Millennial Job Loyalty on Shaky Ground
Millennials are more likely than GenXers or Boomers to quit their job in the next six months—and nearly one-third of them say that is exactly what they plan to do, according to new research from B2B ratings and reviews site Clutch. The study finds that Millennials more often report less job fulfillment than the generations of workers before them and that they rely heavily on their managers for accurate, consistent and immediate feedback—and this frequency, consistency and type of feedback directly correlates to a Millennial’s desire to quit their job, the survey found.
“The more traditional models of providing feedback are less liked by Millennials. They want more emphasis on instant feedback and the immediate connection to the work that they’re doing,” said Joe Carella, assistant dean for the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, in a news release.
While experts emphasize that informal and instant feedback should be a staple in the modern workplace, only 23% of Millennials surveyed say they currently receive informal, ad-hoc or immediate feedback, compared to 30% of Gen-X employees surveyed.
Not only do Millennials receive too little of the immediate and frequent feedback that is best suited to them, but they are more likely than the average employee surveyed to correlate job fulfillment with the success of their manager’s feedback. Namely, of the total survey respondents who receive accurate and consistent feedback, 68% reported job fulfillment. Of the millennials who receive accurate and consistent feedback from their managers, 72% find their job fulfilling.
Thirty-two percent (32%) of the Millennials surveyed said they are likely to leave their job within the next six months, compared to 11-12% of GenXers and Boomers. Similarly, 40% of Millennials do not consider themselves fulfilled at work, which is nearly double the number of Gen-Xers and almost four times more than Baby-Boomers.
Experts cite a lack of employee perks like flexible hours and telecommuting as possible factors that can contribute to the lack of Millennial engagement and loyalty in the modern workplace. However, the Clutch survey finds that inconsistent and infrequent feedback from managers can have a significant impact on Millennials’ level of career happiness, regardless of perks.
There are many ways managers can decrease the percentage of Millennial employees who plan on quitting in the near future, and Clutch recommends that companies first modernize their approach to providing feedback to Millennials. Given the impact that employee fulfillment has on productivity and loyalty, feedback and evaluation systems are the most reliable and long-term solutions to unsatisfied Millennial employees.
Image Courtesy of Pexels.