TITLE:
Strategies to Engage Millennial Employees (A Multiple Case Study)
AUTHORS:
Duane O. Stephens
KEYWORDS:
Employee Engagement, Hospitality, Leaders, Millennials
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.9 No.2,
March
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: Grounded in Kahn’s employee engagement theory, the purpose of this
qualitative multiple case study was to explore effective strategies used by
leaders in the hospitality industry to improve Millennial employee engagement.
The participants were 5 hotel leaders in Virginia who successfully engaged
their Millennial workforce. Data were collected from semistructured interviews,
company documents, and note-taking. Data were analyzed using Yin’s 5-step data
analysis, member checking, and methodological triangulation. Four themes
emerged: coaching through education, rewards that improve engagement, enhancing
engagement through motivation, and communication that enhances awareness and
receptiveness. The results of the study indicated that managers could use
mentoring, communication, and incentives to engage millennial employees and
decrease employee engagement barriers. The implications for positive social
change include providing hospitality industry managers with a framework for
understanding their Millennial workers that can potentially promote positive
relationships and improve employee morale. Employee engagement strategies could
potentially lead to an improvement in the societal workforce, reduce unemployment
rates, and increase the US economy and tax base.