CONCEPTUALIZING THE ROLE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE RETENTION OF
GEN Y EMPLOYEES
By
Mohammad Faraz Naim
Dr. Usha Lenka
Department of Management Studies, Indian institute of
Technology, Roorkee
Contents
 Objectives
 Who are Gen Y?
 Why does studying Gen Y matters?
 Gen Y profile
 Gen Y’s Case for Retention
 Social media
 Scope
 Proposed Conceptual Framework
 Discussion
 implications
 Conclusion
 References
• To study the retention of Gen Y employees by exploring
the potential of social media.
• To propose a conceptual framework of social media-
based retention of Gen Y employees.
Who are Gen Y?
 The term ‘Gen Y’ was first coined in 1993
by a US magazine, Advertising Age for the
last generation to be born entirely in the
twentieth century.
 Born after 1980 & before 2000 (Twenge,
2010).
 Represents the youngest members of the
workforce globally.
Why does studying Gen Y matters?
 Gen Y will make upto 50%
& 75% of the global
workforce by 2020 & 2025
resp (Saxena & Jain,2012).
 Gen Y is different in terms
of work values &
expectations.
Workforce of different generations i.e. Veteran generation, Baby Boomers,
Generation X and Generation Y (Heather A. Earle, 2003).
Veteran generation (Born between 1925-1945)
Baby Boomers (Born between 1946-1965)
Generation X (Born between 1966-1980)
Indian Gen Y in numbers
 425 million (2013) constitutes roughly 25%
of world’s Gen Y population.
 50% population (2013) is below the age of
25 & over 65% is below 35 years.
 By 2020, 64% of the Indian population
would reach an average age of 29 years.
 By 2025, 25% of the world’s skilled
workers will be Indians.
Source: .(CII-Deloitte Gen Next Workforce Study, 2013 ; Indian
Census Report , 2011; TeamLease Indian Labor Report , 2009)
Gen Y Profile
 Technologically
most
sophisticated
generation (Park & Gursoy, 2012).
 Craves
continuous
learning
and
development (Eisner, 2005; Terjesen et al.,
2007).
 Prefers to work in teams on challenging
assignments that add value to the
organization (Munro, 2008).
 Prefers supportive management which
fosters creativity, risk-taking & open
communication (Martin, 2005).
 Desires
immediate feedback, quick
promotion & instant gratification on work
well done (Parry & Urwin, 2011).
 Displays high need for self-esteem and
self-actualization (Hastings, 2008).
 Exhibits strong career-orientation & takes
more chances with career choices (Eckert
& Deal, 2012).
Gen Y’s Case for Retention
 Past research indicates Gen Y is low
on loyalty (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008).
 Tends to frequently change jobs
in
search of better opportunities in terms
of career growth and L&D (Kim, Knight,
& Crutsinger, 2009; Morton, 2002).
Average tenure for Gen Y is 2 years (5
for Gen X & 7 for Baby Boomers)
(Schwble, 2012).
 Their profile & impending retirement of
boomers makes retaining them a top
HR priority.
Social Media
 “A group of internet based applications that
enable the creation & exchange of user
generated content” (Kaplan & Hanstein,
2010, p 6).
 Social media offers potential to facilitate
collaboration, internal communication,
development of social capital (DiMiceo et
al., 2008), mentoring, social learning,
recognition, & voice channels (Bradley &
McDonald, 2011).
contd…
 Tools like blogs, wiki, discussion forums,
Communities of practices (COP) foster
peer–to-peer knowledge sharing (Panahi
et al., 2013).
 Supports identification of a mentor by
scanning internal networking tools like
Yammer.
 Organization-wide internal job postings
(IJPs) appear on internal networks.
Classifying Social Media
Application
Description
Social content YouTube (enable users to create, upload, and share music or
sharing
videos or photos with others)
Social
Networking
Enterprise
networking
Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn (enable users to find and link
to other people. Once linked or connected, one can keep up
to date with that person's contact information, interests, posts,
etc).
Twitter often called ‘presence apps’ (enable users to post very
short messages (kind of blogging) and keep abreast of
others’updates)
Internal company networking site (IBM Social blue), Yammer
or blogs or wikis for employees.
Others
RSS Feeds, Discussion Forums, Gamification
Microbloggin
g
Scope
 Literature reveals a distinct profile of Gen Y
& hence it calls for transformation of HR
policies.
 Paucity
of
academic
research
on
engagement & retention of Gen Y and social
media.
 Social
media capabilities should be
harnessed in context of Gen Y engagement
and retention.
The Coceptual Framework
Gen Y’s traits & its use of Social media
 Technologicalimmersion
 Collaborative
 Need for self-esteem
 Development-oriented
 Desire for feedback
 SNS
 Blogs
 Internal networking
tool
 Discussion forums
 Communities
HR Interventions





Communication
Collaboration
Learning
Recognition
Career Mgt.
Satisfaction
POS
Commitment
Retention
Discussion
 One-size-fits-all approach is no longer relevant
in present diverse workforce.
 The
affordances of social media
openness,
accessibility,
real-time
flexibility and immediacy.
namely
mode,
 Social
media has application in customer
engagement & retention.
 Technological immersion of Gen Y employees.
contd…
 Social media provides affordances to satisfy
affective needs, cognitive needs social needs and
esteem needs.
 The rationale is that social media serves Gen Y
needs by facilitating HR interventions including
communications, collaboration, learning, and
recognition; contributing to the development of
POS and perception of being valued by the
organization leading to increase in satisfaction and
affective commitment, which ultimately translates
to intention to stay.
Implications
Theoretical
 Contributes to the literature on Gen Y and
social media.
 It is also a maiden attempt to study
technology-enabled retention from a
generational perspective.
contd..
Managerial
 It offers insights on Gen Y profile for HR
practitioners.
 The conceptual model is valuable both for
academics and practitioners as it improves
our understanding on linking social media
with HR interventions and retention by
developing a holistic strategy.
Furthermore, it is pertinent given the
present challenge of Gen Y retention
across the globe.
Conclusion
 The benefits accrued to social media
usage at workplace are strong enough to
enforce its adoption.
 The near future will witness Gen Y
becoming even more critical by acquiring
pivotal positions in the organization ladder.
 However, such approach cannot be used
as an all-alone strategy, but it in
conjunction with other practices like
supportive leadership & nurturing culture.
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 Generation Y in the Workplace: US, India & China ° Research-led insights & concepts
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