How to design an early careers experience aligned with employee values

Whenever a new generation enters the workplace, there is always a lot of buzz about adapting work and leadership styles to match their values. However, we know from research that generational differences in values don’t really hold water, and when we do observe differences, these are typically just age or life-stage-related, rather than being linked to specific generational group membership.

The focus instead should be on designing work that matches the values of young people, or those in the early stages of their professional development, rather than leaning into the media buzz every few years about what the latest generation needs. This will allow your organisation to attract and retain top young talent based on their evolving priorities in the hopes they will stay long term.

Core values of early-career individuals

To get a better sense of what matters most to early-career professionals, Talogy conducted research where we asked almost 500 individuals between ages 18 and 30 in the workforce to rate and rank their work-related values. Participants used our assessment tool Capture to record their responses, and from this data, we were able to identify key patterns in their priorities.

Core values of early career professionals

Highest ranked values:

• Fairness
• Progression
• Humanity
• Accountability
• Quality Focus & Authenticity (tied)

Lowest ranked values:

• Stability and Speed (tied)
• Leadership
• Conformity
• Vision
• Courage

5 ways to address early-career values

A closer review of these rankings revealed some interesting themes that diverge from some of their predecessors of past generations. These findings are worth organisations noting and embedding into their early talent strategy. To achieve that, here are a few ways to get started:

1. Treat fairness as paramount

Fairness at work is a massive topic that could take up an entire blog in and of itself. Often termed ‘organisational justice’ in scientific research, fairness in the workplace is linked to a range of positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction, commitment to the organisation, and task performance, and is considered a prerequisite for employees to have a positive relationship with their supervisor. As you might expect, when injustice or lack of fairness is perceived, a whole range of negative outcomes may follow that can even go as far as retaliation.

Maintaining fairness at work is something that’s going to be beneficial for everyone involved. There is no shortage of fairness perceptions within organisations, and employees consider fairness from multiple perspectives:

• How fairly resources and benefits are allocated
• How fair the decision-making processes are
• How clearly and adequately decisions are explained
• How fairly and respectfully people are treated

Almost all organisations likely have some areas where they could improve fairness perceptions. You may already have some insight into this from prior employee surveys, but if not, consider adding this to your employee listening agenda. Get a sense of where early-career workers in your organisation may be sensing injustice. One particularly hot topic in this space to consider is fairness in how accessible learning opportunities are for AI tools.

2. Provide progression opportunities that aren’t exclusively leadership-oriented

A clear theme emerging from the lowest-ranked values is that leadership and related values like vision (having input on the organisation’s strategy) are not highly prioritised among early-career workers. This is in line with other findings of a broader trend termed ‘conscious unbossing’ where younger workers have expressed disinterest in progressing through the leadership hierarchy. This emphasises why it’s important to properly identify high professional vs. high potentials to ensure you’re aligning the organisation’s goals with that of the individual.

However, it’s clear that they do still care about advancing their careers, as progression was their second-highest ranked value. Other data collected in our study demonstrated that 25% of those surveyed had an especially strong preference to progress in a specialist role, but not as a leader. This is one area which might actually represent a true generational shift, and it will be interesting to see this trend evolve over time.

It’s hypothesised that younger workers may not value leadership roles due to the perceived stress and lack of work-life balance, as well as feeling reluctant to take on what they consider ‘us vs them’ with non-leadership colleagues. To retain key early talent, it’s important to provide pathways for career progression that are not limited to leadership roles. These individuals can still have a vital role to play as innovators, experts, and collaborators. Of course, leadership roles remain important so it’s also key to cultivate effective leadership skills for those younger employees who are motivated in that direction, and perhaps also consider how leadership can be reframed in a less negative way.

3. Recognise quality work and hold people accountable for performance

It’s clear from the highest-ranked values that early-career professionals also prioritise high-quality work and value accountability in the workplace. This suggests that creating a work environment that rewards quality output, promotes high standards, and ensures accountability for mistakes or poor performance really does matter. This sounds very intuitive in theory, but research from Gallup suggests that creating accountability is an area where leaders are falling short right now.

Accountability can be a little more challenging to establish in early-career roles, as these positions typically don’t include project ownership yet. It’s important to create a set of realistic standards that acknowledge these individuals are still learning while also making clear what expectations need to be met. Leaders can also role model accountability by taking responsibility for issues within their remit and showcasing commitment to their strategic priorities.

4. Prioritise authentic communication

It should come as no surprise that the current generation of younger workers value authenticity. This is much spoken about even beyond the realm of talent management, with brands being encouraged to focus on authenticity in their marketing messages to ensure their appeal.

Individuals start to form perceptions of the organisation as early as the application stage of a hiring process. This is where effective candidate relationship management begins. Utilise authentic and transparent communication with clear role requirements and transparency around pay, benefits, and career progression opportunities.

5. Don’t fear change

As one might expect, the findings also highlight that young professionals don’t prioritise what we call ‘conservation’ values – values that emphasise order, stability, self-restriction, and the preservation of traditional practices. One way that this is observed is through the shift away from traditional career paths towards more flexible work styles, often that incorporate ‘side hustles.’ This can make organisations reluctant to invest in early talent as they feel they will leave after being upskilled or be less dedicated to their work.

However, as with any value, individuals will vary in how they feel about structure and stability. By being open to adapting some of your workplace policies to fit the modern era better, you can create an environment that appeals to younger workers.

Consider whether you can incorporate elements of flexible work practices like hybrid work – we know from our research that this is the preferred work arrangement for the majority of early-career employees. Another way to consider more flexibility is to add non-linear career path options – not just non-leadership paths, as discussed above, but the opportunity to explore and discover different areas of specialism.

Overall impact on designing early-career experiences

Designing an early-careers experience that resonates is not about chasing generational trends – it’s about understanding what early-stage professionals consistently value and embedding those priorities into the employee experience. By focusing on fairness, meaningful progression, accountability, authenticity, and quality, organisations can create environments where early talent can thrive and contribute at their best.

Ultimately, when these values are reflected in how work is designed and delivered, the result is not just a more engaged early-careers population, but a stronger, more future-ready workforce overall.