(Dis)engagement in a disguise: The challenge of understanding and recognizing engagement among millennial remote-workers
(2022) SKOM12 20221Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- Maintaining engaged employees has become a key issue for organizations in recent years, as millennials have become the largest generation currently active in the work life. Recently, Covid-19 pandemic forced marketing agencies in Finland to start working in-remote, posing even bigger challenge for engagement in these organi- zations. Using the theoretical framework of social exchange, this thesis aimed to enhance understanding on what millennials perceive as socioemotional support in their organizations, as well as to further knowledge on the role of perceived support for engaging. Focusing particularly on remote work, this study also aimed to pro- vide insights to how millennial employees perceive engagement to be enacted in the work... (More)
- Maintaining engaged employees has become a key issue for organizations in recent years, as millennials have become the largest generation currently active in the work life. Recently, Covid-19 pandemic forced marketing agencies in Finland to start working in-remote, posing even bigger challenge for engagement in these organi- zations. Using the theoretical framework of social exchange, this thesis aimed to enhance understanding on what millennials perceive as socioemotional support in their organizations, as well as to further knowledge on the role of perceived support for engaging. Focusing particularly on remote work, this study also aimed to pro- vide insights to how millennial employees perceive engagement to be enacted in the work environment. Through in-depth interviews, it was established that im- portant for millennials ́ perceptions of support are especially interactions with su- pervisors that demonstrate support and recognition for professional advancement, as well as non-formal interactions and personal connections with co-workers. The employees alleged to reciprocate support they receive by investing emotionally to their work and by increasing their efforts, thus supporting previous literature that has argued perceived support to be a constituent to engagement. However, this the- sis problematized that millennials ́ need for support that manifests validation and recognition, could produce behaviour that might only resemble engagement. This behaviour could be misinterpreted as engagement, especially in a remote-context, causing disengagement to go unnoticed in these organizations. The results of this study addressed the impacts of remote work for both engaging, as well as the en- actment of engagement, and highlighted the role of personal connections for both understanding individual motivations and supporting the engaging of millennial employees. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9091425
- author
- Vanha-Majamaa, Melissa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOM12 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- engagement, communication, social exchange, perceived support, reciprocity
- language
- English
- id
- 9091425
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-27 14:22:15
- date last changed
- 2022-06-27 14:22:15
@misc{9091425,
abstract = {{Maintaining engaged employees has become a key issue for organizations in recent years, as millennials have become the largest generation currently active in the work life. Recently, Covid-19 pandemic forced marketing agencies in Finland to start working in-remote, posing even bigger challenge for engagement in these organi- zations. Using the theoretical framework of social exchange, this thesis aimed to enhance understanding on what millennials perceive as socioemotional support in their organizations, as well as to further knowledge on the role of perceived support for engaging. Focusing particularly on remote work, this study also aimed to pro- vide insights to how millennial employees perceive engagement to be enacted in the work environment. Through in-depth interviews, it was established that im- portant for millennials ́ perceptions of support are especially interactions with su- pervisors that demonstrate support and recognition for professional advancement, as well as non-formal interactions and personal connections with co-workers. The employees alleged to reciprocate support they receive by investing emotionally to their work and by increasing their efforts, thus supporting previous literature that has argued perceived support to be a constituent to engagement. However, this the- sis problematized that millennials ́ need for support that manifests validation and recognition, could produce behaviour that might only resemble engagement. This behaviour could be misinterpreted as engagement, especially in a remote-context, causing disengagement to go unnoticed in these organizations. The results of this study addressed the impacts of remote work for both engaging, as well as the en- actment of engagement, and highlighted the role of personal connections for both understanding individual motivations and supporting the engaging of millennial employees.}},
author = {{Vanha-Majamaa, Melissa}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{(Dis)engagement in a disguise: The challenge of understanding and recognizing engagement among millennial remote-workers}},
year = {{2022}},
}