Want to engage your Millennial staff? Don't call them that

Boosting your firm's productivity and revenue margins by engaging your Millennial staff might be a great idea - but how do you go about doing it?

Well, for one, don't call them Millennials.

According to a new study by the Pew Research Centre, most young professionals in this age cohort do not identify with the term “Millennial.”

Polling 3,147 Americans in total, the report found just 40% of adults aged between 18 to 34 considered themselves part of the “Millennial generation".

Another 33% – mostly older Millennials – considered themselves part of the next older cohort, Generation X.

Generational identity was strongest among the Boomers: 79% of those 51 to 69 considered themselves part of the “Baby-Boomer generation.”

In addition, among those 35 to 50 (the age range for Gen X), 58% considered themselves part of “Generation X.”

ALSO READ: 5 unconventional ways to attract and retain Millennials

The report hinted that a possible cause of this aversion to being called Millennials was because these young professionals had the least favourable impressions of their own generation.

Millennials were more likely than older generations to say the terms “self-absorbed” (59%), “wasteful” (49%) and “greedy” (43%) apply to people in their age cohort.

In comparison, 30% of Gen Xers, 20% of Boomers and just 7% of Silents ( those aged between 70-87) viewed themselves as "self-absorbed".

"To be sure, some of these differences may be related more to age and life stage than to the unique characteristics of today’s generations," the report stated.

"Responsibilities tend to increase with age. As a result, it is possible that, in any era, older people would be more likely than younger people to view their generation as 'responsible'."

When it came to having favourable impressions of themselves, Silents were far more likely than people in younger age cohorts to view their own generation in a positive light.

Large majorities of Silents said the people of their generation are hard-working (83%), responsible (78%), patriotic (73%), self-reliant (65%), moral (64%), willing to sacrifice (61%) and compassionate (60%).

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