As we continue to deploy SYSPRO at new sites, it is become increasingly more evident what an impact the Millennial generation has in our workplace. Most Millennials are “touch savvy”: they are so used to having information at their fingertips that it is sometimes difficult to help them understand the difference between Angry Birds and an integrated ERP system.
In past years the change of ERP systems has highlighted the need for proper change management. In the past though, the issue was that most people were not necessarily computer literate.
We moved from character based systems to graphical user interfaces to touch interfaces and with every change on the interface technology the change management part of an implementation of ERP software was different.
The challenge today is quite unique. We have three generations that are affected by the implementation of new ERP software.
We still have our baby boomers who contribute immensely to productivity. Then there is the Gen X crowd who, like myself, like to think we know everything about technology. And then you have your Millennials who want what they want, when they want it, in the format they choose.
As I was spending a bit of downtime at a comedy show recently this issue became a lot more obvious than I had experienced in the past. It was said that Gen X is the baloney between two slices of bread. On either side of Gen X are the Baby Boomers and the Millennials. Together we make a good sandwich but apart we are only slices of bread or baloney, in my case.
So the challenge then becomes how to manage change for the entire sandwich. And this is where we have to look to Millennial thinkers. Not as a particular generation but as a mindset of people in our organization …
