How Is Your Organization Responding to the Next Generation of Knowledge Workers?

by Robert M. Mason

Baby boomers, as everyone knows, are nearing retirement age. The next generation of knowledge workers (sometimes called "millennials") has grown up in a world surrounded by connectivity and digital tools. They are "net natives" or "digital natives," growing up in a digital world much different than the analog world of the mid-20th century and the boomers. Having never known a world without the Internet, instant messaging, online games, or the possibility of persistent digital presence with networks of people, members of this generation expect immediate access to information and see themselves as constantly connected. We reviewed research on this generation and concluded that they behave and work in significantly different ways when compared to baby boomers, as shown in the chart below.