The CEO of Best Company to Work For says Generation Z isn’t really different from other generations

“I am an authentic guy; I am who I am,” said Nassetta, President, CEO and Chairman of Hilton Hotels & Resorts Fortunes Nick Lichtenberg in an interview earlier this month. “I’m not perfect. My intentions are always good – mostly pure – and I want the best for our people because that’s the best for the company. And I’ll get anyone out of the way that’s necessary to make sure that happens.”

Nassetta, who has worked at Hilton for 20 years now, also says he believes in servant leadership — and that Hilton’s front-line employees do “the real work.” These are the constructing blocks of the corporate culture that Nassetta is keen to foster.

This isn’t any coincidence. Even greater than their forebears, Generation Z members place great value on authenticity, social justice and equality within the workplace. To keep them on board, it’s increasingly crucial to do justice to all three elements equally.

As Nassetta puts it, these goals were his sole purpose in life for years. “My whole purpose in business is to be successful by doing good – period. End of story,” Nassetta said. “I am [promoting] ESG for decades because it’s good for business.” Although he has worked in leadership positions for greater than 30 years, Nassetta says he doesn’t think he has a “big ego.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a big ego, but we all have egos, and especially as an early-stage CEO, you suffer a little bit from poser syndrome because you haven’t figured it out yet,” he said. “You haven’t developed rhythms yet, and when you’re public, you haven’t built relationships with shareholders who are giving you all this support, and you’re worried about your board and all these different stakeholders. All of that brings a kind of embedded uncertainty, but as you develop your rhythms, you figure these things out.”

And then there’s the generation gap. Nassetta, 60, says that in his day, people didn’t bring much mental health or personal issues to work – especially to not their boss. But there are still elements of youth culture that he can approve of: flexible working hours, opportunities for advancement and mentoring, for instance. “The most important thing is that I stay focused on my goal.”

Although he disagrees with the “oversharing” that may be a hallmark of Generation Z, staff of all ages generally want the identical things. “Everyone wants to get ahead; everyone wants to be financially, physically and mentally healthy; everyone wants someone to look after them,” he said. “Maybe Generation Z wants more formality. But the one reason I’m where I’m is [is] I had the perfect mentors on the earth – and I’m a part of the infant boomer generation.”

Nassetta believes that too many leaders spend their time highlighting the differences between their very own priorities and people of their youngest employees. “I try to think about it – because I have to run a company with 500,000 employees, more and more of whom are Gen Z – what the commonalities are. I personally believe that the basic things that young people want are more similar than they are not.”

However, there may be a newfangled concept that Nassetta doesn’t quite support: “You have to bring your whole self” to work.

“We want everyone to be their whole self, because a diverse environment is the key to success,” he said. “I attempt to encourage people; we wish to understand how they think. I’m not at all times

I agree with that, and I could let you know I do not agree with that, but I need you to bring your whole mind. I need you to bring your whole self because your whole self is why I need you here, and hopefully it should help us serve customers higher. If I bring you here and say, ‘Fit our mold,’ and you’ll be able to’t bring your whole self, then by definition I’ve lost the worth of that diversity.”

Workers need to understand that “you don’t agree with everything we do, but when you put it all together, you agree with the result,” Nassetta continued. “In today’s world, our entire political system is basically built on dividing us, identity politics and the like.”

Hilton has no problems on this regard, says Nassetta. He attributes this to the trust his employees have that the leadership team is pursuing a unified and honorable goal.[Workers] have a voice and what they think matters,” he said. “That doesn’t suggest we are able to please everyone on a regular basis; attempting to accomplish that can be chaotic.”