Not speaking the language of Millennials in the workplace? A few decades ago, those among the late baby-boomers or early Generation X group heard a lot about the radical changes that technology would deliver in the workplace. Like many promises of radical changes, the effects (and benefits) are usually gradual and not noticeable. Office automation is notorious for slow changes and resistance to technology adoption. Look at law firms and Human Resource (HR) departments, many firms today still make frequent use of facsimile machines (fax machines).
So now that many HR departments are run by a person 35+ years old, it’s time to understand that the radical change has finally arrived! The language of Millennials, the first generation that has grown-up fully in the digital age is now spoken as a “first language” in the workplace. Millennials want to be spoken to in the digital language of automation technology. So-called 20-somethings speak and listen in digital language terms such as on-line webinars, emails, video-on-demand and mobile communications.
That’s true of most Millenials according to 20-something John Milne, a Benefits Consultant for Corporate Synergies.
“Hand a new-hire packet with a benefits enrollment form to complete by hand and a Millennial will probably look puzzled. Having grown up with cell phones, computers and social media as our norm, Millennials expect our employers to provide a tech-savvy method of enrolling in benefits”, says Milne.
So why aren’t HR departments moving towards benefits administration technology to assist workers for things like open enrollment? It may be a matter of inertia.
According to Milne, the advantages of incorporating Benefit Administration technologies include:
- Reducing administrative burdens on HR
- Increased efficiencies in managing deadlines
- More effective communications with employees
Within ten years, well over 50% of the workforce will have been a product of the digital age from birth. The question of whether or not to adopt technology for benefits admin will be replaced by when companies will make this shift.
