Digital Natives – Gen Y at the workplace
Leading High Impact Learning
Presenters:
Stephanie Weg
Rafael Martín
Version 1.0
24/06/2011
Communicate smarter.
Video
The new world of work
2
Session objectives and agenda
Objectives
Become aware of the
generational shift
Discussing the
background
(40 minutes)
Understand Digital
Natives' behaviors at
the workplace
Agenda
•Presentation:
Digital Natives, the
workplace and how to
manage them
Digital Natives
in dialogue
(20 minutes)
Learn from other
companies' initiatives
•Digital Natives share their
view on how to manage
them
Discovering
applications
(30 minutes)
•Workshop:
You, your company & the Digital
Natives
3
Discussing the background
Who are Digital
Natives ?
Characteristics
and Behaviours
Managing
Digital Natives
Q&A
4
A new generation has many names
but one mentality
• Born after ~1980
• Grew up in developed countries
• Were surrounded by technology
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(Image credit: TopNews)
Digital Natives are different to other
generations
Digital Natives
• Grown up in a digital world
• Native speakers of digital
language
Digital Immigrants
• Adopters
• Speakers with an accent
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(Source: Marc Prensky)
Digital Natives are many... and growing!
30%
Digital Natives constitute ~30% of the total
population in developed countries
70%
50%
50%
By 2018, 50% of the working population
will be Digital Natives
They live online:
• 90% own a computer
• 80% own a mobile phone
• They spend more time online than watching TV
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(Source: Pacific Northwest Apprenticeship Symposium, Forrester , International Database)
They spend more time online than reading...
Total time spent (h) per
person by age 21
Online activities (h/week)
by average consumer
Reading
5,000
News
Cellphone use
5,000
Interest/Hobby
Video gaming
Internet
10,000
eMail
15,000
Social/Sharing
2.7
3.9
15.6 h
4.4
4.6
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(Source: http://www.vimeo.com/21430047, Marc Prensky, TNS )
Discussing the background
Who are Digital
Natives ?
Characteristics
and Behaviours
Managing
Digital Natives
Q&A
9
Video
How will you recruit the Millenials?
10
Characteristics and Behaviors
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Love to experiment and create –
in unconventional ways
Playful
Entitled
Benefits
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
Challenges
• Intuitive
• Not process oriented
• Dare to try and risk
• Unstructured
• Unleash imagination
• Find, don’t memorize
• See work as fun
• Disruptive
• More than 1.5 millions pieces of content are created daily
(Source: Facebook)
•17% of US top companies have disciplined an employee for violating message
board policies
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Demand rather than ask –
feel that life owes them something
Playful
Entitled
Benefits
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
Challenges
• Aware of needs
• High expectations
• Autonomous
• Egocentric
• Follow their dreams
• Embrace individuality
• Pursue happiness
• Low threshold to quit
15% expect more frequent opportunities to change jobs
(Source: Robert Half International )
Biggest driver for resignations: failure to meet expectations
(Source: HumanResourcesMagazine)
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Want to be constantly engaged –
sometimes at a cost
Playful
Entitled
Benefits
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
Challenges
• Instant reaction
• Get bored easily
• Multitasking
• Lower task quality
• Cross-referencing
• Unfocused
• Adapt to change easily
• Instant gratification
Shipping that takes longer than 2 days is a reason not to buy
The collision risk of drivers is 23 times greater when texting
(Source: Key Organisation Systems)
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Famous digital star prisoner of the technology
Playful
Entitled
Instantaneous
Digital dependent
Benefits
Participatory
Challenges
• Perform well remotely
• Technology as a goal
• Are mobile
• What’s "OMG2bad4U” ?
• Inclusive recognition
• Lost in a virtual world
• Access to network
• Fans take over brands
85% use social networking sites
(Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers)
200 millions searches every day on Google
(Source: Google)
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Give and take active participation –
whether expected or not
Playful
Entitled
Benefits
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
Challenges
• (Inter-)Active
• Expect to be engaged
• Prepared to share
• Demand power
• Collaborative
• Unlimited sharing
• Sustain culture
• Discuss rather than work
Word-of-mouth is the preferred information source 42%
(Source: Mr. Youth)
Digital Natives prefer consensus over hierarchical decisions
(Source: Mr. Youth)
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Remember: Digital Natives are…
Playful
Entitled
Instantaneous
Digital dependent
Participatory
22
Discussing the background
Who are Digital
Natives?
Characteristics
and Behaviours
Managing
Digital Natives
Q&A
23
Video
Starbucks Intro
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Starbucks' strategy to leverage brain
power beyond organizational boundaries
Marketplace to gather ideas from
their clients:
• Be open
• Connect internal (ideas partners)
and external communities
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(Source: MyStarbucksIdea BusinessWeek article SalesForce)
Video
Starbucks video explaining the initiative
26
Starbucks' strategy to leverage brain
power beyond organizational boundaries
Marketplace to gather ideas from
their clients:
• Be open
• Connect internal (ideas partners)
and external communities
Playful
Entitled
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
In 3 years:
• 92,000+ ideas submitted
• 760,000+ votes received
• 150,000+ comments posted
• 90+ ideas implemented
(Source: MyStarbucksIdea BusinessWeek article SalesForce)
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Best Buy's ability to adapt quickly,
thus empowering employees
Blue Shirt Nation – an internal social
platform that evolved quickly:
• From ideas generator to informal
social space
• Objectives:
• Flatten hierarchy
• Promote exchange of ideas
Playful
Entitled
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
• 25k users after 3 years
• Best Buy employee turnover:
40%-60%
• BSN employee turnover: 8%
(Source: Computerworld, Provident Partners, Information Age, Koelling, Steve Bendt, TCBMag)
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Google's internal initiative:
more flexibility, better results
Innovation time-off initiative
(20% of working time for innovation):
• Allow for freedom
• Establish trust
• Promote intrapreneurship
Playful
Entitled
Instantaneous
Digital Dependent
Participatory
• "Instead of losing 20% of engineering
time, they gained 80% of engineering time"
• "When you give engineers the chance to
apply their passion to their company, they
can do amazing things"
• In 2005: 50% of the new launches came
from the 20% time
(Source: Google, Quora NY Times)
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Digital Natives
in everyday business
Blurred line
between work
and private life
• Flexible schedules
• Flexible location
• Performance based compensation
Clear roadmap
for own career
• Marketable skills
• Access to decision makers
• Personal credit for results achieved
Creative sense
of ownership
• Clear area of responsibility
• Space for creativity
• Access to extended network
(Source: adapted from ”Not everyone gets a trophy, Jossey-Brass, 2009”)
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Take aways: Digital Natives...
Are a
significant
and growing
part of the
population
Think, behave
and interact
differently
Bring new skills
and ideas
which can be
harnessed by
businesses
Require new
ways of
thinking to be
managed
and engaged
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Discussing the background
Who are Digital
Natives?
Characteristics
and Behaviours
Managing
Digital Natives
Q&A
32
Digital Natives in dialogue
Can we be certain that what happens
in the workplace stays there?
33
What motivates Digital Natives?
Visibility
Instant
gratification
Collaborative goal
setting
Hands on short/midterm projects
How do Digital Natives like
to be managed?
Entrepreneurial projects
Hands-off supervision
Access across the organization
Cross-company collaboration
Which work environments do
Digital Natives prefer?
Initiate, drive and
influence change
Participative culture
Open minded people
Q&A
Discovering applications:
Buzz Group questions
What have been your experiences with Digital
Natives in your organizations?
What benefits can Digital Natives bring to your
company?
What could be future strategies to manage Digital
Natives?
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Wrap-up
Objectives
Become aware of the
generational shift
Discussing the
background
(40 minutes)
Understand Digital
Natives' behaviors at
the workplace
Learn from other
companies' initiatives
Agenda
•Who are Digital Natives?
•Main characteristics/behaviours
•Examples of initiatives
Digital Natives
in dialogue
(20 minutes)
•Digital Native perspectives
of the workplace
Discovering
applications
(30 minutes)
•Experiences, ideas and strategies
to manage Digital Natives
39
Any questions?
Communicate smarter.