Millennials, defined roughly as people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, comprise about one-quarter of the workforce of the United States. By 2020, Millennials will make up half of the world's workforce.
This generation is comfortable with new technologies and the innovative ways technology is changing communications. Young people in the workforce, who are comfortable with real-time communications tools like chat, presence, audio and video conferencing, and unified messaging, will inevitably help to shape the way businesses use Unified Communications tools, and how UC tools transform in the future. Businesses seeking to deploy UC tools can benefit from tapping into the knowledge and experience of the younger workers within their ranks.
Millennials possess general traits and habits that make them a valuable knowledge source for companies implementing a UC strategy. In addition, deploying UC technology may help businesses attract bright, young employees who are looking for a progressive and flexible work environment.
Many Millennials identify with the following characteristics which can help companies define their future UC strategies:
Knowledge
Millennials are accustomed to living in a world where information is available at their fingertips. They have grown up being able to find answers to most questions, not by visiting a library, or searching through books, but by opening a browser on their computer or smartphone and typing their question into a search engine. This ready availability of information has developed a generation that is hungry for knowledge, and employees who know how to use UC tools to find and trace information. Furthermore, Millennials are comfortable using the Internet, computers, wireless networks, and social media, and intuitively know how to apply these tools to business processes.
Outside the Box
Millennials have grown up in a world less confined to buildings than previous generations. Not only has information been immediately available to Millennials, it also has been available wherever they are. Smartphones and tablets have brought information to Millennials' fingertips, rather than Millennials having to go somewhere to find the information they seek. Thanks to smartphones and tablets, this generation of employees is used to being connected at all times, which changes the concept of a 9 to 5 office environment. Millennials are comfortable with the idea of working from home or other environments outside the four walls of the office. UC tools are an important factor in extending the business environment, allowing employees to work anywhere.
Collaboration
The Millennial generation has come of age during the rise of social networking applications such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. Young people are comfortable socializing, doing business, and collaborating via social media tools. This familiarity extends to using screen sharing and conferencing to create virtual teams that can generate solutions more quickly.
When considering what type of UC strategy to implement, and how to implement UC, businesses can look no further than their youngest employees. Observing and understanding the technology habits and tastes of Millennials can reveal insights about how UC tools can be applied to business processes.
Deploying UC tools can help businesses attract bright, young employees looking for a progressive work environment. These UC tools can also help businesses evolve beyond the traditional four walls into increasingly virtual entities that are better prepared to meet operational challenges and goals.