Millennial voices stifled by employers: survey
Hierarchical company structures are stifling the voices of younger employees, research from Global Women has found.
It conducted a survey of more than 700 people at 100 organisations and found millennial-aged workers, especially male ones, were significantly less likely to feel they worked for an inclusive employer compared with Generation X and baby boomers.
There was also a ‘‘significant dip’’ in inclusion scores for employees earning between $70,000 and $100,000, a grouping where more women than men answered the survey.
Global Women chief executive Miranda Burdon said employers had made big strides in creating fairer, more respectful workplaces, but the survey results highlighted that many people felt their voices were not being heard.
Global Women was set up to help advance gender equality in workplaces, but the survey indicated it was not only women who could benefit from workplaces becoming less hierarchical and more inclusive.
‘‘What this report has highlighted is we are making good inroads in certain areas like fairness and respect,’’ Burdon said.
However, ‘‘Our pipeline, the millennials, and that group earning $70,000 to $100,000 are feeling significantly less included. That’s a real red flag for me,’’ she said.
Technology was advancing rapidly, and companies needed to adapt, she said. That required collaborative ways of working.
The Global Women report did not focus solely on women.
Report author Sonia Breeze from Deloitte said millennial men, who were feeling excluded as a group, stood to benefit from more flexible and inclusive working arrangements.
‘‘They [young men] are naturally more inclusive,’’ she said. ‘‘They have grown up in a different social environment. They want to do more of the childcare.’’
Inclusion scores were 34 per cent higher in companies where senior leaders spoke up and challenged the status quo.
The data appeared to show a link between inclusion and financial performance. The more included people felt at work, the more likely they were to report that the business was doing well.
They were also more likely to say they planned to stay with their employer, rather than look for work elsewhere.