Lack of Recognition is Driving Away Young Recruits in the Workplace

A recent article in the Financial Times highlights how workplace culture is often a ‘rude awakening’ for new graduates. Young workers are lulled into a false expectation of what the workplace will be like from their time at university where they were praised by the faculty for hard work and recognized and rewarded for high achievement.

Millennials dominate the workforce, but according to a 2016 Gallup poll, 71 percent of them aren’t engaged at work, and at least 60 percent are open to new job opportunities. This is most likely down to unrealistically high expectations of what their day-to-day work lives would be like, a lack of recognition, and frustration because they want career advancement to happen faster.

Lack of opportunity to progress is increasingly a reason why young people leave their place of work, according to US research firm The Work Institute’s 2019 Retention Report. The report found that 30 percent of US millennials quitting their jobs left for “career development” reasons, compared with 10 percent of baby boomers.

The Financial Times article tells young workers to get ready for a “lack of acknowledgment for your contributions and, in some cases, an environment that’s toxic compared to former classrooms.” It states that several companies are holding onto overly “hierarchical structures” where managers are managers, and lower-level employees are just that.

The Org aims to remedy some of these challenges, by making organizations more transparent. Transparent organizations allow companies to recognize all of their employees, from the CEO to the junior-graduate-assistant-analyst, for their important contributions. Businesses aren't made of bricks and clicks, businesses are made of people, and the best businesses find a way to show that their people are recognized, appreciated, and celebrated in the workplace.

Check out the full Financial Times article here.