By Pui-Chi Li

MILLENNIALS have been steadily dominating the modern workforce and changing ways of doing business across the world. By 2025, an incredible 75 percent of all the employees globally will be represented by Millennials with Generation Z entering the workplace in a couple of years.

The modern workplace is changing more and more every day and the importance of technology is growing exponentially across the Middle East where 50 to 65 percent of the population is under the age of 24. Millennials are changing the way work is done and organizations need to create productive environments for their young hires. Technology is what gives organizations a competitive edge that they need for attracting talent and progressing into the age of digital transformation.

Both public and private sectors in the Middle East recognize the importance of the modernization of their processes and workplace environment. Some regional organizations still need to be encouraged to shy away from analogue and old infrastructures while replacing them with modern and digital. Companies can begin their “modern workplace compliance” strategy by taking these 3 simple steps.

Upgrading their existing

hardware and software

Today’s office environments are evolving to fulfill productivity needs of the modern, mobile, always connected workforce dominated by millennials. It’s time to stop thinking about devices like printers as stand-alone, task-specific workhorses, and start demanding more up-to-date, useful and useable solutions. That’s why we need so much more than a machine — we need a workplace assistant, intelligent device that gives us more than a piece of paper with letters on it. Having thoughtful and user-friendly features in devices like printers can make a huge difference in the way work is done. Millennials are more productive when enabled with modern gadgets and applications. Technology that is intuitive, cloud connected and secure is what drives modern leaders.

Let them bring

their own device

Agile, flexible and location free business practices shape modern workplace. It has never been more relevant to prioritize technologies that facilitate in and out of office collaboration. Millennials are looking for ways to work together more efficiently. The paradox is that while being team players by nature, Millennials do not prefer face-to-face interaction daily. Connected devices and smart office hardware will allow them to collaborate without the need for physical interaction. There is almost no such meeting that can’t happen on a conference call and no such document that can’t be scanned and emailed to all concerned parties.

Is there an

app for it?

Millennials won’t be able to imagine their lives without applications. They live through apps by ordering food, riding a taxi, socializing, shopping and staying entertained. The only logical step for businesses is to ensure their office is powered by app friendly workplace equipment. Whether they need to scan to a cloud-based repository or translate and print documents with the touch of a button, there should be an app for it. Organizations should be able to customize apps, so they address specific needs and challenges they have.

Additionally, having your phone apps connected to your office hardware will remove many traditional roadblocks and errors. External apps simplify print, scan and copy functions, as well as provide access to contact lists and frequently used locations. Such technology brings an entirely new level of flexibility, efficiency and possibility to the workforce with its apps. With such sophisticated levels of customization, workflow requirements can easily be automated. It all adds up to unlimited opportunities to streamline processes and improve productivity.

In conclusion, the old ways of doing business is transforming. Next generation of workforce expect a fast-paced, always connected, dynamic lifestyle. Organizations in the Middle East need to continue innovating and embrace digital transformation as soon as possible in order to stay competitive and draw maximum benefit from this digital age.

— The writer is head of marketing for Xerox in the Middle East