Millennials and Technology: Help the Next Generation of Employees Succeed
Millennials — born between the mid 1980’s and early 2000’s — account for roughly a quarter of the U.S. population. Summed up in a few words, they are socially progressive and digitally savvy.
Millennials have never known a world without the Internet. Or mobile phones. Or Apple. They had classes in school dedicated to teaching them how to use computers and type properly. They never had to find a pay phone to make a call to their parents to pick them up or to make plans to hang out with a friend. They had things like AIM Instant Messenger and MySpace. In their lifetime there have always been social media sites, providing a constant online presence. They are the most tech savvy generation ever; and their chosen platform of choice is mobile.
The time has come where Millennials are now entering the workforce. A vast majority of them have graduated college and are now looking to embark into the career world. Below are a few things that they not only want, but expect within their workplace:
Collaboration
Technology has made it so that Millennials have quite literally never had to do anything alone. They are constantly connected to their friends, family, and the world. Because of this constant connection, they have learned to work together; they are a more team-oriented generation versus individual. They prefer to work together and collaborate on projects, and technology through such applications as Google Drive, Slack Messenger, and other mobile apps that help to enable that collaboration.
Instant Gratification & Recognition
Millennials have been rewarded their entire lives. Instead of the traditional first, second and third place awards in any given competition, Millennials have been a part of the “participation” movement; where every person who participates receives an award. This notion of always being recognized is expected to translate into their professional lives as well. They expect to be acknowledged for doing their job. Additionally, they need instant gratification. They have had the virtual world at their fingertips their whole lives. If they had a question, they Googled it. If they needed directions, they GPSed them. If they wanted to find a place to eat, they YELPed it. Information has always been instant and at their fingertips and that same mentality is expected in their workplaces as well.
Work-Life Balance & Flexibility
Unlike previous generations, Millennials aren’t as willing to sacrifice their personal lives in order to accommodate their professional ones. They live by the mentality of “work hard — play hard.” Because of this, they want their employers to be flexible and accommodating. This doesn’t mean that they don’t expect to work in an office 40+ hours a week, but it does mean that they expect some flexibility in the matter. Perhaps the option of working non-traditional hours or sometimes out of the office. They were born to do things efficiently and effectively and are quite unwilling to do things in any other way.
Career Advancement
Past generations tended to stay with their companies longer. It was not unusual to hear of an employee spending his/her entire career at one company. Nowadays, Millennials have no problem spending a year or two at one company before moving to another and then another. They are extremely ambitious and are always looking to advance their career. This isn’t to say that a Millennial won’t spend their entire career with one company; it just means that companies need to have clear advancement opportunities.
As more and more Millennials enter the workforce, it is important for them to be met with the technology that they have spent their entire lives using. The use of Google Docs and other collaboration tools are a necessary workplace staple. The use of “tap-on-demand” technology, such as mobile training apps, need to be used in order to suffice the need for instant gratification. Flexible options such as working in the Cloud should be considered, to allow for the utmost in flexibility.
Millennials are drastically different than any other generation before them — given the fact they were born in the modern day technological boom. The use of modern technology can no longer be overlooked as they eventually become a dominant force in the professional world.