Millennial employees have grown up with technology, and they are adaptable when it comes to taking part in a conference call, according to research from Polycom. This potentially assists them with adapting effectively to built work environments within a smart city both now and in the future.
The company, which specialises in voice, content and video collaboration equipment, found that employees born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s — currently aged around 25-34 — are most likely to have participated in a conference call, without digressing from business objectives, doing so from:
– A garden: One in five (21%) compared to 15% of 45-54 year-olds
– A taxi: Nearly a quarter (23%) compared to just 2% of those aged 55+
– A train: Almost a third (28%) and twice as many as 45-54 year-olds (14%)
– A bus: Around one in seven (15%) and almost twice as many as 35-44 year-olds (8%)
– A plane: Only 6%, but this is above the 5% average
With Deloitte predicting that this demographic will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025, it’s important for employers to understand this generation’s work habits and think about how technology can empower the productivity of the millennial workforce, Polycom said.
Other findings of Polycom’s research showed that millennials take a far less formal approach to conference calls than their senior colleagues. Almost a quarter (23%) of 18-34 year-olds have attended a conference call in a casualwear, more than twice the number of their 55+ colleagues (11%) who have done the same. More than one in five (22%) 25-34 year-olds have had something to eat or drink while on a conference call, compared to just 4% of those aged 55+, and have even had some interaction with colleagues’ children (25%) or pets (27% dogs, 13% cats).
“We can work and collaborate from anywhere nowadays, which often means from a different office location, a co-working space or even from home,” commented Tim Stone, vice president of Worldwide Revenue Marketing at Polycom. “Millennials are comfortable and remain productive regardless of their location and provided they have the right conference call technology in place. There are lessons here for employers — the workplace flexibility and culture is evolving and the next generation of managers want to work efficiently but less formally.”
Tags: Deloitte, Future Living, Millennials, Recruitment, Smart City, Technology, The Built Environment