This next generation of employees can teach us so many things about where and how we need to evolve with our technology – our company; and even more importantly, have inspired me to look at things with a fresh set of eyes.
We have several interns working with us at Nuance this summer, and, over the past several weeks I’ve had the opportunity to interact with them. They’re bright, enthusiastic, and starting on successful career paths. They’re also the generation that is most adept and comfortable with technology; more so than I ever was at that age, and I’ve been a technophile my entire adult career.
The use of technology by Millennials is not necessarily anything new. In fact, when speaking with many of the industries we work with, we often talk about how using intelligent tools to help streamline documentation workflows will better serve their younger workforce.
More and more police departments, for instance, whose officers are saddled with heavy reporting demands are beginning to leverage new technologies to make it easier, more efficient – and safer to create incident reports in the field. And, many say that getting their younger officers to adopt new tools, like speech recognition, is usually an easier ask; they’ve grown up using smart devices, are comfortable with voice as an input method, and frankly, expect technology to keep up with them.
This is not surprising to Shauna Mancinelli, a student at Fairfield University who’s working on our Digital Marketing team. When I asked Shauna how she uses technology in her daily life, she basically said she wakes up and falls asleep with her phone by her side. “My phone sits next to me at work, and when I leave work it remains by my side; it’s my security blanket.” s
Shauna’s response is not that surprising. This is a group that grew up with technology and it seems almost impossible to imagine a world without it. According to Shauna, using her voice to interact with devices is an every-day occurrence, and tools like Dragon Anywhere, our professional-grade mobile dictation app are very appealing.
Fellow intern, Jared Abernathy, a student from Merrimack College, who’s working within our Brand and Customer Experience team, also lives with technology, and anything mobile is game.
“I tend to use voice-powered solutions when I’m driving, to send a message or get directions. I’m pretty much on my phone for a majority of the day to text, listen to music, and catch up on social media,” Jared says.
“For me I use technology every day,” says Lauren Adams, who’s studying at Framingham State University, and is working with our Programs Marketing team. “I use my phone as my alarm; immediately check all social media accounts, and then proceed to get out of bed. I drive to work with my GPS, while also listening to Apple Music through my phone. I can pay my bills, watch television, search the web, and scroll through social media; all using one device.”
This next generation of employees will certainly shape the way we evolve our technology, and they’re inspiring me to look at things with a fresh set of eyes.