UK companies are failing to meet the expectations of Generation C. That’s according to a new report from content and information management specialists, infoMENTUM. The report examines the growing expectations of over 1000 office workers throughout the UK.

Up to one in five ‘Generation C’ employees consider their company’s IT systems as archaic, unreliable, or too slow. Additional findings suggest marketing departments are also lagging behind, with 30% of Gen C respondents being frustrated by online advertising.

A further 83.5% listed internet advertising techniques such as pop ups and auto-playing videos in their top five annoyances online. According to the report, this frustration with advertising is largely a result of the two-way dialogue that social media has allowed Gen C to develop with their favourite brands. This two-way communication is rapidly becoming an expectation, with pop-ups and banner ads being considered not only old fashioned, but also an infringement on the browsing experience.

The report, entitled ‘Generating success with Generation C’, considers the role of Gen C as both corporate employees and consumers. Unlike previous generations, the term Gen C does not describe a physical age bracket, but rather a ‘psychographic group’. As ‘digital natives’, they are always connected, always communicating, and, as the research findings suggest, have clear expectations from technology. Globally, most millennials are Gen C, but on average, 39% of Gen C are aged 35 or over – this is a group that makes up a significant percentage of any workforce.

As well as describing corporate IT systems as ‘unreliable’ and ‘awkward’, 45% of Gen C respondents stated that they would judge a company as ‘not innovative’ if its IT systems were poor. Internally, 43.5% of those surveyed agreed that improved technology would help to make their jobs easier. Additionally, a further 20% would even consider leaving a company as a result of subpar technology.

Based on these statistics, without ensuring their internal IT systems meet such high expectations, businesses will continue to fail in their efforts to attract – and maintain – valuable Gen C employees.

When asked how often their organisation’s IT systems were updated, 60% of research respondents thought that upgrades were only being undertaken ‘occasionally’. A further 10% felt that their IT systems were upgraded only when something went wrong, and 3% admitted their current technology has never been updated. This failure to keep IT systems up-to-date has resulted in widespread dissatisfaction amongst the Gen C workforce.

Such dissatisfaction also extends beyond internal IT functions to include external factors such as an organisation’s website. According to infoMENTUM’s findings, 98% of Gen C respondents were either annoyed or dissatisfied with their current website functionality and design. One in five of these individuals also stated that they would judge an organisation based on its website.

“Almost every business will have employees who could be described as Generation C and it’s a fast growing group,” said Vikram Setia, co-founder of infoMENTUM. “This is a creative and dynamic group of people who can be a great asset for any business. However increasingly businesses are side-lining IT departments, viewing them as little more than a team to call upon when something goes wrong. The findings of this report go a long way to prove that an organisation’s IT systems are increasingly vital in ensuring employee satisfaction and attracting the very best talent.”

To find out more about the future of Generation C in IT, download the full ‘Generating success with Generation C’ research report.