Mobility: What We Can Learn From Millennials

Millennials, those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, are the first to hit the workforce with social media as their main form of communication. As their ranks grow, it’s essential to understand how they will transform the workplace—and how to attract the best of this breed.

First, acknowledge their expectations. They want to be empowered. They are data-driven and require data access from multiple devices. Bring your own device (BYOD) is appealing to them because they want their primary devices to access all their applications. We also see a high percentage of millennials prefer short-term contracting positions to full-time jobs. They prefer to work at odd hours and in non-traditional locations, such as cafes. They don’t want to change devices for each new contract and don’t want a lot of restrictions on getting access to needed information.

Therefore, organizations that won’t support BYOD (whether because of a stringent regulatory environment or lack of understanding of how to implement it safely), and instead dictate the corporate-owned devices and operating systems employees must use, will be at a significant disadvantage attracting this demographic. This is especially true in the technology industry. For example, we regularly see that app developers—who often work in high-stress environments—won’t take jobs unless they can use their own devices because they need to work as quickly as possible and don’t want to keep learning new processes.

Even with some of our banking customers, who tend to be more conservative, when they try to hire software developers for their mobile platforms, the top candidates insist on BYO devices because they don’t want to carry multiple pieces of hardware. Only by supporting BYOD are these companies able to get and keep the best talent.

We are seeing the same trend in many other industries, even highly-regulated ones that rely on contractors. For example, in the insurance industry, where large insurers work with thousands of independent agents, the agents are now beginning to insist on using their own devices. Same for the medical field, where we’ve seen the rise of millennial specialists who contract with multiple healthcare organizations to work on specific types of cases. These specialists must be able to use their own devices without regard for the systems used by each healthcare provider.

Making it happen

The safest and most cost-effective way to allow millennials to get the information they want, when they want it on their preferred devices, is to enable BYOD in a way that meets even strict data security and privacy requirements. This can be accomplished by using secure workspace technology, which guarantees separation between corporate and personal data while allowing you to access, control and wipe the secure workspace, without accessing or deleting any personal information.

Millennials are coming, and with them comes a transformed workplace. By implementing mobility in the right way, you can prepare for the future and attract the best candidates.