Millennials more engaged at work

Millennials are becoming more engaged the longer they’re in the workforce, according to a study.

The Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Canada study finds that millennial engagement is now at 69%, up from 63% seven years ago.

And several specific measures suggest why that number has risen. Among them, 77% of millennials agreed with the statement My job is a good fit for my abilities and experience—up 32 percentage points from 2007. Seventy-one percent said that senior leaders make them feel positive about the future of their organization, compared with 57% seven years ago. And 75% said that managers recognized their efforts and results, compared with only 63% seven years ago.

The study also suggests that the long-held assumption that part-time millennials are less engaged than their full-time counterparts “is simply not true,” says Neil Crawford, Aon Hewitt’s leader of the study. Full-time millennials had an average engagement score of 70%, while the part-timers’ score was 69%.

“What these results suggest is that after more experience in the workforce, and living through a global economic crisis and ensuing recession, millennials’ attitudes and expectations toward their employers have become more realistic,” he adds. “We also see evidence that Canadian employers are figuring out more effective ways to engage millennials through clear and positive communication, effective recognition practices and sound management.”

The top 10 employers in the 2014 study are as follows:

  1. Cisco Systems
  2. EllisDon Corp.
  3. Bennett Jones LLP
  4. Marriott Hotels of Canada
  5. Birchwood Automotive Group
  6. LoyaltyOne
  7. Edward Jones
  8. PCL Constructors
  9. JTI-Macdonald Corp.
  10. McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Ltd.

The 50 Best Employers in Canada list will appear in the Nov. 18 issue of Maclean’s magazine and is also available on the Best Employers website.