The Working Dead: Poll shows 71% of employees may be disengaged, office 'Zombies'
Millennials are not engaged at work according to a recent Gallup poll. More than 60 percent of them are looking for new jobs.
Albany is on nearly every list for best cities for millennials the past five years and employers in the area are doing their best to stand out to attract and retain millennial employees.
The poll shows only 29 percent of millennials are engaged at work -- the other 71 percent are not engaged -- or have totally checked out. Dr. Karen McGrath, a communications professor at the College of St. Rose and the co-author of the book, The Millennial Mindset says millennials need to feel like more than just a cog in a wheel.
"They have to be able to see something other than just the job. They want to feel like a person, they want to feel like a professional and they want to feel like they're growing," McGrath said.
McGrath says millennials are looking for development opportunities, coaching and meaningful relationships with their co-workers and bosses.
"They're looking for work-life balance and so if their boss is stressing that as well, while still remaining productive, in his or her business, that's going to be really important and might even be a trigger or a motivator for a lot of the millennials," McGrath said.
That's exactly why Dan Dinsmore, CEO of Overit in Albany, not only designed his office space to appeal to all different generations and styles of workers, but also is constantly adapting to ensure his employees can grow and have fun at work.
"It's harder and harder to find great talent and it's one of the key focuses that we have and to do so, that's the biggest change right there is just looking at what kinds of things people are interested in," Dinsmore said.