All of the talk about "millennials", the "selfie-generation" and whatever else you want to call it is everywhere these days. You can't go to a business publication without seeing stats that make you go, hmmm.. So what did I do, I went hmm.. Here are a few of the stats and an interesting video that I found interesting and their sources. Watch the video first for a chuckle:

Although 85% of employees use video as part of their everyday lives today, only 28% say their employers are proactively encouraging them to use video at work to communicate, the research from BlueJean Technology finds
Asked a longstanding social science survey question, ‘Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people,’ just 19 percent of millennials say most people can be trusted, compared with 31 percent of Gen Xers, 37 percent of silents and 40 percent of boomers.”
41% of Millennials prefer to be rewarded or recognized for their work at least monthly, if not more frequently, whereas only 30% of non-Millennials would like that level of frequency.
63% say that younger employees now expect to use live video as a communications tool when they enter the workplace.
73% of Millennials expect to be able to modify and customize their work computer, 63% will go around IT to find the solutions they need and 69% believe that office attendance on a regular basis is unnecessary and will do whatever they can to not work for an organization that demands this.

These stats, while not surprising give us reason for sure as a HR Technology (Workforce Technology) as you know I prefer to call it, take pause and realize it is time for a 5 steps approach to prepare for this next generation of digitized HR and worker. Those 5 steps are:

Your HR/Workforce Technology strategy must be designed with Millennials at the core and with their thoughts and patterns that they have grown up with infused into the strategy. It is more important than ever not to adopt vendor software off the shelf without this strategy.
The governance around the selection, design and deployment of HR/Workforce Technology solutions must involve HR, IT, Lines of Business and Millennials. We don't know how they think and can't since we didn't grow up that way. INCLUDE THEM NOW!
Our core is more important than ever. We are going to be snapping and unsnapping solutions onto our core more than a wardrobe malfunction at the US Super Bowl. Our core HR solution and data/integration strategy must be solid and agile to meet the changes as fast as they will come.
Our talent processes must be flexible, engaging, addicting and drive a level of transparency, trust and frequency into the entire workforce interaction paradigm. This is so different than stupid intranets of the past. The category of agile talent processes and engaging portals and "mash-up" tools is the future growth and innovation area for HR and Workforce technology.
Last but not least, we are working with not just four/five generations of workers but these generations are more different than any of the past. An approach around talent, rewards, recognition, acquisition, etc. cannot be a "one size fits all approach". Branding to each of the audiences is more important than ever and designing processes that meet the workforce where they work and how they think will win the game versus having them search for tools and processes that don't fit them.

I plan to focus much more of my work going forward on how to blend this workforce of employees, contractors, multi-generations, multi-geographical and complexities of the future of work together in my work around HR/Workforce technology. All I do know is the quote, "what got us here will not get us there" is more apropos than ever before.

Another infusion of knowledge...