Various studies have revealed that by the year 2020 millennial will be 50% of the workforce. Lately there has been
lot of emphasis put on study of Millennial in the workforce, their style of working, likes/dislikes and probably so because millennial are more numerous than their previous generations and that makes them a very important part of workplace.
So are they any different to previous generations? Well mostly they are and in a good way.
Their use of technology very clearly sets them apart and the fact that generally they are more adaptive to change.
Digital is their second nature. Millennial have grown up with laptops and mobile devices. They are used to having access to information anytime and anywhere. Web 2.0, Enterprise Social Networking are not jargons for them rather a part of their lives and they consider them as helpful tools to better communicate more efficiently.
Millennial have a different working style and following summaries some of the generalised characteristics –
- They work best in collaborative work environment that facilitates Open communication( A Deloitte study ( http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html) revealed that they are more likely to report high levels of satisfaction where there is a creative, inclusive working culture (76 percent) rather than a more authoritarian, rules-based approach (49 percent))
- They want to be heard and generally have strong opinions on things
- They want direct access to organisation execs and leader
- Prefer getting involved in decision making process
- Millennial prefer accurate and precise information with greater details available for them to access if they need
- Flexible working hours is one of their preferences and no longer do they work 9-5pm ( well having said so most of us have varied working hours and prefer flexible working arrangements)
- Providing them feedback doesn’t always have to be via face to face meetings. (PwC study (https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/managing-tomorrows-people/future-of-work/assets/reshaping-the-workplace.pdf) revealed that 41% of those questioned said they would rather communicate electronically than face-to-face or over the telephone)
- They are used to having access to information anytime and anywhere (Access of corporate data on Mobile device)
- Continuing from above, they prefer having multiple modes of communication based on purpose
Well the list can continue on….
Organisations are aligning their workplace practices so as to attract and retain millennial and the humble Intranet forms an important part of the workplace strategy as it can very clearly support the working style of this new generation of workforce.
Modern Intranet forms the basis of a digital workplace. They are place to do things and not just browse information and are designed to serve as a source of organisational Knowledge. Intranets form a social workplace that can be a key tool to engage the millennial.
Intranet play their part by providing an easy access to information related to people, processes and technology systems/line of business applications. Further they assist by –
- Supporting ease of Communication: forms the basis of outcomes desired from a good Intranet
o Top Down communication: includes messages from executives and senior stakeholders about vision, purpose and organisational strategic intent
o Bottom up communication: includes employee feedback and user voice along with Q&A areas for staff to ask questions to senior stakeholders in organisation
o Lateral communication: Peer to peer communication in a project, discussion rooms, blogs, staff social announcements etc.
o External Communication with partners/vendors and suppliers by extending the Intranet to a secured Extranet environment
o Integration with Enterprise Communication Tool (like Skype for Business, snapchat etc.) - Provide personalised experience with dashboards, targeted news feed, leadership messages and providing employees with clear information to help them make timely decisions.
- Allow convenient searching across various line of business applications saving them time and frustration
- Supporting concepts of information anytime/anywhere with ease of use mobile access and offline features
- Helping create a connected workforce by allowing employees to connect with each other share knowledge/experiences.
- Facilitating knowledge sharing and allowing employees to contribute to the organisational knowledge
- Enhance Team collaboration by allowing for team/project workspaces
- Providing a platform for Knowledge Management, an interface to Enterprise Document Management, Wikis/blogs/knowledge articles allowing to share information internally and externally to partners/vendors and suppliers in a secured way.
- Provide Enterprise Social Network tools ( Skype for Business/ Delve / Yammer / Share /Gamification(badges & honors) / employee updates and like features) to better connect people to information and develop employees to aware citizens strengthening employee engagement.
- Allowing employees to do their administrative tasks easily and efficiently by providing Employee Self Service kiosk (Employee Leave/Travel/Leave/Expense/Helpdesk/meeting rooms bookings, staff directory)
About Prometix: At Prometix, we design implement and support Microsoft based technology solutions that help our client’s staff to more easily use and share information as individuals and in teams. We work with our clients to establish a structure that makes information easier to create, store, find and share with others. We’ve worked hard to understand how people want to access and share information.
For more information on our success stories please feel free to call us on (02) 8072 0666 or email enquiries@prometix.com.au
