Rajorshi Ganguli on what Gen Z wants: A guide to navigating the next-gen workplace

The perennial question “What do women want?” has found a contemporary rival in corporate boardrooms: “What does Gen Z want?” This cohort, considered born between 1995 and 2010  in this book, has confounded managers with their seemingly contradictory demands for both independence and collaboration, financial prudence and purpose-driven work. Dr Rajorshi Ganguli, a veteran human-resources executive, and president & global head-HR, Alkem Laboratories, tackles this puzzle in Winning with Gen Z: The Engagement and Retention Blueprint@Work—a timely guide for employers grappling with their youngest workforce.

Ganguli’s central thesis is refreshingly straightforward: what older generations perceive as generational quirks are actually rational responses to the world Gen Z inherited. Unlike their predecessors, these digital natives entered a workplace already shaped by established norms and hierarchies. Their supposed iconoclasm, he argues, stems from a legitimate need to carve out space in an environment not designed for them.

The book’s strength lies in its methodical approach. Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence, Ganguli grounds his analysis in research, including a comprehensive study of Indian Gen Z workers conducted for his doctoral thesis. He dissects familiar labels—”hyper-connected”, “purpose-driven”, “socially conscious”—explaining not just what these terms mean but why they matter.

Take authenticity, a value often dismissed as millennial marketing speak. Ganguli demonstrates through workplace scenarios why Gen Z’s demand for genuine corporate behaviour reflects their formative experience with social media, where performative authenticity is easily exposed. Similarly, their insistence on diversity, equity and inclusion stems not from political correctness but from growing up in the most diverse generation in history.

The author’s practical recommendations are equally valuable. He advocates rethinking traditional recruitment and retention strategies, offering specific tactics for everything from onboarding programmes to reward systems. His advice on leveraging Gen Z’s technological fluency while addressing their need for human connection is particularly astute.

Yet the book occasionally suffers from its own earnestness. Ganguli’s tone can veer toward the consultancy-speak he seeks to transcend, and some insights feel overly optimistic about bridging generational divides. The Indian corporate context, while valuable, may limit the book’s applicability to global readers.

More fundamentally, Ganguli identifies a paradox at Gen Z’s core: the same qualities that make them impressive—their digital sophistication, social consciousness and high expectations—also contribute to their burnout. This observation deserves deeper exploration than the book provides.

Despite these limitations, Winning with Gen Z succeeds as both diagnosis and prescription. In an era when talent retention has become a C-suite obsession, Ganguli offers something increasingly rare: actionable intelligence about the workforce of the future. For managers still puzzled by employees who livestream their lunch breaks while demanding meaningful work, this book provides a useful roadmap.

The question of what Gen Z wants may never have a simple answer. But Ganguli’s contribution lies in making their motivations comprehensible—and their potential manageable. In a workplace where four generations now coexist, that understanding is no longer optional.