For all the talk of evolving workplace communication channels for mobile Millennials, it is Baby Boomers who are driving adoption of an alternative way to communicate at work.
According to new research from InsideSales.com, for instance, text messaging (SMS) was actually more popular among Baby Boomers than Millennials. Eighty-one percent more Baby Boomers (47 percent) said they used text messaging on a daily basis at work than Millennials (26 percent). Although an emerging workplace communication tool, text messaging is the third most frequently used method. The research indicates that email and phone are currently the leading workplace communication methods when it comes to which is best to elicit a response, which respondents were most likely to recommend and which are used on a daily basis.
Instant messaging (IM) surprisingly fell outside of the top-five workplace communication methods, but its popularity is growing according to InsideSales.com. The percentage of people who recommend connecting via IM at work went from 31 percent in 2014 to 48 percent in 2017. The percentage who use IM daily at work increased from 31 percent in 2014 to 41 percent in 2017. InsideSales.com data indicates it is Millennials driving IM adoption in the workplace. In most categories, more Millennials had favorable opinions of IM than Baby Boomers did.
For example, Millennials are 41 percent more likely to recommend IM while working when compared to their older peers. This fi nding might be indicative of where Baby Boomers are on the organizational hierarchy, as emails tend to be more formal when communicating with upper management.
Executives, for instance, lag in adoption of IM with nonexecutives more likely to respond to IM and more likely to recommend than executives.
69%
More than two-thirds (69 percent) of C-suite executives surveyed believe that company culture, especially transparency in internal communications, will have a critically important impact on their organization's ability to realize their mission and vision. (Deloitte, 2016)
14 Million
Companies are looking to adopt smartwatches to improve employee productivity, as the devices give workers access to hands-free information and communication. The enterprise smartwatch market is set to see a large amount of growth, reaching nearly 14 million shipments in 2022, up from just over 2 million in 2017.
(ABI Research, 2017)
48%
According to a survey of communications professionals, nearly half (48 percent) said that to the extent employee engagement is important to their organizations, companies need to rethink digital workplace communications.
(Public Relations Society of America, 2016)
90
Fifty percent of WeChat users in China use the popular application for at least 90 minutes each day.
(WeChat, 2016)
72%
C-suite executives overwhelmingly (72 percent) believe "virtual teaming" capabilities across corporate cultures will become significant and normative in the next five years with 30 percent of full-time employees already doing most of their work away from the employer's physical location.
(Deloitte, 2016)
