Valentine’s Day is this week, which means that hopeless romantics around the world are preparing to show the people in their lives how much they care—some are even getting engaged. The same can’t be said for a lot of Gen Z employees, though.
According to a recent Gallup poll, employee engagement is at its lowest level in a decade—and workers younger than 35 are largely responsible for the decline (employee engagement matters because it correlates with both workplace productivity and organizational performance).
These results align with earlier McKinsey research, in which more than half of surveyed employees in all age groups reported being relatively dissatisfied with their jobs. In the Gallup poll, Gen Zers reported feeling worse about each of 12 elements of workplace engagement the survey tested: for example, clarity of expectations, personal recognition, sufficient resources to do their work, opportunities to develop, and feeling cared about. Turns out jobs, too, can lead to heartache.
These findings coincide with a strong return to office (RTO) push (in related news, “Corpcore” is IN). Plenty of business leaders have advocated for RTO and cite employee engagement as one of the reasons for doing so. But mandating RTO alone isn’t enough to boost employee morale or productivity, says McKinsey Senior Partner Aaron De Smet. Echoing this sentiment in the latest episode of the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast, McKinsey Partner Bryan Hancock observes, “It doesn’t matter where you ask somebody to be. What matters is what you do with them once they’re there.”
In the same episode, Hancock and McKinsey Senior Partner Brooke Weddle tease upcoming McKinsey research on the opportunities and challenges in bringing people back to the land of dual monitors and fluorescent lighting. Among the big findings: Burnout rates are similar among employees who are fully remote or fully in-person (around one-third of people feel burned out)—and higher compared with hybrid workers—while across age groups, boomers are most satisfied with a return to the office.
“While the world hasn’t ended from massive turnover or massive employee dissatisfaction across the board, companies are introducing a risk into the system—a risk that some of their star performers could leave … as they’re moving back to the office,” Hancock said. To mitigate those risks, companies should invest in collaboration, connectivity, innovation, mentorship, and skill development (the truth is, the same goes for remote and hybrid workplaces).
“Let’s be honest. It’s not like collaboration, innovation, and mentorship were all happening perfectly before the pandemic,” Weddle said. “Even if organizations have an existing model, they need to dust it off and say, ‘How does this need to evolve?’” |
