Digital Natives: A New Generation

A new generation, called Digital Natives, is entering the workplace.

They are tech-savvy, at the forefront of technological progress, and want to be connected, whenever they like and wherever they are. They are different. Not so much in what they do, but how they do it.

Digital Natives belong to a generation born after the general implementation of digital technology. Previous generations still remember having to organize, plan and interact with other people without mobile phones, laptops and the internet. Digital Natives, however, have never experienced that.

Johnson Controls' research
Global WorkPlace Innovation and the Johnson Controls Automotive Group conducted a study in 2011 to evaluate the lifestyles of Digital Natives. The aim of the research was to understand the relationship between Digital Natives and technology in order to understand how the workplace may need to change to accommodate them.

The research was conducted in Germany, UK, USA and China in a two-stage process. First, qualitative interviews were conducted with Digital Natives and Digital Native experts to gather an understanding of lifestyle, values and usage behavior towards technologies. The second stage included 3,000 quantitative interviews in all regions*.

Digital Natives - who are they and what they do?
Born to be connected

Since early childhood, Digital Natives have integrated technologies into their lives and developed skills to naturally adapt to them. They have evolved to make digital technologies an intrinsic part of their daily lives and have developed an intuitive understanding of it.

The internet is the key ‘backbone’ technology that connects the various spheres of the digital realm, such as social networking, education, information behavior, etc. Smart phones with internet access support the need to always be connected and up-to-date with immediate access.

The internet evolved from being a source of information, to something that enables the sharing of information and experiences with friends and family in blogs, forums or social platforms. Its main purpose for the Digital Native is social networking, followed by business and entertainment purposes.

The majority of Digital Natives spend between two-to-four hours per day on the internet. However, a quarter of Digital Natives are on the internet from four-to-six hours a day. They are masters of filtering the flood of information they receive. To do that they have become adept at multitasking and require 24/7 accessibility to the virtual world.

 

New ways of communication
During times without digital technologies, people interacted with the same group of people. However, with increased connectivity, people have become more independent and have started to interact on a broader scale in the virtual world. Both the intensity and diversity of interactions with real-life contacts and virtual like-minded people has increased for the Digital Native.

This greater level of experience, knowledge and information is also reflected in purchasing behaviors, as an empowered and better educated consumer.

“We are Apple and we do Facebook.” This is how the Digital Native generation responds when asked to define itself. To them, Apple is the embodiment of technological progress, innovation and creativity, while Facebook is regarded as an indispensible social link to family, friends and groups. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook is a Digital Native.

What will Digital Natives bring to the workplace?
As younger people enter the workplace they will infuse a new working culture into companies. Digitial Natives are more adept at incorporating technology into their personal and professional lives than previous generations, which gives companies the opportunity to leverage this knowledge to improve efficiency right through the workplace. Because more workplace process are supported by technology, companies that can find ways to encourage Digital Natives to share their knowledge with older workers could make significant gains in terms of productivity.

While the majority of Digital Natives are satisfied, there are several areas in need of improvement in the workplace, specifically in terms of technology:

  • Greater access to technology in the workplace
  • Cloud computing for easier updating and distribution of information
  • Internal knowledge management to support collaboration
  • A more comfortable working environment, as the lines between work and private life blur
  • Sustainable working environment

 

Conclusion: Same, but different
Although Digital Natives have many of the same needs as previous generations, they are different in how they approach daily work, communicate, and integrate technology into their daily lives. If used correctly, this new generation will be able to help colleagues to use technologies, which, in turn, will increase productivity. If a technology gap currently exists, it will lessen, due to the fact that everyone's ability to embrace and understand new technologies is increasing. Digital Natives' increased intuition when it comes to technology, coupled with the fact that new products are easier to use than their forerunners, means that integration will be less of an issue for all generations.

Companies will be challenged to create a balanced working environment that attracts Digital Natives, without excluding other generations. The key to this will be to find the right blend of technologies for your company and keep your working processes simple.

*For this article, results have been combined with trend research findings of the Johnson Controls "Roadmapping’’ process.

To find out more about Diginal Natives and other GWi research initiatives please contact:

Back to top

WORKPLACE NOW LINKS
RELATED LINKS
KEY CONTACTS
Digital Natives
Suppliers Contact Site map Social Media Privacy Terms of use Feedback
© 2013 Johnson Controls. All rights reserved.