10) The term employee engagement is used in inconsistent ways: Employee engagement can mean either mood, performance or disposition.
9) Millennials are the largest share of the workforce: By 2025, Millennials will be 75 percent of workers.
8) Gallup reported Millennials are the most disengaged generation: Gallup found 55 percent were not engaged, creating turnover, safety and profitability issues.
7) Varying birth years between sources make understanding Millennials imprecise: Census Bureau defines a Millennial as born 1982 – 2000 while Pew Research Center says 1981–1997.
6) We don’t have a full picture: As of January, the youngest Millennials were 17 years old and have therefore not yet entered the workplace. Younger Millennials and older Millennials may have distinct differences.
5) Little scholarly research exists: The collective findings of the few academic studies on Millennials are inconclusive.
4) Most of the data comes from consulting firms: Gallup and PricewaterhouseCoopers conduct their own employee engagement surveys but don’t always release certain pieces of information as it’s proprietary.
3) The same data is being shown to us repeatedly: It’s easy to think we understand Millennial disengagement because of the sheer volume of articles that exist; however, most articles reference the same data. Gallup’s How Millennials Want to Work and Live (2016) report is cited hundreds of times.
2) Related concepts are used interchangeably and incorrectly: Employee engagement, motivation, job happiness and satisfaction are not the same. If these terms are used conversely, the source may not be reliable.
1) We don’t know nearly as much as we think we do: The call to action is to read with skepticism and not make assumptions.
Danielle Clark maintains a career coaching and small business consulting practice supporting many areas, including Worcester. To connect with her, visit danielleclarkhr.com.
