e-Journal Story
Opening Plenary Session Part II: How the Net Generation is Changing the World of Work
The second part of the opening plenary offered insight into the talent development strategies needed to engage a new generation of workers. By taking cues from what's being called the "Net" generation, workforce development professionals can create talent strategies that align with the needs of today's knowledge-based economy.
Don Tapscott, the Toronto-based best-selling author of "Wikinomics," "Growing up Digital," and the soon-to-be-published "Grown Up Digital," told conference attendees that the nature of business, work, and the workforce is going through the biggest change in a century. This is due to Web 2.0 tools, social changes, and a new generation of web-savvy young people, 80 million strong, poised to enter the workforce and dominate the 21st century. This generation said Tapscott, has no fear of technology, because to them, technology is like the air. It's just there.
Key to the emerging business paradigm shift is this new Net generation and its embrace of the collaborative aspects of Web 2.0 tools. The Net generation, those under 30, grew up with technology and see collaboration on the Web as second nature. For this generation, email is a relic from the past. Creating collaborative communities through Flickr, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook and using tools such as collaborative "wiki" websites and blogs serve not only as mediums for entertainment, but also as venues for learning, working, community service, user-created content and information sharing. Instead of passively receiving information through television, the Net generation watches less TV and lives its own "Net Norms," with self-directed innovation, collaboration and customization.
Tapscott emphasized that the Net culture is changing the world of work. For the Net generation, work and learning go hand-in-hand instead of existing as separate entities. Using old recruitment tactics and top-down management styles will not effectively attract or keep young people. Today's younger workers must be engaged and see their work environments as places to innovate and have fun simultaneously.
This new view of the work world, Tapscott explained, has implications for employers and particularly government agencies. He said employers that adopt the "mass collaboration" approach to problem-solving and inventing will profit when working with the Net generation. Innovative employers who are able to look outside the bounds of their traditional corporate hierarchies and reach out to thousands - even millions - of collaborators worldwide, stand to benefit the most. Government agencies savvy enough to adapt to this new culture will be in a better position to attract and keep younger workers who see government agencies as vehicles for change.
Throughout his presentation, Tapscott illustrated the increasingly collaborative nature of the Web and its embrace by the Net generation through examples ranging from innovative Web sites and communities to Doritos letting everyday people create its Super Bowl commercials. According to Tapscott, the way the Net generation harnesses the power of mass collaboration on the Web should serve as a template for how employers should adapt their workplaces to the demands of the collaborative information economy.
