The millennial generation is now the largest generation in the workforce and we have access to technology that has changed both our mindset and the working world as a whole.
According to a recent Gallup poll, only 33% of all employees are actually engaged at work. This small percentage of workers are the ones who make their organizations better every day — unfortunately, the remaining 66% do not. 16% of employees are actively disengaged, meaning they are unhappy in at work and negatively impact productivity. The remaining 51% of employees are just plain unengaged, they are the potential A+ students performing at a B- level.
Disengaged employees cause poor customer service, lower product quality, lower sales, and the list just goes on. As the labor market has increasing shortages of talent, disengaged employees are increasingly choosing to leave voluntarily to seek greater fulfillment from a future employer. In other words, people are increasingly making the decision to factor in their happiness and job satisfaction in their decision to get come into work every day.
The ability to access and be actively approached by opportunities at competing companies has accelerated dramatically due to innovation in recruiting applications like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. These always-on digital opportunity platforms are readily available on the desktops and mobile devices of every employee, equipped with push notifications so they never miss a beat. The resulting voluntary turnover causes low morale and disengagement to spread to other employees and can even negatively impact a company’s brand.
The most common reason for poor engagement is the perception of a lack of internal career growth opportunities.