According to a recent analysis by the Pew Research center, more than one in three American workers today are between the ages of 18 to 34. These Millennials, as they are commonly called, currently comprise the largest share of the American workforce. If you’re wondering what this means for collaboration and technology, consider the fact that Millennials are some of the most tech savvy individuals today, with their fingers constantly on the pulse of changing trends in social media and expression. Often referred to as “digital natives”, Millennials have the advantage of being extremely technologically adept.
What’s a DIgital Native, Anyway?
Simply speaking, a digital native is a person who is defined by their immersion in the technological era they grew up with. A term originally coined by Marc Prensky in his article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”, it has become largely associated with Millennials. As Entrepreneur notes, digital natives have learned how to adapt to constant changes and upgrades in technology, and thus are very forward thinking when it comes to the newest apps and software. Digital natives are also more likely to be familiar with and open to the use of cloud collaboration and unified communications, opting to choose providers like Blue Jeans for their scalable and customizable services. iPhone Video Conferencing with bluejeans, for example, is a perfect illustration of exactly the type of technology Millennials are most comfortable with utilizing, as most of their daily tasks, interactions, and even work related duties can be carried out via various apps and productivity tools via smartphone. You yourself might be used to working on simultaneous projects at once across various devices; the skill to keep up with this landscape of advancing technology is something you should certainly take pride in, and use to your advantage,
Tech Savvy and Ready to Rock
In case you haven’t already guessed, digital natives come equipped with a natural proclivity for all things to do with technology, and are often interested in the newest developments and how to utilize them. Unified communications, video conferencing, and telecommuting are becoming more and more popular, and cloud based operations are also contributing to the ease of freelancing and staying in contact with coworkers and employers. When holding a video conference or sharing files for a presentation, you can bet that the digital natives in your virtual conference room will have a leg up on brainstorming and creative collaboration skills.
Digital natives are also more likely to be completely open to frequent upgrades to systems and software and the resulting changes in the ways in which things operate in the workplace. While your older employees might be a bit more hesitant about change or slower on the upkeep when it comes to adapting to new technologies, it’s likely that your Millennial employees will immediately be on board. They might even jump in to assist others or share some shortcuts. Lastly, the heavy use of handheld technology and digital mediums by Millennials already puts them at an advantage in situations where they might have to intuitively figure out how to work an unfamiliar piece of hardware or software.
Prepared to Lead
Just because they might be young doesn’t mean that Millennials aren’t ready to become the next CEOs or entrepreneurs. Once again, their digital native status already places them at a bit of an advantage in assessing technological needs and in how to create the next big apps and systems of the future.
You might be quite used to expecting an excellent and consistent product from the service providers of your various digital equipment and data. Having grown up with the digital world constantly catering to their changing needs and preferences, digital natives also have a keen eye for what makes up a successful and high quality service, or the most intuitive and useful apps. They’re more in tune to what people their age, and younger, are looking for in the changing digital market, and might be able to relate more closely with younger target audiences for new digital products.
Also, just because digital natives are so wired in to social networking and online presence doesn’t mean that they don’t maintain professionalism or eschew personal contact altogether. Fortune points out that Millennials are more likely to prioritize face to face communication, as well as draw a very fine line between their professional and personal lives.
Overall, Millennials, and thus digital natives, are changing the face of the workforce, and this fact can only grow from here. Forbes suggests that as a business leader, you should re-evaluate your business practices if you want to find talent to fuel growth, and that’s where the hiring of Millennials comes in. If you want to change the future, you have to invest in the future, and digital natives are the walking, talking embodiment of all that waits on the horizon of technological discovery.
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