Written by: Mike Asebrook, Vice President of Product Marketing at M-Files
THOSE of us born between 1997 and 2012 are known as Generation Z (or Gen-Z). Gen-Zers were the first to join the workforce possessing a comprehensive understanding of technology and all things digital. One of the advantages of being raised in a digital world from a business perspective is the fact that managers will no longer have to commit as many hours in training young talent about tech tools, digital workflows, and processes as compared to previous generations.
This, combined with ever-advancing offerings from artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), should provide the ideal tools for Gen-Z, ensuring the working world progresses as a smarter, more efficient environment for everybody involved.
Considering this outlook, what will Gen-Z’s impact on the workplace look like in the near future?
Embracing AI and ML offerings
Taking into account that a large proportion of Gen-Zers were born after the launch of the iPhone, the dominance of Netflix over DVDs, and the gaming industry’s leap into the world of virtual reality, innovation and advanced technologies have been occurring in front of their eyes for most of their lives.
Being exposed to innovation on such a large scale and in such a short amount of time places Gen-Z in excellent shape as they prepare to enter the workforce. With an already established feeling of trust, they will be more likely to embrace, rather than resist, progressive solutions such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. In the past, business leaders were widely hesitant or simply unaware of these offerings, and the business benefits they had to offer. With Gen-Z professionals at the helm, it’s likely we will see the even faster progression and deeper investment in AI and ML offerings since they’re willing to adopt new solutions for their business in an attempt to simplify and speed up processes.
Leveraging AI and ML within your content management platform is a step in the right direction in terms of efficiency and streamlining workflows. Combining modern-day offerings such as AI and ML and the technical fluency of Gen-Z will likely prove to be a fruitful partnership for years to come. You can read more about this at www.digitalkev.com
Streamlining storage
Gone are the days of USB sticks, CDs and hard drives cluttering up desk space in an attempt to store and backup data as thoroughly as possible.
Thanks to the advancement of the Cloud, recommendation engines and ever-changing tech ecosystem inhabited by Gen-Z throughout their upbringing, a cleaner, streamlined environment will be preferred by the next generation. From the perspective of Gen-Z workers, this is the only way to find what they’re seeking.
When it comes to saving work, Gen-Z will embrace an approach which eradicates sub-folders and folder trees. Instead, Gen-Z workers are likely to create long, extensive lists of similar content stored in the same place that’s easy to navigate, and can be easily found—similar to the experience of searching for your favourite docuseries on Netflix or for a song on Spotify.
The way in which content is managed and stored will evolve rapidly under Gen-Z. Convenience is crucial—content must be streamlined and require fewer clicks to access. It’s a non-negotiable expectation among Gen-Zers.
Such a content management platform adds value to any business unleashing a sharp uptick in productivity and efficiency amongst workers. Immediate gains in ROI are realized as employees (of all generations) spend less time and effort sifting through data silos and endless sub-folders.
Forming the technological foundations
The technological foundations have been laid for Gen-Z by those who came before them. It is now time for them to utilise their fluency in digital and bring those skills to the workplace.
Generation Z is well positioned for success in a “future of work” that will be faster, cleaner, and easier to navigate. Gen-Zers have the tools at their disposal to ensure data silos, folder trees, and precious hours wasted on searching for documents become a relic of the past.
