Here come the Millennials! ...and they are redefining how we work

So when we refer to the 'Millennials', who exactly are we talking about? They are the generation born between 1980 and 2000. And why are we increasingly talking about them? Because they are descending on the workplace... and they are going to shape the world of work for years to come. 

And they are different.

Their attitudes to work (they value creativity, flexibility, freedom), their career aspirations (they will quickly move on if their needs are not being met), and their knowledge of new technologies (they are the children of the Digital age) will redefine the very culture of work. Our ability to evolve our workplaces to the new realities of this workforce will influence on our competitiveness; as the baby boomer generation approach retirement, Millennials will become the dominant feature of the workforce (it is estimated that by 2020 they will make up 50% of the global workforce).  

One of the signature characteristics of Millennials is their avid use of all things digital and consumer tech: smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearables… They have grown up with 'broadband everywhere'. They have enjoyed instant access to information (so it’s less about  ‘how much you know’, and it's more about ‘how good are you at using and applying the right information’). Social media is as natural to them (if not more natural), as face-to-face communication is to the rest of us.

With consumer technology dominating every aspect of their lives, the expectation of Millennials is for technology to equally drive communication and innovation in the workplace. According to the results of a PwC survey among Millennials- ‘Millennials at work Reshaping the workplace’- :

• 41% claimed to prefer to communicate electronically at work than face to face or even over the telephone
• Three-quarters believe that access to technology makes them more effective at work
• Almost half felt that their managers did not always understand the way they use technology at work
• In general they expect a workplace technology ecosystem that includes social networking, instant messaging, video-on-demand, blogs and wikis to enable them to instantly connect, engage, and collaborate with cohorts and managers in ways that are natural to them, leading to better productivity across the enterprise.

However, the reality is that the average workplace is a ‘technology barren’ landscape when compared with how consumer technology is empowering our personal lives. Once in employment, this reality comes as a shock and disappointment to the Digital Millennials.

The take home message for company leaders? Our workplaces need to evolve and embrace the digital era, along with the technologies and empowerment that this era brings. Amid a huge amount of talk about the 4th Industrial Revolution- i.e. the data-driven Industry 4.0 movement-, we must not forget that digital transformation needs to start from within...so right down at the core of how we actually perform 'work'. We need to digitally transform the workplace to create the connected, vibrant, collaborative, data-driven workplace that the new wave of Millennials will identify with. This will be a critical aspect of successful Millennial employee engagement; not the only one, but certainly a baseline one.

Oonagh Mc Nerney is the CEO of Sapenta (www.sapenta.com) a Barcelona-based startup that has created a new #smartworking platform that allows companies to quickly transform the way they work to the new digital paradigm: all work teams, workloads, workflows and work processes are digitally integrated over one unique online environment that reduces fragmentation, eliminates information silos, increases productivity, empowers company leaders and contributes to worker happiness.