The mostcommon activist action is initiating a conversation with otheremployees, followed by sharing an opinion or comment about theiremployer that was initially posted by someone else. (Photo:Bloomberg)

Employers take note: more workers—especially millennials—arefeeling more empowered to be “employee activists,” according to“Employee Activism in the Age of Purpose: Employees(UP)Rising,” by Weber Shandwick, in partnership with UnitedMinds and KRC Research.

“The majority of employees, particularly millennials, believethat they are right to speak up for or against their employers whenit comes to hot-button issues that impact society,” says WeberShandwick's CEO Andy Polansky. “As employee activism continues to gather steam,leaders need to be prepared to listen and respond.”

The survey of 1,000 U.S. workers found that millennials are thegeneration most likely to be employee activists (48 percent), muchmore so than Gen Xers (33 percent) and baby boomers (27percent).

Related: Google walkout: A new kind of workeractivism

Some recent examples of activism both opposing and supportingemployer actions include employees walking off their jobs toprotest the company paying a large severance package to anexecutive fired for alleged sexual misconduct; an employee of amajor media company tweeting concerns with his management'sdecision to spend a large sum of money on a TV ad supportingjournalists' freedom of speech, rather than on employee benefits;employees of a large retail chain posting comments on their ownsocial media pages that they were proud that their employer removeda certain category of unhealthy products from their shelves.

While workers of all generations believe that employees have aright to speak up in support of their employers, millennials arethe only generation that think employees are just as right to speakout against their employers as they are to support (82 percent vs.85 percent, respectively).

The most common activist action is initiating a conversationwith other employees, followed by sharing an opinion or commentabout their employer that was initially posted by someone else onsocial media; expressing an opinion at a company-wide meeting orforum (including online forums); contacting their employer's humanresources department; posting an opinion or comment on socialmedia; contacting one or more of their employer's top leaders;posting an opinion or review on a career site; signing a petition;and posting a video on social media.

Some actions are rarely taken—activist actions that garnered 10percent or less include encouraging others not to work for theiremployer; saying something to the news media (e.g., by talking to areporter, posting a public comment, or writing a letter);participating in a demonstration, protest or march; and quittingtheir job and letting their employer know they were leaving becausethey disagreed with the employer's stance on an issue.

The report offers guidelines for employers on how to navigate“the new wave” of employee activism:

• Embrace employee activism as a positive force to propel yourreputation and your business.
• Ensure your corporate purpose and culture are known from thepoint of applicant interview and onboarding through employeetenure.
• Be mindful of what is on employees' minds.
• Cultivate a culture of openness and transparency.
• Establish a response protocol.
• Clearly articulate and communicate your company's values.
• Make your company's values part of the solution.

“Corporate reputation can find itself on shaky ground if no oneis taking the employee pulse or feedback seriously,” says WeberShandwick's chief reputation strategist Leslie Gaines-Ross.

Read more: 

• Amazon employees call for climate changeaction
• Google bows to employee pressure, ends forcedarbitration
• Google workers demand better conditions forcontractors