No matter what you may have heard about millennials — that they spend too much on avocado toast, or that they’ve killed everything from cars to Applebee’s — one hard truth about this generation is that they are digital natives. Now that millennials represent the largest generation in the workforce, they have a lot to offer in terms of more diversity, tech savviness, and a fresh perspective. The trick is getting them to stay with your company.
It’s not easy for a small company like Mission Data to gain valuable time with executives of large and influential enterprises. Often, companies like us rely heavily on referrals from their existing customers or clients. While this is generally a successful approach, the results are often haphazard, opportunistic, and somewhat slow.
For a change of pace, we were drawn to NextPoint 2017, held in Miami earlier this month. The three-day “speed networking” event offers solution providers face-to-face meetings and access to executives and influencers of substantially-sized retailers.
The status quo—it’s what you’ve always done. It’s just the way your company does things. Why risk rocking the boat? Well, when it comes to digital transformation, delaying the optimization of resources can have real costs. If your organization is on the fence about a digital upgrade for 2018, you’ll want to take into consideration that waiting to make a decision is a risk in and of itself.
In recent years, the Kroger Company, the nation’s largest grocer, partnered with Mission Data engineers to develop several Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives to boost employee efficiency, including a temperature monitoring platform that has now been rolled out at nearly 3,000 stores. Created to reduce a time-consuming, labor-intensive process for tracking temperature data, the IoT platform resulted in millions of dollars in savings, became a leading food safety solution, and improved labor efficiency and consistency.
Tech jobs, along with healthcare, are the most in-demand in the U.S. economy. While that might sound great for those in the field or planning to be, the talent pool in tech is far from capable of meeting the need. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be 1.4 million more software development jobs than applicants who can fill them by 2020.
Recent headlines are casting an apocalyptic scene for brick-and-mortar retail. Empty storefronts, vacant big-box lots, and bankrupt brands are on the rise, while unemployment drops and consumer confidence is high—signaling a sea change in consumer preferences. While the dynamics of the industry are shifting dramatically, physical retail is not going away anytime soon as it still accounts for 90% of total retail sales. As retailers head into the busiest time of the year, how can they grapple with the rising tide of challenges?
Amazon’s recent announcement that it will buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion sent shockwaves throughout the retail world, and the news is being discussed from just about every possible angle. While some pundits are crying doom and gloom, this is a pivotal moment for grocery retail, and there are practical, strategic steps that stores can make to keep up with the digitization of the industry.
If there’s one constant in business today, it’s change. Leading organizations expect it. C-level executives must be open to disrupting the status quo to become more efficient and remain competitive. If your organization is spending too much time putting out fires, it’s probably high time to think about bringing in technology to automate a number of your business processes.
![The Digital Roadmap to a Frictionless Distributed Workforce [Whitepaper]](https://blog.missiondata.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-photo-41153.jpeg)
Since our founding in 1996, we have helped many companies create custom digital solutions to improve their workforce efficiency as well as their bottom line. As we’ve learned a few things over the years, we decided to share our best insights and practices for implementing emerging tech in the workplace.
We’re excited to announce our first whitepaper, “The Digital Roadmap to a Frictionless Distributed Workforce,” which includes a plan of action for companies looking to take the leap toward a digitally-enabled workforce. Download the whitepaper here for free!