RETAINING MILLENNIALS ENGAGEMENT AND WELLBEING THROUGH CAREER PATH AND DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The topic of Millennials (1980-1995) in the workplace raises many business conversations and studies. These past few years, Millennials have filled up the workplace and surprisingly brought an interesting phenomenon. Millennials easily leave their jobs to find another in less than two years after starting the job. The goal of this paper is to examine this phenomenon by understanding the factors related to high millennials turnover. Some things that will be explained related to millennials are their employee commitment, wellbeing, and the function of career path and development in retaining millennials. The method of this writing is through journal reviews. In many studies, millennials are explained to be aware of their wellbeing and value work-life balance. They are eager to learn more and make changes when they could. Organizations that do not provide millennials with a place to grow and explore their capabilities to the fullest would not earn their loyalty. Clear career path and career development create the environment in which millennials feel appreciated, and it leads to employee satisfaction and a healthy workplace. When employees are satisfied, they will perform better to achieve the organization's goals and their own goals. Eventually, satisfied millennials will possess a higher commitment to the organization. It is crucial for an employer to understand millennials' characteristics and provides them with opportunities to grow because millennials' trust must be sought through processes where millennials are looked after.

Full text

Journal of Leadership in Organizations Vol.2, No. 1 (2020) 42-48
42
RETAINING MILLENNIALS ENGAGEMENT AND WELLBEING
THROUGH CAREER PATH AND DEVELOPMENT
Sista Mayangdarastri (1*), Khanifatul Khusna (2)
1 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia
2 Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jember, Jember, 68121, Indonesia
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Keywords:
Millennials;
Career Engagement;
Career Path;
Career Development;
Wellbeing;
Commitment.
The topic of Millennials (1980-1995) in the workplace raises many
business conversations and studies. These past few years,
Millennials have filled up the workplace and surprisingly
brought an interesting phenomenon. Millennials easily leave their
jobs to find another in less than two years after starting the job.
The goal of this paper is to examine this phenomenon by
understanding the factors related to high millennials turnover.
Some things that will be explained related to millennials are their
employee commitment, wellbeing, and the function of career path
and development in retaining millennials. The method of this
writing is through journal reviews. In many studies, millennials
are explained to be aware of their wellbeing and value work-life
balance. They are eager to learn more and make changes when
they could. Organizations that do not provide millennials with a
place to grow and explore their capabilities to the fullest would
not earn their loyalty. Clear career path and career development
create the environment in which millennials feel appreciated, and
it leads to employee satisfaction and a healthy workplace. When
employees are satisfied, they will perform better to achieve the
organization's goals and their own goals. Eventually, satisfied
millennials will possess a higher commitment to the organization.
It is crucial for an employer to understand millennials'
characteristics and provides them with opportunities to grow
because millennials' trust must be sought through processes
where millennials are looked after.
___________
* * Corresponding Author at Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah
Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia and Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business,
Universitas Jember, Jember, 68121, Indonesia E-mail address: s.mayangdarastri@mail.ugm.ac.id;
hannifa91@gmail.com
JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP
IN ORGANIZATIONS
Journal homepage: https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/leadership

S. Mayangdarastri and K. Khusna Journal of Leadership in Organizations Vol.2, No. 1 (2020) 42-48
43
1. Introduction
Millennials have unique character traits
compared to the generations before them,
such as Baby Boomers (Buzza, 2017).
Millennials were born between the years
1980 to 1995 and are the majority of the
workforce in the workplace nowadays. To
some, they are the next ''Greatest
Generation,'' armed with the tools and
eagerness to drive toward a better future and
make a change in a world facing economic,
geopolitical, and environmental crises
(Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). Hence,
companies have high hopes for talented
millennials to improve company
performance. However, their unique
characteristics that are visible in how specific
they want their workplace to be led to the
phenomenon in which millennials are known
to have low organization commitment and
are motivated to gain experiences by
changing from one company to another.
Millennials were born in an era of
rapid technological development and with
the main communication using social media
and digital technology. Therefore, they are
able to create new opportunities along with
the development of increasingly
sophisticated technology. Millennials are
very sensitive and critical of environmental
changes that occur around them. Millennials
are also easily bored with monotonous
environments at work. These different
attitudes and behaviors make them a unique
workforce that might have an impact on
human resource productivity and which
might also affect organizational performance
(Ramli & Soelton, 2019)
This study provides a contextual
overview, review, and commentary on why
this phenomenon happens and the probable
way of retaining millennials by giving them
the opportunity to grow in the organization.
It could be argued that the importance of
career development is closely related to
millennial's commitment to the organization
and their engagement in the workplace. This
study is conducted by reviewing journals,
theories, and findings.
Millennials are aware of their needs,
what they want, and how to achieve it. In
order for the organization to retain talented
millennials, they must integrate workforce
satisfaction with the opportunity to grow
through clear career paths and career
development programs. Not only is the
career path necessary to greater workers'
satisfaction, but also an important aspect of
increasing productivity and profitability.
2. Literature Review
There are points to be addressed in this
journal regarding the research questions.
First, we will discuss millennials in general,
millennials in the workplace, and dive as to
what motivates millennials to change the
workplace. Then we will explore the broader
aims and effects of career path and
development in the workplace. Lastly, we
will understand employee engagement.
These points are provided here to see the
connections better.
Millennials in General and in The
Workplace
Maximizing and enhancing the role of a
qualified workforce has always been one of
the most challenging tasks for human
resource practitioners. The emergence of the
Millennial generation has made it difficult
for human resource practitioners to manage
the workforce. Most organizations today face
the same difficulty in involving the
millennial workforce. (Jha, Sareen, &
Potnuru, 2019.

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The most apparent difference between
millennials and other generations in the
workplace is their distinct relationship with
technology (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010).
Millennials were born at a time when
technology and the internet were starting to
rise. Therefore, their growing environment
was supported by technologies. This
environment caused a greater difference
between millennials and the generations
before them. In 2008, UCLA neuroscientist,
Henry Small conducted research that shows
significant changes in brain function among
generations or "brain gap". This leads to
millennials (digital natives) who are more
effective in multitasking and filtering
information. Hershatter & Epstein also stated
that millennials seek feedback because it
provides them with a progressive path.
Millennials are willing to learn from their
mistakes to achieve their goals. In theory,
millennials or employees in general who are
valued, appreciated, and looked after will
respond with loyalty.
Millennials pay attention to authenticity
and organization values because they will
choose to work with organizations that drive
change and could fulfill their personal and
societal goals. PricewaterhouseCoopers, as
cited in Hershatter & Epstein (2008), reported
that loyalty for millennials employees means
that organizations assure employees with
opportunities, professional development,
and training, and provide coaching and
mentoring. They value loyalty to a wider
perspective, and this statement is supported
by Stewart, Oliver, Cravens, & Oishi (2016),
who conducted an observation of their
students where they realized that millennials
were driven by wider priorities. Millennials
are concerned in the 'big picture' of what they
do.
A white paper published by Robert Walters
contains research resulting in these findings
listed below:
1. 91% of millennials value rapid career
progression that is communicated to
them during the recruitment process.
They have high expectation on the
employer when they first undertake
the recruitment.
2. 71% of millennials believe that their
employer should provide guidelines
for bonuses and promotions. In other
words, millennials want their
employer to explain the possibility of
career development and clear career
path.
3. Career progression is the strongest
reason for what keeps millennials
engaged at work, followed by the
opportunity to exercise influence,
recognition of individual
achievements, and personalized
training. These factors are all included
in what the company should pay
attention to when preparing a career
path and development.
4. 25% of millennials change jobs because
of higher salary and bonuses, 25% to
find a more fulfilling job, and 20% for a
better career opportunity.
5. 53% of millennials felt disappointed by
the lack of personal training and
development in their new job. This
shows that the employer has not been
able to provide millennials with a clear
career path and career development.
Millennials prioritize fulfilling job and
opportunities for career development
rather than salary.
Millennials are considered a disloyal
generation because of how quickly they leave
an organization, creating a high turnover and

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45
high financial expenses (Buzza, 2017). A few
of the reasons for this phenomenon is stated
in the findings of Robert Walter's research.
Therefore, attaining work-life balance to
decrease turnover and avoid burned-out is
significant. When employees are burned-out,
they tend to easily leave their job because of
dissatisfaction of their work-life balance.
In addition, Millennials want quick
returns on their work. Compared to the
previous generation, millennial generation
emphasizes the balance of work with their
personal goals and interests. They want a
flexible environment with many better and
faster career development opportunities.
Millennial generation believes in mutual
relations. They have no commitment to
anything unless they find personal interest in
an organization. The millennial generation
also expects their superiors to help them
achieve their personal goals in return for
commitment and emotional behavior
towards the organization (Jha et al., 2019).
Millennials think that having a flexible work
schedule means that work is not measured
by the time they spend on their work. The
most important thing is whether the work
has been completed and the requested from
leaders' goal is reached (Putriastuti & Aless,
2019).
Career Path and Development
Career development consists of actions
undertaken by workers (career planning)
and the organization (career management) to
encounter career objectives and job
necessities (Al-Shawabkeh, 2017). As
obtained in the literature, the definition of
career development can be viewed from
different approaches; 1) congruence between
career development, individuals'
personality, and their occupation; 2) a
process for achieving specific employee's and
organization goals. career development can
help reduce costs spent on recruiting and
training new employees in organizations.
(Osibanjo, Oyewunmi, & Ojo, 2014)
At the individual level, career
development processes in work that helps
the employee in managing their mental
health and wellbeing (Redekopp & Huston,
2018). Career development is positively
connected to happiness, wellbeing, and the
employee's quality of life. Waddell & Burton
as cited in Redekopp & Huston (2018), said
that "work and paid employment are
generally beneficial for physical and mental
health and well-being." With career
development and counseling services,
employee's wellbeing will be well-served,
and they will continuously adapt to changes
and create a healthier workplace.
Nevertheless, good leadership is still one of
the factors that strongly affect wellbeing and
absences. (Redekopp & Huston, 2018).
Career paths can provide individuals and
organizations with the structure needed for
career development. A person's career path
can be defined as the sequence of work
positions or roles they have during their
lives. Individual career paths can change
during a career; therefore the characteristics
that determine career paths and their use in
organizations are individual career
movements over time (Hedge & Rineer,
2017).
According to Chen and Choi (2008), as
cited by (Putriastuti & Aless, 2019),
millennials are idealists, highly optimistic,
and confident. Millennials have high
expectations and very proud of themselves.
Millennials believe that if they make a good
contribution to the organization, they expect
to get rapid promotion and career
development.

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Employee Engagement
An engaged employee will commit
intellectually and emotionally to their
organization's success (Hewitt Associates,
2009). In other words, their contribution to
organizational performance will increase,
and they will be likely to remain in the
organization.
International Survey Research (ISR)
explains that employee engagement as a
process by which an organization increases
commitment and continuation of its
employees to the achievement of superior
results. The ISR separates commitment into
three parts, 1) cognitive commitment, 2)
affective commitment, and 3) behavioral
commitment. In other words, the three
dimensions of commitment are thinking,
feeling, and act (Woodka, 2014).
A survey of 1,798 participants (Cravens et
al., 2015) found that there are three factors
positively affecting organizational
commitment; job satisfaction, self-
performance, and retention.
Other than that, they found no relationship
between organizational commitment and
organizational culture. When employees are
satisfied and could actualize themselves,
they become more invested in achieving
organizational goals, which lead to higher
organizational commitment, higher levels of
engagement, and less turnover.
Commitment and trust are products of
communication that are designed by the
organization through processes and policies
with the end result of satisfaction in both
parties (Chia, 2005), as cited in Mishra (2014).
Likewise, employee engagement is affected
by workforce well-being. Saripudin and
Rosari (2019) investigated that engaged
employees included millennial generation,
have a relationship with their spiritual well-
being. Their research suggested that
employers or leaders should accommodate
spiritual needs to enhance employee or work
engagement (Saripudin & Rosari, 2019).
Engagement and commitment are crucial for
organizations because they can make
potential contributions to valuable business
results (Robert J. Vance, 2006).
3. Discussion
Millennials, in general, are aware of their
surroundings. They tend to choose an instant
way or the fastest way to get to what they
wanted. They are eager to make changes in
the world where changes come and go as fast
as the flip of a wrist. They easily adapt to
technologies and do tasks all at the same
time, but negatively they are less adept in
face-to-face communication. They tend to use
modern technological devices for their
primary communication. More
communication takes place in virtual space,
and their online presence never ends
(Bencsik, Juhász, & Horváth-Csikós, 2016)
In a globalized world where information
and communication flow easily, millennials
are interested in collecting as many
experiences as they could. One of the results
in this behavior is their high turnover.
Similar research conducted by Saragih (2016)
as cited in (Frian & Mulyani, 2018) shows
several factors that affect millennial
employee turnovers such as salary, facility,
career opportunity, supervision,
relationship, work, job flexibility, and work
location. The main interesting
recommendations of Millennials in their
work are flexible work schedules and
integration of work-life and/or work-life
balance.
Studies have shown that millennials
appreciate the opportunity and space for
them to grow in organizations. Even though

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47
higher salary and bonuses is one of the
reasons why millennials change jobs, two
other reasons are related closely to career
development. They are willing to learn to
step on their progressive path. As the
generation who value self-grow and self-
actualization more than any other
generations, millennials will be loyal to an
organization that provides a better
understanding of millennials' characteristic
itself.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, the employer must
understand millennial's characteristics and
provide them with opportunities and space
to grow. When the career path and
development in an organization are clear,
millennials will be more interested in
contributing to the organization's goals. As
millennials are respected and appreciated
with clear communication on how to achieve
their work-life balance, millennials will show
loyalty and commitment to the organization.
The author hopes this review journal could
benefit many parties. Even though there are
many flaws and limitations in this journal,
this journal could raise some questions to be
answered later: Are there other factors
possibly related to millennial's engagement
and wellbeing besides what was already
stated here? Will this problem also occur in
the next generation?
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