The impact of millenials' expectations on Ernst & Young's IT strategy.

Abstract

Millennials is a term that is used to describe the generational cohort consisting of people within the age group born between 1980 and 2000. This is the young generation that is currently entering the workforce. Having been raised differently from other generational cohorts, and with lots of exposure to technological advancements and the internet, they pose a challenge to organisations that are currently employing them and doing their best to retain them within their companies. Although there are many studies that have been done on the expectations of millennials and how organisations are attempting to address these expectations, there is currently limited theoretical information regarding millennials in the workplace and what they expect in relation to organisation’s Information Technology (IT) offerings. The aim of this study is to attempt to address this gap in the research and to ascertain how meeting these expectations could contribute to the employees’ overall performance in fulfilling their roles in the organisations. The main objectives of the study were to ascertain what their expectations of the organisation’s IT are, as well as to establish whether these expectations are being met within the organisation. In order to achieve the objectives, survey questionnaires were used to collect data from the millennials at the Durban office of Ernst & Young (EY) in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) region of South Africa. Findings from the study indicated that the expectations of millennials are, to a large extent, being met through the use of strategic technological plans. The study thus contributes to ongoing research on millennials, which other researchers would be able to utilise to further study millennials and how best companies could attract and retain them. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the firm further engages millennials within the organisation to better meet these expectations and to explore further other millennials’ expectations outside of information technology in order to be better able to meet their expectations. Other organisations may also use the information in this study in ascertaining how best to utilise their information technology to not only recruit millennials but to retain them and engage them throughout employment whilst taking into account a holistic approach to Human Resources Management by addressing other areas in which millennials expectations can be met. This information has the potential to contribute to the overall success of the company.