Relationship management with the Millennial generation of public relations agency employees

Please cite this article in press as: Gallicano, T.D. Relationship management with the Millennial generation of public

relations agency employees. Public Relations Review (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.03.001

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PUBREL-1113; No. of Pages4

Public Relations Review xxx (2013) xxx–xxx

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Public Relations Review

Research in brief

Relationship management with the Millennial generation of

public relations agency employees

Tiffany Derville Gallicano∗

University of Oregon, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 28 December 2011

Received in revised form 12 February 2013

Accepted 1 March 2013

Keywords:

Millennials

Relationship management

Employee

Commitment

Public relations agency

a b s t r a c t

This study investigates relationship building with the Millennial generation of public rela￾tions agency practitioners from their own perspectives. A recent survey of this population

revealed that they have strong relationships with their agency employers, except for a

measurement that asked if a long-term bond existed between themselves and their organi￾zations (Gallicano, Curtin, & Matthews, 2012). Consequently, this study explores long-term

relationship building with this employee public based on five asynchronous online dis￾cussion groups. The conclusion of this study offers theoretical insights about commitment

and relationship types. In addition, this study can be helpful to public relations researchers

who study Millennials by providing participants’ descriptions of how they characterize

their generation of public relations practitioners.

© 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

As the largest, most diverse generation in the workforce, the Millennial generation (people born between about 1982

and approximately 2002 (Howe & Strauss, 2000; Pew Research Center, 2010) is a key group of employees with whom public

relations agencies need to cultivate relationships. According to a recent survey, Millennial public relations practitioners

generally have strong relationships with their agency employers; however, only 55.3% of respondents expressed that a

long-term bond exists between themselves and their agency employers (Gallicano et al., 2012). The purpose of this study

is to develop an understanding of the Millennial generation of public relations agency practitioners and gather insights

about cultivating long-term relationships with them. The agency context was an attractive choice because it is where many

Millennial practitioners start before moving to other settings, which tend to require at least a couple years of experience for

public relations positions (Culp, 2011).

2. Theoretical terms

Continuance commitment is defined as “an awareness of the costs associated with leaving an organization,” (Meyer &

Allen, 1991, p. 67), and “anything that increases the cost associated with leaving an organization has the potential to create

continuance commitment” (Meyer & Allen, 1991, p. 77). Thus, “employees whose primary link to the organization is based

on continuance commitment remain because they need to do so” (Meyer & Allen, 1991, p. 67).

Affective commitment is defined as an “employee’s attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organiza￾tion,” which could include enjoying an organization’s philosophy and values (Meyer & Allen, 1991, p. 67) and “feeling like

∗ Correspondence address. School of Journalism and Communication, 1275 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1275, United States.

Tel.: +1 541 346 2035; fax: +1 541 346 0682.

E-mail address: [email protected]

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.03.001