The 'millennial advantage'

Eclipse Legal Systems spoke to Modern Claims Magazine about the skills that millennials can bring to the claims sector, and how companies can best harness these.

The millennial generation is the largest age group to emerge since the baby boom generation, and will soon make up the majority of the workforce.

Many businesses use the same method of educating new recruits, whereby the 'older' generation are seen as the experts, whilst the younger employees are commonly seen as novices with a lot to learn. Although this is often true, it can also be reversed.

Despite a poor reputation for being lazy and egotistical, millennials are some of the most productive employees around - creating new ways to work smarter rather than harder - and can introduce a renewed skillset to ultimately aid in firms' longevity:

• Use and knowledge of technology - millennials have grown up in a culture immersed in technological advancement and have embraced it incredibly quickly. Notably, this is the first time a younger generation is entering the workplace with a better grasp of a key business tool than most senior employees 

• A global perspective - most millennials have now either studied or travelled abroad, giving them a range of experience, as well as diverse opinions and a deeper understanding of different cultures 

• Adaptability - this generation of workers tend to thrive in environments of change, enabling them to provide innovative ideas for increasing productivity and development 

Businesses can take advantage of the newfound skillsets and prepare for the future by implementing a few key concepts:

Embrace technology - millennials are the most highly connected and tech-savvy generation, and although obvious to most, it's worth pointing out that technology is now playing a key role across all sectors and is set to continue its rapid development. Millennials can help to create a more efficient, engaging customer experience using social tools and apps, enabling them to instantly connect, engage and collaborate.

Embrace diversity - as the most ethically diverse generation, millennials can bring a variety of experiences, viewpoints and backgrounds that will prove extremely advantageous in engaging customers.

Embrace innovation - in such a competitive market, it's vital that claims companies are constantly adapting and delivering solutions to customers in line with their lifestyle, whether that's an online portal or a smartphone app. Millennials are a fantastic source of innovation and can not only aid in business development, but also significantly increase productivity and development in creating solutions to customers' ever-changing demands.