Something that I’ve been acutely aware of over the last few years is the Consumerization of IT, where the use of technology – amongst those known as the “Millennials” – creates a benchmark and an expectation that causes businesses to cater and provide technology at a faster pace for an ever more demanding group of individuals. The battle for the best and brightest school leavers will be increasingly fought using golden gadgets as well as golden handshakes and golden handcuffs.
For me, job interviews are very much a two way conversation where both parties are trying to extract as much knowledge as possible from the other person. That is to say, the interview is not just about the candidate getting grilled, this is about the candidate finding out if the role is right for them, the pay is acceptable, what the benefits are going to be etc. These questions are starting to extend to technology, and candidates (I have done this in the past) are increasingly asking about the tools they are going to be provided with to do their job. Questions like, do I get a phone, what type of phone is it? Does it do email? Do I get a laptop? How many? How many computer monitors do I get? Can I access the internet at work? Can I use Facebook at work?
The list goes on – you get the picture.
The last question is a key one. When it comes to social computing, what software do we have inside the workplace that facilitates the kind of social interaction and collaboration that apps like Facebook, Windows Live, Office Live or Twitter allow? We’re starting to see these kind of experiences leaking into businesses via products like SharePoint with its Social Computing solution and I’m sure that Office 2010 will provide new ways with which to interact with colleagues, vendors and customers too. Another example is Yammer, a business version of Twitter that allows conversations to only flow between company employees. The use of Instant Messenger in the workplace through products like Office Communicator after IM was made popular by consumer products like Live Messenger and ICQ adds further weight to the argument.
For employers this means that HR departments and interviewers will need to be increasingly aware of what their company provides not only from a pay, benefit and career perspective, but also from an IT perspective. Don’t be surprised to find more conversations going on between HR and IT in future, and don’t be surprised that businesses adapt as the fight for the brightest talent is increasingly driven by technology.
This blog post was inspired by a recently recorded podcast on the Consumerization of Enterprise IT.
[Photo courtesy of alexdpx on Flickr]