Millennials may be looked down upon in the average workplace for a number of reasons that are entirely subjective, whether it be that they’re "spoiled rotten" or "just plain rude." But in today’s workplace based around technology, millennials have a huge advantage, and have even given long-time CIOs a run for their money when it comes to technology management.
Venki Rao, the CIO of General Electric’s digital energy division, has seen this first-hand. He discovered this fact four years ago at GE’s IT Leadership Program, where he realized that millennials had a lot to offer the older generation of workers. In terms of new technologies, mobile apps, and social media, millennials have the upper hand. The reason for this is simply that millennials have literally grown up with technology in their hands, and they have grown to understand it in a way that Gen X’ers and baby boomers would be jealous of.
Other companies, such as the well-known network component manufacturer Cisco, have also experimented with this idea, and found that Rao’s ideas were, in fact, true. Cisco's 55-year-old vice president Lance Perry has spent time with a group of millennial mentors to learn more about social media and blogging, and found it substantially beneficial to both parties involved. It even led to increased productivity in the workplace.
If a reverse-mentoring program sounds like something you would be interested in integrating into your business, you can try these following tips:
What reverse-mentoring comes down to is good communication between two parties, which can be greatly enhanced by using the right technologies. This will also give millennials a sense of ownership, which in general, is a factor in how engaged they are at the workplace.