As the landscape of commerce becomes more competitive, companies are constantly coming up with new ideas for products that can be sold to create the highest profit. Companies are trying to sell their commodities in unique ways than ever before.
However, one underrated commodity that every company is responsible for is the product of employee engagement. As much as sales produce revenue, the way in which companies engage their employees internally, particularly their millennial employees, in some parts of the world is worth as much as $300 billion each year.
As a result of a potential lack of employee engagement, companies have to spend more money to support the cost of turnover and unproductivity. Lack of engagement is very costly to companies around the world, but luckily there are ways in which to boost millennial engagement within companies by keeping a few important tips in mind that I will address later in this article.
The first issue to address on this topic is the amount of millennial disengagement currently present in the workforce. According to a 2014 Gallup report of employee engagement in the United States, less than 29% of the millennials in the workforce were engaged in their work, which is significant considering that millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. labour force, according to the Pew Research Center.
According to the Gallup report, millennials are also less likely than other generations to “have the opportunity to do what they do best” at work. As a result of a lack of engagement, among other topics, two in three millennials expect to leave their current jobs by 2020, according to the 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey.
As arguably the most formally educated generation in history, millennials can only perform at their highest level and are usually only willing to remain with their employer when they are given the chance to contribute to the company they work for in ways that match their skill set so they can develop their abilities.
The lack of engagement that millennials experience in the workplace usually flies under the radar as an issue that is less important than the short-term deliverables a company is responsible for, but it carries over into the cost of recruitment if they decide to leave the company because of being disengaged.
According to HR professionals in various industries, 87% of companies reported it costs between $15,000 and $25,000 to replace each millennial employee lost from lack of engagement! The scale of this issue grows depending on how big a company is.
As mentioned above, of the 53 million millennials in the American workforce, if two of every three millennials plan on leaving their current employer in four years, that trend results in millions of dollars being spent to replace millennial employees. Since 40% of companies currently employ 50 or more millennial workers, these costs are expected to rise in years to come. This money can easily be saved if companies make subtle adjustments now to engage their millennial employees in meaningful work.
What makes a lack of engagement in the workforce even more dangerous is that it results in the lack of productivity across all age groups. Statistics from New Century Financial Corporation indicate employees actively engaged in their job produce better results. For example, account executives at a banking company who were actively disengaged produced 28% less revenue than those who were engaged whereas companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%, and earn 1.2 to 1.7% more than their peer firms.
HAPPY WORKERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO SOLVE DIFFICULT PROBLEMS FASTER.
For example, unhappy and disengaged employees cost American business over $300 billion each year, so it literally pays to keep employees happy and engaged.
The best way to engage and stimulate millennials is by allowing them to contribute to the bigger picture of what the company is trying to achieve.
Coming from a millennial, here are a few basic tips that companies can follow in order to keep millennials engaged and excited:
- Give them work that contributes to the bottom line of the company- millennials are more likely to be motivated if they contribute to the tasks that contribute to the overall success of the company. Menial tasks can only take engagement so far before employees become bored and complacent.
- Create a mentorship environment- social media has created such a connected world, that millennials want to be connected in their workplace the same way they are capable of being connected online. By requiring senior members of an organization to be mentors to the younger employees, it will make millennials feel that the company cares about their development and growth.
- Allow opportunities for networking- millennials will want to learn more about the business they work in and allowing them to go to conferences and network with professionals outside the company will allow that. If millennials feel that you care enough about their development to allow them access to the opportunities outside the company, they will be more willing to work hard for you.
Have you ever experienced the feeling of being just a worker? Or maybe you felt being a part of the company’s success as an employee? Let me know in the comment section below!
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