How do your employees communicate? It’s a question all businesses need to ask. In today’s highly competitive, interconnected business world, a future-proof internal communication culture will help an organization; not just to stay relevant but to grow. And that’s where enterprises shall look to their millennial employees. In a way, the future of business communication is happening at the Millennials’ fingertips.
Now the largest generation in the country, millennials are the focal point of countless business conversations across industries. And there’s no shortage of articles about how companies do need to cater to millennials’ mobile-centric working habits in order to keep them satisfied and around. But when it comes to establishing a robust internal communication culture, the enterprises and businesses that recognize and adapt to younger employees’ communication habits won’t only appease their millennial worker force; they’ll also improve their bottom line through more efficient and future-focused solutions.
Here are three key ways millennials are changing business communications culture – and how businesses of all sizes can support these changes:
1. Millennials are Working Remotely, more than ever before
As a recent study by West’s Unified Communications Services found, millennials are leading the push for remote work, with 69 percent working for companies that offer remote capabilities. But while millennials value the opportunity to punch in away from the office, they also want to maintain good working relationships and be a part of workplace culture. Millennials want to make an impact, be present, or facilitated the way one can be present.
As remote work becomes normalized across industries, it’s changing the culture of internal communications by introducing remote communication methods as an alternative to traditional in-person meetings. For businesses, it’s important not only to offer employees a remote work policy but to ensure that policy is supported by a solution that preserves dynamic yet effective communication.
2. Millennials Like Video Conferencing
Think Facetime for business. To that end, companies should consider deploying video conferencing technology and providing training resources to encourage adoption across the organization. Not only is the video the form of remote communication that best replicates in-person meetings, but it’s also a mode that’s natural for millennials.
As a separate West study found, more than 60 percent of millennials surveyed reported frequently using video conferencing. Generational preferences aside, video conferencing can optimize worker performance, with employee participants reporting being more prepared for and engaged in video conferences than audio-only alternatives.
3. Mobile is the Millenials Go-to Communication Method
Ten years ago, tech-based employee communication was largely confined to phone calls and emails. But since then, communication has expanded to the mobile realm, and employees – especially millennials – use mobile devices, WhatsApp, and the like for quick intra-company, colleague communications.
Businesses can accommodate this mobile focus by choosing some collaboration apps for the company. Having several collaboration apps in place can also help businesses avoid the risk of employees transmitting potentially sensitive company information over apps that haven’t been internally vetted for security.
By implementing standardized organizational strategies and providing additional InterCall solutions that meet the communication habits of younger employees, business leaders can both maintain a content millennial workforce and better mobilize for the future of workplace communication culture.