Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Dina Samora

Abstract

As of 2020, millennials became the largest generation in the workforce, impacting the U.S. economy by $30 billion in turnover annually. It has become increasingly challenging to attract and retain millennial generation employees. Business leaders face financial and operational decreases due to millennial employee turnover. Using transformational leadership and generational theories as the conceptual lens, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies organizational leaders use to motivate and retain talented millennial employees. The participants included six business leaders in the southeastern United States who implemented successful retention and motivational strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, a review of company public records, and the organizations’ websites. Yin’s 5-stage analysis was used to analyze the data, which enabled identifying three themes: competitive benefits, workplace values, and open communication and feedback. A key recommendation is for leaders to use transformational leadership tenets to recognize the millennial cohort’s distinctiveness to support retention strategies that foster increased employee engagement to enhanced employee commitment and willingness to participate in their organizations’ successes. The implications for positive social change include the potential for business leaders to implement transformational leadership strategies to improve the workplace environment, increase job satisfaction, and reduce turnover, thereby increasing organizational profitability and productivity and improving local economies.

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