Generations aren’t a monolith. It’s reductive to say “these people are leaving because they’re from a different generation.”

The best thing you can do is perform an exit interview and ask them why they decided to move on. If they’re good people they’ll give you an honest answer.

And remember, young people in the workforce now have had adults in their lives who were likely laid off during the 2008 financial crisis. Those adults were, correctly, teaching their children that companies are not loyal to their employees, so do not be loyal to your company.

They are probably leaving for more pay, better benefits, or a promotion of some kind. The only way you’ll know for certain is if you ask.

What do you mean by low engagement? Are they not doing their work in their given hours?

I’m a millennial but I imagine it’s the same issue.

Work isn’t something I want to do. It’s something I have to do to for money. If someone offers me more money I’m going to take it.

So first thing to check is are they just leaving for better pay. If so paying them more is basically your only option.

In my industry (software development) the average length at a job for younger people is two years because it’s the only way to get a decent pay rise in many cases.

The idea of loyalty to a company is dying a quick death.

If it’s not that the only to find out is to talk to them. Ask them if they’re willing to do an exit interview and see if there’s anything you can improve on.

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Stop trying to be their friend or do anything outside of office hours. 99.9% of people are not at the workplace out of free will because whatever it is you’re doing is what they want to spend the next 40 years of their lives doing exclusively.

As others have said, fight for more pay and benefits and fuck everything else. Which may not be easy in your position which I assume is middle management. Most of us footmen are very much aware of how you guys are essentially just used as the fall guys for all kinds of bad news from above, and that you have little leeway in making such decisions at your level.

First of all, let me say this - You are better than 99% of managers out there because you are asking yourself these questions. It means you are wise enough to acknowledge shortcomings and mature enough to seek help. So thank you. I wish more people had your worth ethic. You are probably a cool manager, and those are hard to come by these days.

Are you conducting exit interviews? I know it seems pointless, since they have likely already taken other jobs and it’s too late to try and entice them back with a deal, but it does provide some context as to why they are leaving the company. They’ve got a new gig lined up, so they don’t need to pull any punches. You will tend to get honest answers.

No, you don’t know how to manage genZ (or any other cohort) because that’s not a fucking thing.

Start here:

Fight to pay them more. Period. This should be at the top of your daily to-do list. Your team is the reason you have a job, and they’re the reason your shareholders live such splendid lives. So, you want to keep your position(s) of benefit & security? Then never stop fighting for worker’s pay & benefit INCREASES. It is really hard to care about management, production (or shareholders 🙄) when you can’t take care of yourself or your family.

Curate a safe, work-focused environment that supports the life-cycle of a product that actually solves current, real-world problems like - global warming, profiteering, equality, etc.

Stop managing and learn how to lead.

Leaders:

Know how to say, “I don’t know.”

Show / do by example

Share knowledge

Support and foster knowledge sharing.

Shut their goddamn mouths and trust their teams to succeed (that’s why you hired them in the first place right?) and when the team/member falls short of PREVIOUSLY AGREED UPON goals you work together to address the extenuating circumstance(s).

Every company’s greatest asset and product is the verve, innovation, and vision of its employees. Squash, or worse, fail to invest in any of these aspects of your workforce and the human beings you’re trying to “manage” will “manage” themselves into better working conditions elsewhere.

hold leadership accountable, provide a clear path to advancement and pay them well

I think I’m suited to answer this. I manage multiple people, including Gen Z. I am also Gen Z. People are actively trying to work here.

One of the biggest factors is employee appreciation and respect. A lot of companies will half-ass that front through just giving their employees an occasional pizza party. The problem with that style of management, is that it removes the human aspect. It kind of just turns it into another thing to just “check off the list” for corporate. It’s something commonly thrown back at employees who complain. We’ve seen that happen enough to not want to deal with it.

It’s also important to focus on the little things. Small details are what make up the big picture. If you leave those out, the big picture will be incomplete. Congratulate them when they reach a new goal. Tell them when they do work that would make the company proud, within reason. Encourage them, and actually work alongside them sometimes. If you want to throw free food on top, maybe poll your staff for their opinions on restaurants/food trucks. Show them you care.

Regarding the human aspect, a happy employee stays, and a happy employee is also usually a productive employee. Get to know your staff a bit, casually. Try to give reasonable allowances for time off during stressful life situations, like when their home floods or their sibling dies. Most companies will only allow the legal minimum.

Don’t expect more from them than what you are willing to do yourself.

Accept their imperfections and work with them towards improvement. Instead of shouting, go straight towards the solution, and include them in the process. Allow them to learn how to avoid the mistake and learn how to fix it with you. Don’t baby step it, but maybe show them a cool trick for that process if you have one. Remember that they are human and that there was also a time where you didn’t know how to do it.

I’ll be frank with you. Many of us don’t see a great future over the horizon, so we’re kind of making the best with what we have. We want to enjoy as much of the time in-between as we can. We’ve seen our grandparents, parents, siblings, and other family members become burnt out and emotionally overwhelmed, and we don’t want that for ourselves.

The best way to not have that, is to not go along with it. So, hypothetically, I would go to the next job that treats it’s employees well, even if the wage is the same. Why would I waste my efforts and hard labor on someone who doesn’t value it? Why not spend it somewhere where I can learn, improve, and thrive?

It’s okay to change positions/roles/jobs. That’s what you need to understand

This post seems ridiculous to me. If you would like to know why your employees are unhappy then why would you ask random strangers on the internet why they are leaving your company? If your (or anyone’s) workplace culture discourages employees to air grievances then you aren’t entitled to know why they would like to switch companies. Most likely, I think that young people don’t wish to be percieved or talked about as whiny (or any other words you can use), in the event that they raise issues which management or colleagues view as unimportant or inconsequential for the company. I’m also curious as to how you know that your Millennial team members are happy, as opposed to working just because they need the money and don’t see better opportunities elsewhere.

Does “low engagement” mean “objectively not doing the job you are paying them to do”? Or does it mean “not going ‘above and beyond,’ aka not working unpaid overtime or doing things outside their job description”? Because only one of these warrants letting someone go.

Try paying them better. It really is that simple.

Everyone’s giving you long-winded answers, but this is the ultimate truth.

PAY MORE

I can tell you why I’m quitting. I’m a millennial. I generally loved the people I work with. I like the work environment. Or I did. We have several old timers quitting right now. The attrition rate is through the roof. Retirement is upon a lot of the old guys and they’re leaving either for better jobs or for ones that are less stressful if they aren’t retiring. The younger ones (millennials and gen z) don’t see the point in sticking around if the older cohort leaves and take their knowledge with them. There’s no one to train us, and worse still, changes to the way that my worksite is managed make staying untenable. We don’t want to be left holding the bag so to speak. Blamed for low productivity after the older guys are all gone and the knowledge gap becomes more apparent. We aren’t really paid well enough, and we don’t see the kind of COLA adjustments we should.

Additionally, there is a shortage of us, we have expenses on tools and so on that add up and the company I work for doesn’t manage slow times and busy times. So I can’t even count on overtime. Sometimes it’s mandatory. Sometimes it’s nowhere to be found.

I have brought up multiple issues with safety and legal responsibility and been told by my manager that they need to think about it - repeatedly. I feel like my concerns aren’t being addressed. I want a good home/work balance. I spend 10 hours or more a day at work, and sometimes that’s 4 days a week sometimes it’s 7.

Worrying and stress are a big part of why I am leaving. I don’t want to be worried or stressed all the time. I don’t want to think about work outside of work.

You sound like a good boss who is engaged in the development of your employees. That’s good. But sometimes it’s just that we often take jobs because we have to, not because we want to. And when something better comes along we feel like we have to take the chance.

I would ask her directly, say that you want to know why you lose gen z workers.

Just remember that they’re still early in their careers, changing jobs is about the only way to get a raise these days.

Not a very big sample size, did you perform an exit interview? Why not just ask their thoughts on the way out?