Bridge the Gen-Next gap with Intranetsby Murray Etheridge

Just as the Internet can be used to grow your business and support customers, it can also be used to support your employees’ growth, loyalty, and participation with your firm. This is especially important in satisfying and retaining “Generation Next” because their values and expectations differ from current business leaders of the baby boomer generation. 

One smart use of the Internet that can be leveraged to aid these generational differences is an Intranet site. An Intranet is simply a private and secure portion of the Internet for your company’s internal use only.

The generational gap“Young employees feel that baby boomer employers don’t relate to their work ethic or understand what motivates them,” says Pamela Scott Crace, Editor of Progress Magazine. “This will take some relationship building and trust the work will get done, but not the same way that we are used to doing it.” Pamela concludes her column by saying “Generation Next values good design, smart technology, lifelong learning and work-life balance.”

For the first time ever, most young employees will have lived the majority of their lives with Internet access. They are comfortable expressing their opinions via the Internet and most have contributed content themselves, usually on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Email is definitely “old school” to them. Generation Next expects to communicate in the workplace the same way they do outside of work, and not enabling that communication could hurt employee retention.

Intranets: centralized communication
Intranets are an ideal place to facilitate internal communication. They can be used as a central repository to keep everyone in the loop: update employees on new clients, new employees, and many other issues of interest. It is also perfect for employees to share ideas, challenges, and opportunities that could improve their daily responsibilities and the company as a whole.

Ultimately, Intranets can be very effective productivity-enhancers. Don’t just jump in and add the latest cool social media applications, though. From Wikis to Twitter, to instant messaging and blogs, the trick is choosing the right medium to fit the business need and culture. Introduce new tools slowly without making a big deal. It has to feel like a grass-roots initiative for best adoption.

Just as companies must accept and embrace the fact that customers have a bigger voice with the Internet, they must realize that employees do as well. It’s better to address issues in a secure environment, rather than finding these conversations in the public domain. There are hundreds of Facebook groups for “Disgruntled Employees of Company XYZ”; and you don’t want your business name to be one of them.

To encourage sharing and team-building, enable people to communicate using the methods and tools they are most comfortable with. Using an Intranet for internal communication can be a great supportive tool to open dialogue among employees, and with senior management.
 
An Intranet may be just what businesses need to start bridging the generational gap hitting our workforce. The fact is, social networking channels are being used whether you sanction them or not. Recognize that this is not a trend, but an evolution in the way we do business. For most organizations, it is better to get on board than to avoid it.