Millennials are having a major impact on the way people communicate and collaborate at work.
Otherwise known as Generation Y, these 'digital natives' are typically more confident using new technology like cloud-based applications and VoIP phone systems than the senior managers they work for. In addition, they have brought with them new ideas and ways of thinking about how organisations should operate and be structured.
According to McCrindle research, 20 per cent of Australia's workforce was made up of millennials in 2014 - a proportion forecast to rise to 35 per cent by 2020.
This upheaval of the workplace demographic is expected to significantly transform work-life as we know it.
Millennials are helping to transform the way businesses operate.A transient workforce
An immediate concern for employers is how to nurture the loyalty of their current millennial staff. In the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016, two-thirds indicated they would like to leave their company by 2020.
"With Generation Y coming into the business, hierarchies have to disappear," said Vineet Nayar, vice chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies, quoted in a recent PwC report. "Generation Y expects to work in communities of mutual interest and passion - not structured hierarchies. Consequently, people-management strategies will have to change so that they look more like Facebook and less like the pyramid structures we are used to."
"Generation Y expects to work in communities of mutual interest and passion - not structured hierarchies."
Nayar's comments reflect a growing realisation amongst many employers that their organisations will need to adapt to the needs of millennials (and not the other way around).
Tech may be critical for retention
Proactive employers are looking at how to meet these needs. Many are heading to the cloud and integrating unified communications and other digital tools into their processes, hoping to better attract the digital-savvy millennial generation. Indeed, PwC found that 59 per cent of millennials said it was important to them that their employer utilised state-of-the-art technology.
Considering the majority of respondents also agreed that access to modern tech makes them more effective employees, contemporary Australian businesses should investigate ways to upgrade, such as with improved cloud access and more streamlined communications equipment.
For more information on how an advanced business phone system can help bring your company into the modern age, contact Fonality today.
