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I despise generational assumptions and stereotypes. Most lack objective data to support them, and there are always exceptions. It's simply a narrative that supports the biases that many older people have about younger folk.

That said, recruiting and HR practitioners need to make sense of changes in the workforce. That may sometimes require generalizations — just don't let your assumptions become biases or blind spots.

People entering the workforce in the late 2010s have never known a time without the internet. They probably had iPhones in high school. The idea of having everything in your pocket — music, movies, phone, friends, videos, and knowledge — is not novel. It's the only reality they've known.

While I despise generational stereotypes, it's clear that younger workers are entering the workforce with a fundamentally different experience with technology, and this will affect their expectations at work.

The Demands of a Younger Workforce

Everyone agrees that the workforce is changing. It's up to you, as HR and business leaders, to shift your practices and perspectives to embrace these changes. Here are four ways to do so:

1. Open Your Ears

Every older generation has had complaints about younger ones, but don't be the stuffy old person in the room. Many young workers have strong opinions. They also have completely different worldviews and experiences with technology. Use this as an asset to understand emerging trends and how they could affect your industry.

Most established companies are paranoid about being disrupted by startups and new technology. These companies are investing heavily in innovation labs or digital divisions with the explicit purpose of understanding future trends and how they will affect their core businesses.

HR should be the conduit between the demands and insights of younger workers and the broader business and executives. HR teams can set up specific learning groups or cross-functional cohorts to bring younger workers together from across the company.

2. Create Context for Engagement

Don't ignore input from younger workers simply because they're young. When employees are highly engaged, it boosts business profitability. Younger people, in particular, feel more engaged when they have a clear understanding of how their work fits into the big picture.

Along the same lines, younger workers enjoy the ability (or perceived ability) to make decisions and lack patience with unnecessary processes or structures.

Recruiting teams can succeed by deeply understanding the profile of (young) people who will succeed within the company. You can use more senior young cohorts — those one to two years ahead of any incoming batch — to get feedback on their experience in the hiring process. These young employees are often the best source of insight for what other companies or competitors are doing in the market.

3. Welcome Internal Digital Processes

Younger workers (and increasingly everyone!) also prefer company tools and materials that resemble consumer apps. Using ideas like the Hook Model is a great way for businesses to start because this type of approach allows HR leaders to consider which apps are most engaging and look for tools that are similar.

When hiring, look at increasing your use of video, chat-style interaction, and gaming to test cognitive or problem-solving abilities in applicants. This way, the applicant already knows you're embracing shifts in technology before starting.

4. Provide Ongoing Education

Create internal — or seek out external — massive open online courses (MOOCs) that give younger workers opportunities to continue learning or developing skills that might even be outside of the needs of their current role.

Millennial workers crave constant learning, which can actually benefit businesses by increasing efficiency and employee satisfaction. Providing ongoing education decreases turnover and creates a culture of knowledge.

As more and more young people enter the workforce, the landscape of all workplaces will evolve. Use these four tips as a way to build culture and relationships, but also to tease out insights on the experience or needs of younger folk. Remember — they're not going away!

Michael Overell is CEO and co-founder of RecruitLoop, an online platform of independent recruiters giving companies a smarter way to hire. He relocated to the Bay Area from Sydney in 2013 and currently leads a distributed team across six countries. Michael previously worked with McKinsey & Company and PwC after graduating from University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Commerce (with first-class honors) and a Bachelor of Arts. Follow him at @mboverell.