Gallup, the company known for its surveys, seems to be using data gathered about millennials to create anxiety among business leaders.

In a recent report, How Millennials Want to Work and Live, it offers this (partial) summary of its findings:

“… The strength of the marketplace and workplace depend on what the millennial generation can accomplish. If millennials cannot find good jobs, the economy will continue to lag. If they are not engaged in those jobs, companies' profitability, productivity and innovation will suffer. And if they are not thriving in their well-being, they will struggle in life, affecting how they perform as citizens, consumers and employees.”

The survey report then proceeds to declare millennials the “least engaged generation in the workforce.” This is critical, since Gallup, among other consulting groups, identifies engagement as the key to productivity.

Yet let’s take a look at this alarming generational gap in engagement:

Engagement by generation

Millennials: 29 percent
Gen Xers: 32 percent
Baby boomers: 33 percent

Not engaged by generation

Millennials: 55 percent
Gen Xers: 50 percent
Baby boomers: 48 percent

Actively disengaged

Millennials: 16 percent
Gen Xers: 18 percent
Baby boomers: 19 percent

Of course every percentage point of engagement allegedly translates into a related bump up in productivity. But could not the following statement found in the report apply just as well to Gen Xers and baby boomers, based on the above numbers?

“The millennial workforce is predominantly ‘checked out’ — not putting energy or passion into their jobs. They are indifferent about work and show up just to put in their hours.”

Are the percentages cited marginal differences or huge gaps? Do they indicate a severe problem with millennials only — or with the entire U.S. workforce?

Now, when it comes to job-hopping, Gallup’s report confirmed what many other surveys have found: that millennials job-hop more frequently than other generations. Again, the difference between this young generation and their elders is a matter of interpretation. Gallup says 50 percent of millennials “strongly agree that they plan to be working at their company one year from now.” Among non-millennials, that number is 60 percent.

Other gaps are more substantial. The survey found that 60 percent of millennials say they are “open to a different job opportunity;” while 45 of non-millennial workers say the same. Additionally, 36 percent of millennials say that will look for a job with a different organization in the next year if the job market improves, compared to 21 percent of non-millennials.

It’s a sizable gap. But that’s also a pretty big “if.”

Other findings from the survey include a lack of affiliation among millennials with political parties and religious organizations, compared to their elders. And, of course, they are more “wired” and more constantly “connected” to work and friends than the others.

The survey also reported myriad points of strong similarity between the three main working generations. Yet Gallup would have organizations undergo complete structural and philosophical overhauls to accommodate millennials:

“In nearly every corner of the U.S., business executives, community and civic leaders, marketers and managers are talking about millennials and their behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. They want to understand how this generation is similar to and how they differ from their predecessors, as well as how to apply this knowledge to create more engaged employees and consumers and healthier, happier citizens.”

What the data seems to suggest is that employers should have been addressing engagement much earlier by striving for a stronger mission and better communications with all generations.

Perhaps millennial data can be used to finally get leadership to pay attention to the tired old ways of doing business that just don’t work for most employees. Because there is one area where millennials are indisputably ranked much higher than other generations: Many more of them will be in the workforce for many years to come.

Instant Insights /

Are millennials really that different from older generations?

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