By: Marcus Jewell
(Vice President, EMEA at
Brocade)
The word "teen" was first used in the
early 19th century, but concerns about our young people - and how
they differ from "adult" society - have been around much,
much longer. From Ancient Greece onwards, every new generation
of young people has developed its own behaviours and social norms
that older members of society must learn to deal with or accept.
Within businesses, 'Generation Y' has been the focus for many years
as those born in the 1980s and early 90s have entered the workforce,
bringing with them new demands and ways of working. Now however,
attention is turning to a still younger group that is soon to come of
age: Generation Z.
Defined as anyone born after 1995, members of
Generation Z have been called everything from 'screenagers' to
'digital natives' and today make up a reported two billion of the
world's population. They have grown up hearing of foreign involvement
in wars, watched their parents and elder siblings experience the
recession and have simply never known a world without the internet.
Understandably therefore, Generation Z is already showing signs of
being markedly different from the previous generation to enter the
workforce. Where Gen Y have been typecast as entrepreneurial,
ambitious and with unrealistic expectations for success, early
reports show their younger counterparts appear to be frugal, display
healthier behaviours, and are more outward looking and concerned
about doing their part to contribute to social good.
They are also, as you would expect, extremely
technology-focused. Instinctive multi-taskers, they're
reportedly hooked on as many as five screens, with a large
percentage using a desktop computer, laptop, TV, smartphone and
gaming device or tablet on a daily basis.
Growing up with the internet as an ever-present
resource has made Gen Z naturally more collaborative and this means
that concepts such as crowdsourcing and open platform education are
seen not as innovations, but as the obvious and most efficient way to
solve problems. They are also much savvier than older generations
about how and when they are tracked online and they take privacy
seriously; as demonstrated by the fact that they are less likely to
use Facebook, regularly use misnomers on social media and frequently
turn off geolocation tracking on their devices.
Another consequence of Gen Z's internet-centric
upbringing is their impatience. With shorter attention spans and a
whole new type of anxiety based on the fear of missing out (or
"FOMO"), they simply have no time for technology that
doesn't just work. They're also rapid-firing, imprecise
communicators, using images and videos in place of words and
sentences and strongly favour streaming content over downloading.
These behaviours are not going to go away and it
won't be long before we see these traits - a high dependence on
devices, expectation for high-bandwidth capability at all times and
use of short-burst rich content - impacting on businesses. Generation
Z will bring new ways of working and communicating to their
employers; the best companies will learn and adapt from them rather
than seeking to control them. We already know from Generation Y that
trying to make new generations adapt to existing workplace cultures
and behaviours is doomed to failure; and it is certainly no way to
attract the best talent.
Whether you're planning to market to or employ this
generation at some point, to do so will require a strong
understanding of their values and behaviours and, crucially, a robust
infrastructure to support them technologically.
After all, an entire generation of people streaming
and sharing video and images in place of text across multiple devices
will involve huge volumes of data surging through networks in the
Middle East. Organisations that cannot cope with this demand will
quickly need to get up to speed, or get used to that Fear Of Missing
Out themselves.
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