You think you're disengaged? Check in with the youngest among your workforce. They're really disengaged, it turns out. A new study, "The State of Employee Engagement 2008," from Princeton consultant BlessingWhite, finds Generation Y employees the least engaged in the workplace on four continents.
According to the study, which explores workplace attitudes among three generations of employees, and includes survey responses from more than 7,500 individuals and interviews with 40 senior human resources and line managers, at least one-quarter of Generation Y employees are disengaged in all key geographic regions except India. Southeast Asia reports the greatest portion of disengaged Gen Y workers with 35 percent.
The research suggests that the more senior the employees the more engaged they are, says BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice. "Around the globe, senior executives generally are more engaged than front-line managers or individual contributors. Gen Y disengagement levels may reflect, to some extent, their low seniority since more Baby Boomers predictably hold leadership roles. Increased engagement is an expected outcome from power and position."
Another contributing factor is that younger employees often do not have a clear picture of what will make them happy, says Rice. "Often, they can't find what they're looking for because they don't have the experience to know what they want. Lack of personal clarity also can influence engagement for Generation Y, in particular."
The exception to a general picture of disengagement among Gen Y employees, notes Rice, is India, whose younger em- ployees have higher levels of engagement compared to other regions. "This probably reflects the expanded opportunities, as well as its young, fast-paced, knowledge-based economy," he says."In fact, all generations in India are happier than employees in other regions."
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