Gen Zers not only know what they want; they are more likely to seek out opportunities to get it. 

Innovative companies are recognising this impact and developing tactics to address Gen Zs, which is why as a business owner, it is time to shift your mindset to embrace this new generation of workers. 

According to a 2022 study conducted by Deloitte, “By 2025, Gen Z will make up 27 per cent of the workforce in OECD countries and one-third of the Earth’s population.” If this statistic doesn’t inform you how important it is to understand and cater to this new generation, I don’t know what will. 

Well-being is of utmost priority for Gen Zs. They want plenty of opportunities to develop, and that is how they choose their workplace. According to Forbes, 

• 32 per cent of Gen Z’s choose their workplace based on a good work/life balance 
• 29 per cent based on learning and development opportunities
• Lastly, 24 per cent based on a good salary 

Most Gen Z’s are not looking at jobs that can offer them the best salary. That is not top of their mind. Instead, well-being is.

They are individuals that are highly aware of social and environmental issues and do not shy away from taking action to live the life that they desire. They are individuals that are aspirational but are not willing to give up their work-life balance to enter the rat race. 

Is your workplace ready for this group of young professionals? If not, here are 10 ways to build initiatives at your workplace to support the future of work.

Also Read: NaaS is here to create resilient networks, are you game?

10 ways to start supporting Gen Zs at work and set up young talent for success

• Foster a positive environment so that they have a purpose-driven employee experience.
• Provide them with a safe space to learn. Always work towards formulating a good work/life balance, allowing them to learn and develop. This can be done through online learning, in-house training, or mentorship.
• Facilitate better communication with them. This is crucial, especially if your team is working remotely. The usage of project management tools like Monday.com, Trello, Asana and screen recording apps like Loom helps to build effective communication across teams too.  
• Give them the flexibility to work remotely because benefits like that will enable them to become more productive and out-put driven.
• Set up incentives. Schedule (and pay for!) team lunches or coffee breaks periodically to show them your appreciation. 
• Create challenges and embrace gamification, which can also be done remotely through features on communication channels like Slack and Gather.
• Organise monthly team bonding events – social events and outings, to adapt to a new remote work lifestyle. Even if you are physically apart, you can also organise virtual team-building initiatives. Some examples include Virtual Escape Rooms and Virtual Amazing Race. 
• Foster job satisfaction, look into their personal development and offer training. Companies like General Assembly offers corporate training packages to serve this purpose. 
• Be open and strategic toward sharing future company plans. Gen Zs want to know how a company is performing regularly, and they want to play a part in how they can contribute to the company’s north star metric, so it is important to keep them in the loop at all times.
• Ask them for insights and feedback on how to improve your business processes. You can do so using tools like Free Suggestion Box, Incognea, Peachymondays and Tinypulse.  When you are entrenched in projects, your team will often develop insights you may not see as a business owner.

Start building or refining these initiatives because being able to constantly innovate and adapt will give your company a tremendous competitive advantage down the road!

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The race towards winning the customer experience has considerably accelerated with rising competition among players around the globe and growing customer expectations. Nowadays, customers have become much more impatient than ever before as they have many other brand choices lined up, craving for their attention and eagerly promoting themselves as the best brand in town. As a result, even if a company goes to great lengths to perfect its customer journey, one bad encounter can ruin its reputation and prompt customers to try something new.

According to a survey, 86% of customers expressed their willingness to pay a premium price for a high-quality customer experience, and over 70% of them selected customer experience as a deciding factor when choosing brands. Moreover, modern customers comprised mainly of Millennials and Generation Z, also have very different expectations and consumption behaviours. Therefore, it is critical to revisit the drive of customer experience and factors affecting their engagement and loyalty. 

The evolution of the customer experience landscape

Without a doubt, digital technologies have become entrenched in customer experience, assisting their engagement with a business from the first phase of information search to the final phase of purchasing and consumption. Furthermore, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation process has picked up at an unprecedented speed, evolving constantly with the introduction and refinement of more advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning. Additionally, customers have demanded a more personalised experience, yearning for a service that best suits their needs and makes them feel special.

Also read: We need to accelerate progress at the frontier of innovation

Nonetheless, despite the quick development of digital infrastructure that considerably facilitates access to digital applications, digital transformation is by no means inexpensive. In fact, the total global spending on the digitalisation process has been estimated to reach $1.78 trillion in 2021, and it will be almost $7 trillion over the period of 2020 – 2023. Additionally, with high demands for customisation for increasingly personalised services and continuous changes in the external environment, it is no longer optimal for businesses to opt for a one-size-fits-all digital solution. Therefore, many small and medium enterprises have difficulties when embarking on their digital transformation journey.

How Sendbird empowers businesses to build unique and branded customer experience

When Sendbird first started, it also encountered the same mentioned issues as it shopped for an effective customer engagement solution. “When we first began, we just built a solution that we wanted to use for our own mobile consumer application. We couldn’t find one that was modern, easy to use, and mobile-focused in the market back then, so we had to invent one for ourselves. Our goal was to enable user-to-user conversations within social apps and games. As we onboarded more customers, we started to see that simply enabling a chat experience was not the ultimate goal for customers. They wanted to create communities, facilitate transactions, connect doctors to patients, complete food deliveries, send money, and help people date and start families. We are now seeing businesses go beyond user-to-user conversations, into marketing and support conversations as well. Hence, customers pulled us into the customer engagement space over time,” shared Sendbird regarding how the company found its mission.

To address the challenges, Sendbird introduced the two ground-breaking selling points for its application. First, by offering customers APIs and software-as-a-service, Sendbird enables customers to minimise the complexity of building and maintaining the software services on their own and connect them with needed services and information.

Additionally, APIs free businesses from having to use a pre-packaged product like a SaaS tool that lock them into their in-the-box user interface and user experience. On the other hand, companies can use APIs to tailor the software services to create their desired customer experience, but they don’t have to start from scratch which significantly reduces the costs of their digitalisation process. Through this, Sendbird brings back the power of human conversations which lie at the heart of building every meaningful human relationship and getting things done.

Also read: Gen Z is redefining global consumption. Can companies keep up?

“Whether ordering food at your favourite restaurant, buying a product at a marketplace from a seller, getting help from your doctor, or meeting the love of your life, we all rely on conversations. But in mobile experiences, some of these relationships are lost, and what’s worse, in the areas of marketing and support, the existing experiences today are transactional or unidirectional, so there’s no real relationship between brands and customers,” emphasised Sendbird. “We can evolve this into a bidirectional experience in marketing, as well as improving a ticket-based, transactional support experience into asynchronous and persistent conversations with the brand, giving customers and brands the chance to form lasting and loyal relationships,” they added.

Sendbird was determined to power businesses with the ability to send marketing messages as well as connect customers with support agents, delivering differentiated customer experiences. The company recognised that while messaging apps provided businesses with a floor to connect with a ready base of customers, they have a ceiling on the quality of experiences businesses could deliver to customers. For example, the latest case of spamming on WhatsApp in India where customers have become frustrated with being spammed with marketing promotions in what once used to be a private channel for connecting with friends and family. Consequently, Sendbird anticipated that more and more messaging would start to move inside the businesses’ own mobile app, allowing businesses to also reimagine workflows with messaging and reinvent the entire customer journey.

Sendbird’s continuous journey to lead market innovations

To become the pioneering market leader it is today, Sendbird has constantly evolved to adapt to the market, the customers, and its employees. For instance, Sendbird always tries to keep a beat in the market about the shift to app-based messaging as a way for businesses to communicate and engage with customers through thought leadership content, presence in industry forums, partnerships with other customer engagement companies, and various channels to create awareness. The company also provides programmes for both companies that are just starting out on their just customer engagement journey as well as those that are shifting their customer engagement strategy to using messaging inside their mobile apps. 

“When we first started, it was merely a dream to be able to partner even with just a few. Today, we are helping more than a quarter of a billion people every month to have conversations, and we have a real chance of powering over a billion people every day. This may seem obvious today, but it certainly was a surprise when we went from just a million users a month to 10M, then now well over 250M monthly users. We were able to partner with some of the largest brands in the world”, expressed Sendbird about the company’s proudest achievements.

Also read: Going the extra mile in digital innovation for Singapore’s commuter experience

With the core value of “Endless tenacity for customers”, Sendbird engaged with customers as though they are an extension of their team — helping them imagine and build customer experiences that serve their unique business needs. Sendbird holds at its heart the belief that with heightened globalisation, innovation is flowing across the boundaries of nations, and what used to be just a Silicon Valley thing is now a phenomenon happening across the globe. 

Sendbird expects an exciting future in which more ideas come from different parts of the world and get cross-pollinated. There will be an evolution of mobile marketing and support in the coming years. The user experience will become much more modern, mobile-native, and interactive with the rise of a secular trend of a new generation of customer engagement. Sendbird will continue doing what it has been doing best, powering more brands to build conversations with their customers across marketing and support, and introducing a novel and powerful set of tools and experiences for businesses and their customers.

About Sendbird

Sendbird believes conversations are at the heart of building relationships and getting things done. As such, it built the world’s most proven conversations platform for mobile apps across chat, voice, and video. Industry leaders like Reddit, DoorDash, and Hinge use Sendbird to drive increased transactions and loyalty for hundreds of millions of users every month.

Sendbird has over 250M MAUs from over 50 countries operating in industries ranging from marketplaces, ride-sharing, online communities, gaming, live video streaming, and healthcare. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA with additional offices in New York, London, Seoul, Singapore, and Bengaluru. Sendbird has raised over $220M from leading investors, including ICONIQ Capital, STEADFAST Capital Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Shasta Ventures, Softbank Vision Fund 2, and Y Combinator.

For more information, visit Sendbird’s official website here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Sendbird.

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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FishLog, an ecosystem enabler for the fisheries cold chain industry in Indonesia, has closed its US$3.5 million pre-Series A round from BRI Ventures, Accel, Insignia Ventures Partners, Patamar Capital, Indogen Capital, and Triputra Agri Group.

FishLog was established in 2020 by Bayu Anggara, Reza Fahlepi, and Abdul Halim to solve the fragmentation in cold chain fisheries in Indonesia.

Also Read: The future of farming in the Asia Pacific is here to empower farmers

The agritech startup improves cold storage, processor, and distribution in Indonesia’s fisheries to enable the industry to meet global supply and demand better. It activates fisheries coastal areas by establishing FishLog Quality Centers, an O2O hybrid platform that works with local cold storage partners. These centres provide local stakeholders, including fishermen, aggregators and traders, greater access to buyers by listing their inventory in the FishLog marketplace and digitising their operation.

FishLog also enables fisheries businesses to maximise upstream-to-downstream operations through its four products: inventory handling, financing, B2B marketplace, and cold storage digitisation.

The fresh funding will allow FishLog to improve this ecosystem of services further by providing existing players greater access to tools, operating models, and liquidity, and enhancing the industry’s ability to process products and SKUs.

Bayu Anggara, CEO and Co-Founders of FishLog, said, “While there is massive global business potential for the Indonesian fisheries sector, it has long been plagued by inefficiencies and fragmentation. Our mission at FishLog is to unlock the selling potential and maximise the storage utility of Indonesia’s fragmented fishing industry, building the best and most affordable way to ensure product and labour sustainability in the industry.”

Also Read: eFishery secures US$32M loan from DBS Indonesia to support expansion move

“Through this funding, we will continue to build the cold chain ecosystem enabler and operating system for the fisheries in Indonesia. Our vision is for all stakeholders in the sector to be able to participate productively in this industry, transacting safely, trusted by and seamlessly integrated,” he added.

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At e27, we have kickstarted a new articles series called work-life balance to learn more about tech enablers and executives and their lives beyond working hours.

Gunalan Ram is a marketing strategy leader with over 20 years of experience across project management, consulting, account strategy, and customer success encompassing multiple sectors and functions. 

He currently leads the influencer marketing and marketing strategy practice at CINNOX, a total experience platform that empowers team members and delivers an omnichannel experience to customers.

He is a regular contributor of articles for e27 (you can read his thought leadership articles here). 

In this candid interview, Ram talks about her personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

When five-year-olds visit Toys R Us, they are greeted by a breathtaking view of toys, games and educational products. Like how the kids enjoy personalised experiences through open play areas, interactive displays and spaces for special events and birthday parties, giving the kid a sense of joy and engagement.

This is what I do. I’m part of the marketing team, driving the marketing strategy of CINNOX. I help businesses build better relationships with their customers through personalised interactions.

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

I must admit there were many challenges in my career. But through challenges, there lie opportunities as well. For every job I have taken up, I learned the art of executing tasks through teamwork and guided decision-making.

I consider all work success as my highlights. I prefer not to single out any one of them. As long as I’ve displayed a strong commitment to the task and provided value to the other party, I consider that an achievement. 

Highlights could also be seen in forming good relationships with your team members and stakeholders.

Also Read: Dream loud, dream big and dream now: Surbhi Agarwal of Yellow.ai

For now, I’m learning and soaking in my role as a Strategic Marketeer at CINNOX. The biggest challenge in this job is not the product but the chaotic marketplace itself. Information overload leaves people confused and unable to reach any decision. How do I overcome or differentiate my point of view in such a cluttered scenario?

How do you envision the next five years of your career?

I don’t have a mystic crystal ball, so I can’t predict the future. We are living in a world that moves and changes so rapidly. What excites me is I am constantly challenged with new things to learn in my current position.

We can no longer adopt a cookie-cutter approach. Marketing has evolved so much over the years, from traditional to digital. Digital marketing is an entirely different beast from traditional one. As I’m already in my mid-40s, I hope to press on learning and strategising the best way to reach the audience.

That said, I’m very fortunate to discover CINNOX. The solution is not just a unified platform that helps employees and customers but an ecosystem for a user journey, be it a startup to an enterprise.

The platform’s capabilities constantly keep me wanting to have a deep understanding of the business. I always believe that the more you understand how a company and product are positioned, the more valuable asset you will be. This is not just for a marketer but for anyone.

So at least for the next few years, I hope to build trust and reputation for the brand.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

My first job after my National Service lasted 15 years. I lived in a bubble, never getting out to venture into other domains.

In the company name CINNOX, if you take the first and last letters, CX = Customer Experience. The middle four letters, INNO = Innovation.

Though we are a startup launched in 2020, our parent company M800 was founded by a group of telecommunication pioneers in 2007 with a vision to revolutionise global communications.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

I love working on Google Workspace, though I don’t use them in my current work. We use M365 a lot to get our work done.

In my previous job, I used Jira for product development. I dabbled with project management tools like Trello and Miro occasionally, and I enjoyed the latter because of its visual strategy mapping.

For team collaboration and communication, it’s none other than our brand, CINNOX. I can use it to chat and voice/video-call my team members. Share and screen share our projects.

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

I prefer a hybrid approach as it gives more freedom and autonomy. This enables me to fit my work and life together, reduces stress and helps prevent burnout.

Sometimes, it is healthy to see your colleagues at the workplace and talk about work and other matters outside of work. It helps to understand each other better, strengthens relationships, and improves communication. Going out for lunch or even a drink after work encourages team bonding.

Also Read: ‘Don’t chase titles; chase curiosity and let it lead you’: Bernadette Cho of Entrepreneur First

That said, I’m a remote worker based in Singapore. CINNOX is headquartered in Hong Kong. As such, I work from anywhere (WFA) because our platform enables us to work entirely online.

The only advice I would probably give is to try to have more human interaction to foster mental well-being. This will strengthen the connections that make teams thrive.

What would you tell your younger self?

Always be open to learning. Every day is a learning journey. If there is an opportunity to travel, go for it. Learn new cultures and meet people. The most important thing is not to underestimate anyone.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Passionate, trustworthy and curious.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

Binge-watching on Netflix, Prime, and Disney with my teenage children, I go shopping with my wife (reluctantly, lol), work out at the gym, and spend time with friends.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?

I’m always on Spotify when I work—listening to jazz, classical, and instrumental beats. Something to keep me calm, focused, and think better.

I like reading novels, and they must have an interesting start, or I’ll get bored quite easily. Recently I’ve been reading some non-fiction/self-help books. I just finished with The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli. It’s a psychology-based book for anyone who wants to make better decisions in life.

I love watching movies, any kind, as long as the story is good. Sci-fi, suspense, thriller, hero saves the world, comedy, documentary, reality, etc. Recently, I finished watching Stranger Things with my kids and was blown away by the creativity of the storyline. Currently, I’m watching Somebody Feed Phil, Season 6, a popular food and travel series by Phil Rosenthal.

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Be a part of the e27 contributor community of thought leaders and share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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Partior, a blockchain-powered cross-border payment and value exchange, has closed its Series A financing round led by Standard Chartered.

Existing shareholders DBS, JP Morgan, and Temasek have also participated.

The transaction, whose details haven’t been disclosed, is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The investment will help strengthen Partior’s vision and drive for the broad adoption of atomic settlement and clearing. The company recently announced its 2023 product expansion and launched its Hyderabad Research and Development Centre after atomising cross-border value movements last October.

Partior CEO Jason Thompson said: “Our vision has always been to transform global payments and become the worldwide ledger for financial institutions’ value exchange. Standard Chartered is one of the most established international banks in the industry and is a strategic partner to diversify our network and scale the delivery of our technology globally.”

Also Read: ‘Trade & supply chain sector is set to witness unprecedented blockchain adoption’: #dltledgers

Partior was founded last year by JP Morgan, DBS and Temasek as an independent company.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore-backed company aims to make digital clearing and settlement more efficient, reliable and secure for financial institutions worldwide. It harnesses the key features of blockchain and smart contracts (programmability, immutability and traceability) to address the industry’s longstanding pain points.

With Standard Chartered joining the Partior network, it will serve as one of the integrated Euro settlement banks. This creates synergy and strengthens Partior’s plan to scale its offering globally. Partior is on track to deliver its currency offerings of USD, SGD, GBP, EUR, AUD, JPY, CNH and HKD.

On the other hand, the investment will deepen Standard Chartered’s blockchain innovation capabilities to build a more transparent, efficient and secure infrastructure for global value movement. It will also further accelerate its deployment of blockchain technology across its global wholesale payments and settlements financial network and scale the delivery of Partior’s technology to global capital markets.

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