What HR leaders should be doing to handle their ‘Digital Native’ employees

In a conversation with Aaron Green, Vice President HCM Strategy, Oracle, we understand what it takes to engage with today’s tech savvy generation of employees, and how collaboration tools, mobile technologies and reverse mentoring can play a significant role in it

How this new generation of connected, tech-savvy employees pose a threat to HR and what are the fresh challenges enterprises are facing in handling Digital Natives?

The self-sufficient and tech savvy generation of today is posing new threats and opportunities for managers, marketers and HR professionals. For example, Generation Z has deferring attitudes towards work, and it doesn‟t mesh with the traditional, nor the “9 to 5” schedule. They do not place “much emphasis on how and when the work gets done, just that it gets done. HR executives struggle to keep up with the flexible work styles, collaborative approaches, personalization, mobile and social capabilities that next-gen employees demand. Failure to provide modern and engaging employee experiences makes it easy for more nimble organizations to snap up skilled talent. HR leaders must create modern and engaging employee experiences that attract and retain talent, increase collaboration, and boost productivity well into the future.

How can this potential threat be changed to opportunity with the use of right technology?

There is an unprecedented opportunity to foster a new generation of engaged, tech-savvy, creative and evangelical workers—but only by using the right combination of engagement strategies and technology tools to offer the Digital Natives an outstanding employment experience.

To adapt and succeed in today’s digital workforce, HR and business leaders must simplify the employee experience and enable connections anywhere and via any device, personalize information and communicate it in a way that is relevant for their job. Oracle has recently launched the Oracle Learning Cloud to help shift the corporate learning paradigm to one that enables employees at all levels to learn contextually and socially regardless of their location. The new Oracle solution helps companies provide employees with a consumer-like experience to help retain and develop the talent they need to be successful.

What is the role that social media and mobile technologies play in this?

A wikia.com study found that 55% of digital natives use social networks primarily to share their opinions, so one can imagine how quickly they will share feedback with their peers if their employer fails to deliver the experience they expect.

Learning from the possibilities that social media has to offer and how it can be leveraged, businesses able to accommodate Generation Z’s needs and culture will find their reputation and brand awareness significantly boosted by a legion of new recruits who are happy to tell everyone, including digitally-savvy customers, how great their employer is on their personal social media accounts oracle human capital management solute digital natives

Please elaborate on the role of reverse mentoring in this case?

Reverse Mentoring pairs senior executives with new digital savvy executives, because especially when it comes to social media use and digital marketing, they can offer invaluable help. Having grown up with new media and digital tools, these younger, "digital natives" can offer invaluable insights while senior executive members can share their knowledge and experience of the communications industry and workplace.

Reverse mentoring has great rewards; it harnesses the talent of rising stars, increases the organization’s ‘superconnectedness’ by forming unlikely relationships and exposes employees to areas of the company outside their normal daily routine. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.