Would you shy away from using a business tool that entices the best and brightest of the largest segment of the world’s population?
Many business owners and managers fear social media type applications, believing them to be time wasters and distractions. But social media applications have many business benefits. Perhaps most importantly, internal social media applications are going to be a key aspect of recruiting and retaining the next generation of business leaders.
About 18 percent of the global workforce is comprised of Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. An additional 7 percent of the workforce is made up of Traditionalists, or the Silent Generation, born between 1900 and 1945. In some companies, the percentage of these older workers is even higher. At Dow Chemical, approximately 40 percent of its workforce is likely to retire over the next five years, according to Social Media at Work: How Networking Tools Propel Organizational Performance (Jossey-Bass, Publishing) by authors Arthur L. Jue, Jackie Alcalde Marr and Mary Ellen Kassotakis.
As this large generation retires, we face a “global talent shortage.” The urgency for succession planning has never been greater for organizations looking to replace large segments of their workforce. And the next generation is dramatically different from those who came before.
Retiring Traditionalists, who value security and stability, and Baby Boomers, who value teamwork and human rights, are being replaced by Gen X, who values empowerment and demands corporate responsibility. Born between 1965 and 1976, they make up only 14 percent of the population. Gen Y, or the Millenials, born between 1977 and 2000, comprise the largest segment of the global population, at a whopping 24 percent. As they mature, and the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers retire, they are going to dominate the workplace. This group values technology, personal growth and social activism.
By far the biggest portion of the population, Gen Y was born into a digital world, connected to video games, computer programs, the Internet, and to each other since they could hold a keyboard. Technically savvy, they navigate the ether world and its ever changing tools instinctively.
The Millenial perspective on work is that: they work to live; they want to contribute and make a difference; their work must matter; and they trust people, not institutions. They see that career lifespans can be short, and they want to be flexible and creative with their careers. They are connected outside of work, and they expect to be connected inside the organization, as well. Seventy-seven percent say that social aspects at work are very important to their satisfaction on the job. They see digital connectivity as essential to communication, collaboration and productivity. If they don’t find it with one employer, they will leave and go to another that does provide it.
Many organizations fear social media applications. Yet, studies have shown that business-oriented social media applications contribute to productivity, including speedier idea generation and product development.
Progressive organizations that have adopted internal social media applications are seeing the many benefits, not the least of which is attracting the best talent from the up and coming, technologically connected workforce.
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