A Study of Millennial Job Satisfaction and Retention
Main Article Content
Abstract
Millennials have overtaken Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the workplace, as of April 2016, and organizations are being challenged more than ever to attract and retain job-hopping Millennials. The intent of this study was to investigate the factors contributing to Millennial job satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and their perspectives on retaining Millennials in Thailand. A total of 30 Millennials participated in a qualitative study that spanned over a period of four months. Millennials enjoyed jobs that provided challenging work while working alongside great colleagues in a pleasant working environment under good and supportive management. They also received satisfaction from competitive remunerations, training and career growth opportunities. On the other hand, others encountered unpleasant work experiences under bad management with communication problems while working with unpleasant coworkers, and receiving low remunerations. Millennials retention recommendations were for better management geared towards the needs of the new generation of employees, higher remuneration, good retention plans, providing mentorship and coaching opportunities, and establishing a more supportive work environment. Organizations could benefit from this study by using the results as possible change recommendations to increase Millennial job satisfaction that would in turn boost Millennial retention rates.
Article Details
Copyright: Asia-Pacific International University reserve exclusive rights to publish, reproduce and distribute the manuscript and all contents therein.
References
Andert, D. (2011). Alternating leadership as a proactive organizational intervention: Addressing the needs of the baby boomers, generation xers, and millennials. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 8(4), 67–83.
Angeline, T. (2011). Managing generational diversity in the workplace: Expectations and perceptions of different generations of employees. African Journal of Business Management, 5(2), 249–255.
Aruna, M., & Anitha, J. (2015). Employee retention enablers: Generation Y employees. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 12(3), 94–103.
Axten, C. (2015). Millennials at work. Defense AT & L, 44(2), 50–54.
Bertagnoli, L. (2017, January 2). Slowing down the revolving door. Crain’s Chicago Business, 40(1), 0003.
Boomers and Millennials define the new workplace. (2009, October 15). Trends Magazine, Issue 078, 17–22.
Bos, J., Donders, N., Bouwman-Brouwer, K., & Van der Gulden, J. (2009). Work characteristics and determinants of job satisfaction in four age groups: University employees’ point of view. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 82(10), 1249–1259. doi.org/10.1007/s00420-009-0451-4
Brown, S. (2017, September 17). How Generations X, Y, and Z may change the academic workplace. Chronicle of Higher Education, 64(4), 19.
Burmeister, M. (2009). “It’s all about ME” becomes a cross-generational conversation. Training and Development, 63(5), 92–93.
Bye, D. (2018, March). Beyond stereotypes: How to manage and motivate millennials. HR Specialist, 16(3), 7. https://www.thehrspecialist.com
Campione, W. (2014). The influence of supervisor race, gender, age, and cohort on Millennials’ job satisfaction. Journal of Business Diversity, 14(1), 18–34.
Caraher, L. (2014, October). Harnessing the power of Millennials. Leadership Excellence, 31(10), 39.
Chappell, L. (2012). Attention to retention. Automotive News, 87(6539), 3.
Creswell, J., & Guetterman, T. (2018). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed.). Pearson Education.
Crumpacker, M., & Crumpacker, J. (2007). Succession planning and generational stereotypes: Should HR consider age-based values and attitudes a relevant factor or a passing fad? Public Personnel Management, 36(4), 349–369. doi.org/10.1177/009102600703600405
Deal, J., Altman, D., & Rogelberg, S. (2010). Millennials at work: What we know and what we need to do (if anything). Journal of Business & Psychology, 25(2), 191–199. doi.org/10.1007/s10869- 010-9177-2
Deloitte. (2016). The 2016 Deloitte millennial survey. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pdf
DeVaney, S. (2015). Understanding the millennial generation. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 69(6), 11–14.
Dial back high turnover rates. (2010, August). Communication Briefings, 29(10), 5. www.briefingsmediagroup.com
Diskienė, D., Stankevičienė, A., & Jurgaitytė, N. (2017, December 7–8). Challenges for human resource department: The case of Millennials in the workplace [Paper presentation]. In E. Tsui & B. Cheung (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning, Hong Kong, 67–77. https://search.proquest.com/openview/ a659344dbd435597712af2626d76b23a/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1796418
Dolezalek, H. (2007). X-Y Vision. Training, 44(6), 22–27.
Ellis, R. (2013, July). Meeting millennials’ expectations. Training and Development, 67(7), 18.
Espinoza, C., & Ukleja, M. (2016). Managing the millennials: Discover the core competencies for managing today’s workforce (2nd ed.). John Wiley& Sons, Inc.
Falletta, S. (2016). Embrace the future. Smart Business Akron/Canton, 26(3), 12.
Fehn, D. (2009). Upstarts! How Gen Y entrepreneurs are rocking the world of business and 8 ways you can profit from their success. McGraw-Hill.
Fisher, A. (2015). Employees are happier at work, but plan to quit anyway. https://fortune.com/2015/05/12/ happy-employees-quit-anyway/
Flaherty, K., & Pappas, J. (2000). The role of trust in salesperson-sales manager relationships. The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 20(4), 271–278. doi:10.1080/08853134.2000.10754247
Frankel, L. (2016). Employee retention: Seven common-sense ways to keep your star millennials. Employment Relations Today (Wiley), 42(4), 49–56.
Guillot-Soulez, C., & Soulez, S. (2014). On the heterogeneity of generation Y job preferences. Employee Relations, 36(4), 319–332.
Haar, J., Russo, M., Suñe, A., & Ollier-Malaterre, A. (2014). Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 361–373. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.010
Hancock, J., Allen, D., Bosco, F., McDaniel, K., & Pierce, C. (2013). Meta-analytic review of employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance. Journal of Management, 39(3), 573–603. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0149206311424943
Hansen, R. (2015). Perception vs. reality: 10 truths about generation Y workforce. https://www.livecareer. com/resources/careers/planning/gen-y-workforce
Hauw, S., & Vos, A. (2010). Millennials’ career perspective and psychological contract expectations: Does the recession lead to lowered expectations? Journal of Business & Psychology, 25(2), 293–302.
Hillmer, S., Hillmer, B., & McRoberts, G. (2004). The real costs of turnover: Lessons from a call center. Human Resource Planning, 27(3), 34–41.
Inabinett, J., & Ballaro, J. (2014). Developing an organization by predicting employee retention by matching corporate culture with employee’s values: A correlation study. Organization Development Journal, 32(1), 55–74.
Jalnawala, C. (2018). Unlocking the potential. Human Capital, 21(11), 40–41.
Jauhar, J., Chan S., & Rahim, N. (2017). The impact of reward and transformational leadership on the intention to quit of Generation Y employees in oil and gas industry: Moderating role of job satisfaction. Global Business & Management Research, 9(4), 426–441.
Kaifi, B., Nafei, W., Khanfar, N., & Kaifi, M. (2012). A multi-generational workforce: Managing and understanding millennials. International Journal of Business & Management, 7(24), 88–93.
Kultalahti, S., & Viitala, R. (2014). Sufficient challenges and a weekend ahead–Generation Y describing motivation at work. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 27(4), 569–582. doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2014-0101
Lamm, E., & Meeks, M. (2009). Workplace fun: The moderating effects of generational differences. Employee Relations, 31(6), 613–631.
Lancaster, L., & Stillman, D. (2010). The M-factor: How the millennial generation is rocking the workplace. Harper Collins.
Lee, C., Mullins, K., & Young, C. (2016). Factors affecting job satisfaction and retention of millennials. Allied Academies International Conference: Proceedings of the Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications & Conflict (AOCCC), 21(2), 6–9.
Lyness, K., & Judiesch, M. (2014). Gender egalitarianism and work-life balance for managers: Multisource perspectives in 36 countries. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 63(1), 96–129. doi.org/10.1111/apps.12011
McShane, S., & Von Glinow, M. (2018). Organizational behavior (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Mellott, A. (2018). S.E.E.: A solution to turnover. Exchange (19460406), (243), 24–26. https://www. childcareexchange.com/article/s.e.e.-a-solution-to-turnover/5024324/
Mermin, G., Johnson, R., & Murphy, D. (2007). Why do boomers plan to work longer? Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 62B(5), S286–S294.
Merriam S., & Tisdell, E. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Mihelič, K., & Aleksić, D. (2017). “Dear employer, let me introduce myself”–Flow, satisfaction with work–life balance and millennials’ creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 29(4), 397–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10400419.2017.1376503
Na-nan, K., & Saribut, S. (2019). Development and validation of an organizational commitment instrument for generation Y employees in small and medium-sized enterprises in Thailand. Industrial & Commercial Training, 51(4), 244–255. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-11-2018-0091
Natarajan, S., & Palanissamy, A. (2015). Employee motivation & encouraging retention in the workplace: A critical study. International Journal of Management Sciences, 5(10), 709–715.
Olson, A. (2018). What millennials expect in the workforce: Organizations need to adapt and understand what millennials want in a work environment. https://www.csemag.com/articles/what-millennials-expect-in-the-workforce/
Plew, S. (2013). Retaining young talent in your organization. Business People, 26(9), 82
Pratitas, P. (2011). Kwaam-pòok-pan-taang-jai kŏng pá-nák ngaan ong gaan àyk-gà-chonglùm jay ner ray-chân waai gàp ong gaan têe kăo tam ngaan [The commitment of private enterprise Gen Y employees with their organization]. The Journal of Faculty of Applied Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, 4(2), 38–47.
Reuteman, R. (2015, March). Generation gaps. Entrepreneur, 43(3), 42–48.
Rousseau, D. (2004). Psychological contracts in the workplace: Understanding the ties that motivate. Academy of Management Executive, 18(1), 120–127. doi.org/10.5465/AME.2004.12689213
Sandhya, K., & Kumar, D. (2011). Employee retention by motivation. Indian Journal of Science & Technology, 4(12), 1778–1782.
Saratovsky, K., & Feldmann, D. (2013). Cause for change: The why and how of nonprofit millennial engagement. Jossey-Bass.
Seppanen, S., & Gualtieri, W. (2012). The millennial generation: Research review. USA: National Chamber Foundation. https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/files/article/foundation/ MillennialGeneration.pdf
Siegfried, R., Jr. (2008). Mapping a career path for attracting & retaining talent. Financial Executive, 24(9), 52–55.
Spano, K. (2015, July). Millennials and the workplace. NH Business Review. https://www.nhbr.com/millennials-and-the-workplace/
Tadesse, W. (2018). Factors affecting employee retention in Ethiopian Public Organizations. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 7(3), 22–32.
Tims, M., Bakker, A., & Derks, D. (2012). Development and validation of the job crafting scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(1), 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.05.009
Walsh, D. (2015, July). Millennials in the workplace. Crain’s Detroit Business, 31(13), 0011.
Ware, B. (2014, May). Stop the gen Y revolving door. T+D, 68(5), 58–63.
Wen, C., Muthuveloo, R., & Ping, T. (2018). Factors influencing job satisfaction: A perspective of Millennials in Malaysia Multinational (MNC) Companies. Global Business & Management Research, 10(1), 48–66.
Wetherell, S., Gavert, E., Ellis, S., & O’Donovan, R. (2015). The “disruptive” generation: Millennials in the workplace. Market Leader, (Q4), 40–42.
Williams, K., & Page, R. (2011). Marketing to the generations. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 3, 1–17.
Young, S., Sturts, J., Ross, C., & Kim, K. (2013). Generational differences and job satisfaction in leisure services. Managing Leisure, 18(2), 152–170. doi.org/10.1080/13606719.2013.752213
Zabriskie, K. (2016, June). Getting the most from millennials. State Legislatures, 42(6), 26–27.
Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your workplace. AMACOM.
Zikmund, W., Babin, B., Carr, J., & Griffin, M. (2010). Business research methods (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.