Tips for empowering digital natives in the workplace

Published Link: Boss Magazine

Nurturing your employees talents can lead to growth in the workplace

The rapidly changing workplace needs employees who embrace change, flexibility, and advancement. Leaders are responsible for empowering each individual to perform at a high level. Part of doing this effectively is leveraging the generational differences displayed in your unique workforce.

Digital natives, for example, are made up of Millennials and Gen Zers born in the age of technology. They were raised in a digitally endowed world. Mobile technology, computers, and the internet were integrated into their lives since their birth. But what benefits come from hiring digital natives into the workforce, exactly?

Empowering Digital Natives in the Workplace

As technology continues to evolve, hiring digital natives, such as Gen Z, as part of your work team is one of the most effective methods for ensuring you’re always on top of tech trend implementation. Gen Z workers are also considered the true digital natives and can bring the following to your workforce:

• A socially responsible perspective
• An emphasis on sustainability and environmental health
• Problem-solving skills
• An acceptance of different cultural and economic backgrounds
• An authentic passion for the work they do

Digital natives must be adequately supported to power their work in your company and bring forth the above abilities and behaviors. Here are four tips for empowering digital natives in the workplace:

1.   Revamp your benefits package

Because digital natives possess unique needs and are used to higher degrees of mobility and flexibility, your general benefits and perks plan for employees will need to reflect this. Revamp your benefits package to attract, attain, and support digital natives.

Digital natives are calling for benefits centered around:

• Resources for a balanced family life like flex-time, parental leave, and child care
• Professional and personal development
• Support for mental health
• Physical health resources like gym memberships
• Financial security like retirement plans and workplace rewards
• Extensive health insurance plans
• Traveling for work

Revamping your benefits package attracts the best digital native candidates in your industry. It also ensures that you’re equipped to support them holistically throughout their entire time with your company. A fully supported employee is a productive, engaged, and enthusiastic employee.

2.   Commit to sustainability efforts

Digital natives are more inclined to seek out companies whose values match with their own beliefs. Vantage Circle says, “Research from LinkedIn found that 86% of millennials will take a pay cut to work in a company that holds the same values as their own, compared to only 9% of younger generations.”

A healthy planet is one of those values. Digital natives lead the sustainability movement. You should commit to specific sustainable business practices to connect with digital natives on a deeper level. These sustainable business practices could include:

• Completely digital marketing efforts
• Sustainable packaging for your products
• Energy-efficient office technology
• Offering hybrid or fully remote work models
• Implementing AI and machine learning

Committing to sustainability efforts aligns your company with one of the most essential values of digital natives. Common values prompt digital natives to be loyal and dedicated to achieving company goals.

3.   Upgrade Your Technology

Because digital natives are entrenched in technology, it’s only right this one makes our tip list. Digital natives want the ability to work on any device, anywhere, anytime. Outdated technology could result in high employee turnover, low productivity, and decreased engagement. Upgrading your technology ensures you keep up with the technological abilities and interests of digital natives.

Updating your technology could look like:

• Adopting cloud-based technologies
• Using productivity apps like Trello and Asana
• Introducing collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Office, or Google Suite
• Setting up a “smart” factory for manufacturing
• Implementing solar energy use
• Providing sufficient equipment for remote work

Updating your technology ensures your workforce can be connected from anywhere, at all times. It makes so productivity isn’t stalled by a traditional 9-5 schedule, a need to be in a physical location, or coworkers’ distractions. Digital natives can enjoy comfortability and a sense of control over their work.

4.   Diversity in leadership positions

You should foster a diverse workforce in general, but especially in leadership positions. Many company’s lack diversity and inclusion in high-level positions like CEO, COO, director, or manager. Diversity in leadership offers new ideas for modernizing business practices and creating a tech-friendly workplace.

Diverse leaders can provide feedback, coaching, and training that boosts employee performance and overall productivity. For business leaders to successfully support a dynamic workforce, they’ll need to:

• Leverage the specific talents, skills sets, and interests of their employees
• Appreciate innovation
• Acknowledge the relationship between business educators and owners
• Integrate critical-thinking into decision-making
• Create an agile workforce
• Co-create knowledge with educators
• Create personal relationships with each employee
• Understand cultural, lifestyle, and other differences

Diversity in leadership positions is so important to your company’s ability to attract top talent all over the world— representation matters. When people see someone like them in an influential position, they’re inclined to dedicate themselves to achieving this success level through high-quality work, self-directed leadership, and collaboration with internal and external team members.

Ultimately, empowering digital natives in the workplace is essential to success. Revamp your benefits package, commit to sustainability efforts, upgrade your technology, and encourage diversity in leadership to wholly support digital natives in your company.