Millennials are more likely than Gen-Xers 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. A new survey by Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews site, finds that millennials often report less job fulfilment than the generations of workers before them and that they rely heavily on their managers for accurate, consistent, and immediate feedback.
The frequency, consistency, and type of feedback directly correlates to a millennial’s desire to quit their job.
‘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,’ says Joe Carella, assistant Dean for the Eller College of Management, University of Arizona.
While experts emphasise that informal and instant feedback should be a staple in the modern workplace, only 23 per cent of millennials say they currently receive informal, ad-hoc, or immediate feedback, compared to 30 per cent of Gen-X employees.
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 to correlate job fulfilment with the success of their manager’s feedback. Namely, of the total who receive accurate and consistent feedback, 68 per cent report job fulfilment. Of the millennials who receive accurate and consistent feedback from their managers, 72 per cent find their job fulfilling.
Thirty-two percent (32 per cent) of millennials say they are likely to leave their job within the next six months, compared to 11-12 per cent of Gen-Xers and Boomers. Similarly, 40 per cent 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 modernise their approach to providing feedback to millennials. Given the impact that employee fulfilment has on productivity and loyalty, feedback and evaluation systems are the most reliable and long-term solutions to unsatisfied millennial employees.
Further reading on millennial and baby-boomers
