A millennial approach to employee engagement

By Priyanka Saha

It’s known that there are no precise dates on the start and end of a generation yet we all believe that ours is the Millennial Generation or the Gen Y – a generation unmistakably known for its pragmatic ambitions, inviolable courage to follow passion, and an unflinching desire towards changing the world.

As millennials accelerate the workforce with mind-sets to create, inspire, and lead ideas to execution, the biggest challenge many corporations face today is retaining them. The State of American Workplace Report 2013 states that only 30 percent of this workforce is ever truly invested, accounting for over 60% loss in productivity in the organization. While the trend holds true for most corporate cultures, companies such as Google continue to stay “young”, grow exponentially and sustain innovativeness within and beyond. In India, companies recognized as “Great Places to Work” distinguish themselves on this unique attribute – creating an environment of emotional engagement that propels employees to become their most efficient and productive selves.

This leaves us with only one question – what’s a good way to get our millennials truly engaged? Introducing ‘Social Impact’ in the corporate culture is one answer. A corporation’s association with a good cause does not only differentiate it’s brand quotient among its consumers and competitors but also goes a long way in engaging employees better, by enabling them to witness a real sense of impact through their jobs. Initiatives such as Employee Payroll Giving, volunteering, and organization-led charity marathons help employees challenge themselves in more ways than one to break organizational silos and facilitate collective impact by making participation urgent and necessary. When corporations give employees the opportunities to realize their personal impact outside their work, employees associate more with one another and become more socially loyal to their jobs.

>> Continue Reading