By Stephanie Gallagher, JD
stephanie.gallagher@corporatecompliance.org
General Session: Digital Behaviour Among Millennials and Beyond: Managing Digital Risk in the Workplace
Presenter: Andy Phippen, Professor of Social Responsibility in Information Technology, Plymouth University
Live from the 2016 European Compliance & Ethics Institute in Prague, Czech Republic
We were lucky enough to kick off today’s session with Andy Phippen, Professor of Social Responsibility in IT and a Research Partner with the UK Safer Internet Centre. He has worked on grass root research and education with millennials on tech issues and is a frequent media commentator on children and technology issues.
Setting the tone for the session, the first question Mr. Phippen asked was, “Does digital communication change what we view as acceptable?” Interestingly, digital communication removes empathy from the equation. This is because the speaker/poster/texter does not see the impact of the words. If you make a mean-spirited or inappropriate comment in-person, you will immediately see the impact of the statement. Online, this is not the case. In addition, these comments can be “liked” and shared, and the behaviour reinforced. This information is valuable to set the stage for understanding generational differences in the workplace.
Mr. Phippen showed the classifications for the four most populous generations in the workforce, Veteran Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. Although, of course, these characteristics are not totally unique to the specific generation, but research has shown that these characteristics are more relevant among the classifications of generations.
After discussing generational differences in the workplace, we looked at the issue of training vs. technology with several case studies. A particularly interesting point was illustrated by a data breach that occurred when an employee sent a sensitive attachment to the wrong email addresses due to a typo. The organization responded by pushing to implement a policy that no attachments could be sent via email to avoid this type of breach in the future. The point here is that rather than blaming or banning the technology, the focus should be on training and educating the workforce.
There were several other examples that illustrate this point. Technology is here to stay and offers businesses powerful advantages, but understanding how the millennial generation (and others) uses technology, and what is considered “acceptable behaviour” is important to remember when drafting policies and procedures for an organization. What Generation X and Baby Boomers consider to be appropriate digital behaviour can be very different. Because of this, it is extremely important to implement specific training and not assume any prior knowledge. More importantly, this type of training should not be a “one off” as technology is rapidly changing.
Andy Phippen’s presentation is available here **Warning – These slides contain adult themes and content**
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