HR Professional - February/March 2009 - (Page 69) OFF THE SHELF Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World By Don Tapscott McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2008 If you’re 30 years old or younger, there’s a good chance you’re doing more right now than just reading this book review; it’s likely you’re also downloading music, chatting online with someone, sending a file or updating your Facebook status. You’ve integrated digital media into your life because you were born in the digital age, and the digital age is the future, argues author Don Tapscott. It goes like this: if you understand the “net generation,” those born and raised playing with computers, then you will understand the future. But this isn’t about learning to upload photos; glimpsing into the future requires watching how young people—with seemingly nonexistent attention spans— think, interact, socialize and, of course, work. Tapscott, best known for his tome on mass collaboration, Wikinomics, surveyed more than 11,000 under-30s for this book. Grown Up Digital examines large issues, such as how young people and the Internet affect democracy, as well as topics specifically related to HR: for retention, to tap potential and to get buy-in on all sorts of company issues such as work/life balance. For example, computer electronics retailer Best Buy, a company mainly staffed with people younger than 30, was having great difficulty getting employees to sign onto the company’s retirement plan. The problem: the word itself, “retirement,” didn’t appeal to w w w.H RThought L ea der. c om them and the plan was always presented in a boring, one-sided way with zero interaction. These are people that grew up as part of the process, as collaborators, after all. So, BestBuy got rid of the word “retirement” and devised a contest for employees to create videos that best explained the plan. Did it work? Yes. Was it revolutionar ry? No. But the important takeawa ay is the company had to adapt to the young, rather than the other way y around, and like it or not, this is the future. ure 405986_InComm.indd 1 F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 11/4/08 11:49:22 AM 0 9 69 http://www.cashcardpartner.com http://www.hrthoughtLeader.com
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