Dive Brief:

• Millennials are seriously unmotivated by their company’s mission, a new Gallup poll shows. Slightly more than a third of millennials polled said they strongly agree that their organization’s mission, or purpose, gives importance to their job. How Millennials Want to Work and Live also found that just 40% of millennials feel strongly tied to their company’s mission.  
• The poll shows that getting millennials to rally around a purpose or mission increases employee engagement. Most millennials, 67%, said they feel engaged on the job when they strongly agree that their company’s mission validates their job as important. 
• Gallup also found that posting inspirational slogans on office walls isn’t enough to motivate and connect with Millennials. Millennials are 4.5 times more likely to be engaged in their jobs when companies promote their missions and when company leaders inspire them through interaction.

Dive Insight:

Unengaged and unmotivated young workers without a sense of purpose can mean trouble for employers. Millennials are a sizable group, making up 38% of the U.S. workforce. Employers must proactively inspire and connect with millennials to and keep them engaged and productive at work. This won’t be easy. Gallup found that just 26% of millennials heard someone talk about how their work is tied to the company’s mission in the past seven days and only 34% heard similar talk in the past 30 days.

Although Millennials are thought to be job-hoppers, not all studies show this to be true. A Metlife study found that while they don’t stay in one job as long as other generations, they can be engaged at work. Offering benefits suited to their lifestyles and keeping up with their demand for career development are strong recruiting and retention tools.