Links & Further Reading

The resources below focus on Millennial Employees' Engagement.

Millennials matter. PwC (2011) estimated that the millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000, now represents 50% of the global workforce. Attracting and engaging the best of these millennial workers is critical to the future of your business. 65% of global business leaders are now focusing on strategies to improve employee engagement and retention. 

Millennials are different. They have a drastically different outlook on what they expect from their employment experience. They are masters of digital communication, they are not attached to institutions and traditions, they change jobs more often than other generations as they have far-reaching opportunities to research companies and jobs. Gallup (2016) survey shows millennials behave as consumers of the workplace, weighing their options and continually looking for roles and organizations that enable their best performance.  They don’t just work for a pay check, they want a purpose. They want coaches, not bosses. They want ongoing conversations, not annual reviews. Millennials relish the opportunity to engage, interact and learn from senior management (PwC, 2011). Millennials want to develop their strengths; they are pursuing personal development.

Millennials are filled with distrust and are disillusioned. It seems like they’re perpetually caught in the crossfire of social, political, and economic turmoil. Consequently, Deloitte’s (2019) survey shows millennials economic and social/political optimism is low, millennials express lack of faith in traditional societal institutions, including mass media, and are pessimistic about social progress. They’re not particularly satisfied with their lives, their financial situations, their jobs, government and business leaders, social media, or the way their data is used. They are sceptical of business’s motives: they will not hesitate to end relationships when they disagree with companies’ business practices, values, or political leanings, however they will patronize and support companies that align with their values.

But millennials want new opportunities with current employer not the next. ManpowerGroup (2016) survey of over 11.000 millennial workers in over 25 countries shows 63% millennial workers intend to stay with their current employer for the next few years or longer. However, when asked what the “right” amount of time is to stay in a single role before being promoted or moving to another, two-thirds said less than two years and a quarter said less than 12 months, confirming their craving for new challenges and portfolio-style jobs.