Unpacking generation Y’s engagement using employee experience as the lens: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT

With the ageing workforce and the impending retirement of Baby Boomers, there is an urgent need for human resource development (HRD) professionals to not only retain but also actively engage Generation Y. They will soon become the major segment of the global workforce dominating the 21st century. Notwithstanding, it has been challenging to keep this generational cohort actively engaged and it remains unclear what is driving higher levels of engagement with Gen Y. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to explore various antecedents of employee engagement identified in the literature for this generational cohort. This review spans two decades (2000–2021) of research and presents a conceptual model that highlights antecedents at three employee experience levels across findings from 82 studies. The proposed model could serve as a general blueprint for future research in HRD theory and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Gen Y
• employee engagement
• employee experience
• integrative literature review