because something “better” may come along later.
• Tey demand boundaries, even unrealistic ones. • [Tey] have fewer soſt skills.
• Tey don’t seem to be able to handle the amount of work [or] responsibility that we have trusted [same-aged] staff with in the past.
• Gen Z is not readily accepting of leadership.
Maddox explained that those trends and experiences are not unique to Christian camping; it’s happening everywhere. She shared several things about Gen Z that help give context to the perceptions many CCCA members shared. For example, Gen Z has a high amount of pressure
compared to what most of us experienced at their age. With social media and online media consumption available constantly, people growing up as Gen Z have far more people to compare themselves to. Tey’re constantly exposed to a message that they are not enough. Terefore, the millions of voices outside of a person’s immediate circle have more influence over a person’s values, worldview and identity. According to psychologists, the number one ques-
tion Gen Z is asking is, “Am I safe?” But this question is not just about physical safety. Tey’re wondering if they are safe emotionally, intellectually and psycholog- ically and if they will have safety from risk, harm, embarrassment, discomfort, opposition or failure. People in Gen Z have grown up doing school lock-
down and active shooter drills. Depending on their age during the pandemic, many in Gen Z suffered social, emotional, intellectual and psychological development delays. Friendships and relationships can end on social media (rather than in real life) through unfollowing or blocking, meaning there are no conversations about resolving relational issues, instead, they are just cut off. Embarrassing stories or experiences caught on photo or video are shared instantly and broadly, with or without someone’s knowledge, which leads them to believe that failure or mistakes carry a higher risk of exposure.
Offer More Than a Job Gen Z doesn’t see themselves as an employee or a cog in the process. They see themselves as something to be invested in, which means you need to show what you will pour into them. Maddox shared several things that you can offer that will show a potential Gen Z staff member how valued they would be in your organization.
Mentoring Gen Z is looking for mentoring, not just job-related, but holistically. Maddox suggests that they need help to cope and process through their emotions, mental health and day-to-day situations and need to know that you care about them.
Dialogue Maddox explained that Gen Z employees want a two- way feedback loop where they understand that there is a schedule for this to happen and that they’ll have a chance to give you feedback, not just receive it from you. Tey want to work with us, not for us, and the chance to give feedback is important to them. In general, Gen Z is worried that relational breakdown will happen in conflict, so having a regular cycle of two-way dialogue helps ease that fear.
Skills According to Maddox, you need to make connections between hard-skill tasks and the soſt-skill development they’ll gain from a job with your camp. Tey may be wondering, “How does working at this camp help me get to where I want to go?” In addition to explaining this to potential staff, there’s value in showing existing staff how new skills will be built on what they gained this year if they return next summer.
Te importance of a strong staff cannot be overstated. “Mediocre facilities or average recreational options can easily be overcome with a top-notch staff,” said Anderson. “Likewise, state-of-the-art facilities and world-class recreation can be torpedoed by a poor staff. Tis area is worth the time and effort required to hire and train the best staff possible.” Casting the net is a necessary part of the staffing
process, but camps can take heart in the fact that they aren’t alone in the process. “When God brings about a ministry … it is His responsibility to provide all that it needed, including the staff to carry out our mission,” McLain notes. “If we are not looking to and petition- ing the Lord for His provision, wisdom and blessing, then the task will be futile.”
Carrie L. Chandler is a freelance writer and also serves as program director at Camp New Dawn (Chickamauga, Georgia) each summer. Along with her writing and camp work, she home-schools her three children and helps her husband farm on the fourth-generation family farm where they live.
September/October 2024
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