Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

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

School

Management

Advisor

Kathleen Barclay

Abstract

Understanding Millennials' job expectations is critical for employee retention because of the number of Generation X workers who are unable to fill the job openings that Baby Boomers leave vacant when retiring from the workforce. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore Millennial employees' job expectations. Interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 20 Millennials who had at least a bachelor's degree, had at least 1 year of employment experience, and worked in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The inclusion criteria established work experience as a foundation for determining Millennials' job expectations. The conceptual frameworks of this study included generational and psychological contract theories to support exploration of the central research question regarding job expectations of Millennial Generation employees. Moustakas's 7 steps of data analysis were used to guide logical identification of the job expectation themes most significant to these 20 Millennials. The themes identified were opportunity for growth, compensation, recognition, promotions, supervisor support, flexibility, environment, and job security. These Millennials expressed interest in having work/life flexibility in an engaging work environment that fosters professional skills growth. Participants sought supervisors who readily recognized accomplishments, provided opportunities for achieving promotions, and applied compensation that reflected job performance. Using these findings, business leaders could implement strategies and policies that create a more fair and satisfying work environment for Millennial employees. Social change could occur within companies as leaders integrate expanded information on job expectations into talent management procedures for improving overall multigenerational job satisfaction and employee relationships.

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