Employers face growing challenges when it comes to sustaining employee engagement, especially among younger workers. Gallup reports that engagement among U.S. employees has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, with the sharpest decline among Gen Z. The American Psychological Association reports that younger employees are more likely than older ones to feel stressed, lonely, and undervalued. In one study, 40% of Gen Z workers said they view burnout as inevitable.
Together, these findings point to a generation that is less engaged, less connected, and more vulnerable to stress. To meet these challenges, companies have an often-overlooked and underestimated asset that’s especially relevant to their younger employees: their own authentic organizational history.
Based on our combined 40-plus years of research and experience—Clay as a leading expert and corporate advisor in the psychology of nostalgia and Jason as CEO of History Factory, an agency that works with Fortune 500 companies to leverage their organizational heritage—we know that employees, particularly Millennials and members of Gen Z, are engaged and inspired by effective uses of their employers’ histories.
Why History in the Workplace—and Why Now
Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that “The Business of History Is Booming,” noting a 70% surge between 2013 and 2023 in books published about historical figures and events. That strong market for history is also evident in other media, such as the explosion of historical or nostalgia-themed content in podcasts, film, and television.
This appetite for history-driven storytelling is even carrying over to corporate brands. Movies and shows like Netflix’s The House of Guinness, The Playlist, Blackberry, Tetris, and Ferrari are just a few streaming titles based on historical dramatizations of stories from real-life brands.
Using history also improves performance on owned and paid media channels. According to the Ipsos Global Ad testing database, the use of history or heritage in advertising provides an 8% bump in brand attention in the UK, and Kantar shows that, globally, ads with nostalgic elements show a 15-point increase in enjoyability with a 9-point increase in emotional connection.
Based on History Factory’s work with global corporations across industries, this broad interest in history also translates to the workplace. History Factory’s 2024 Brand Heritage Index, a national consumer survey of U.S. adults conducted by Certus Insights, found that 85% of employees believed knowing more about their employer’s history would improve productivity, culture, and the work environment, while 87% said they would be more invested in their company’s success if they knew its history. History Factory’s 2025 Brand Heritage Index survey, also conducted by Certus Insights, found that nearly half of younger adults think companies should use history and heritage more often on social media.
What’s driving this appetite for history? In large part, it appears to be a response to social isolation, digital fatigue, and the dizzying pace of technological change. In an era defined by speed, screens, and fragmentation, history has reemerged as a stabilizing anchor, helping people feel grounded and connected. This is where nostalgia comes into play. It is the psychological force at the heart of this cultural trend.
Nostalgia: A Misunderstood and Underestimated Superpower
Nostalgia is often perceived negatively as dwelling unproductively on the past, but this skepticism stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of how it functions. A large body of research shows that nostalgia is a vital psychological resource. Surveys show that people frequently feel sentimental about the past and see nostalgia as a source of comfort, guidance, and inspiration.
Simple nostalgic activities like reflecting on a cherished memory or listening to music from one’s youth have been found to boost mood, strengthen feelings of social connection, increase self-confidence, enhance perceptions of meaning in life, inspire an optimistic outlook, and increase the motivation to pursue goals.
Nostalgia also has important implications for the workplace . It increases empathy and altruistic behavior. It also enhances open-mindedness, inspiration, and creativity—qualities that support teamwork, problem-solving, and innovation.
Studies further show that when people feel nostalgic about the organization they work for (organizational nostalgia), they find their jobs to be more meaningful and are less likely to want to leave the organization. Organizational nostalgia also increases work engagement, performance, and organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., helping others at work).
Nostalgia can be especially helpful during periods of stress or disconnection. It can energize efforts to resolve problems and improve one’s situation. For example, when employees feel burned out and detached from their work’s purpose, reflecting on past work-related experiences that were meaningful and fulfilling can remind them that their work has brought deep satisfaction in the past and can again. This recognition motivates them to reengage in more fulfilling ways. Nostalgic reflection allows people to draw on accumulated experiences to gain perspective on present difficulties.
Building on this foundational scholarly analysis, research by the Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab shows that people often feel nostalgia for eras that predate their own lives in what is referred to as “historical nostalgia.”
A nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults found that 68% feel nostalgic for times before their births; 69% percent are drawn to media, styles, hobbies, or traditions from those periods; and 73% believe that new technologies should incorporate ideas from the past. Majorities also say that historical nostalgia helps them when they feel stressed or overwhelmed by modern life (63%) or anxious about the future (62%).
People often underestimate the role of nostalgia in the lives of younger adults. However, research shows they experience it frequently. Furthermore, quantitative surveys and qualitative analyses of online discourse indicate that young adults appear to be especially drawn to historical nostalgia. For organizations, this creates a powerful opportunity because employees don’t need to have experienced company history firsthand to benefit from it. Indeed, research finds that when young adults read nostalgic stories of older generations, they feel more nostalgic themselves and experience increased feelings of belongingness, meaning, and deep connection to the past, even though these narratives predate their own experience.
Six Strategic Shifts for Leaders
Company history is more than a record to be preserved; it is also a tool for fostering engagement, connection, and resilience in the present and shaping a shared vision for the future. By activating their history and evoking nostalgia, organizations can tap into a rich supply of stories that have staying power for today’s employees.
Here are six practical ways leaders can turn static company history into an authentic and dynamic nostalgia-infused engagement tool.
1. Focus on your founder’s character, not the myth.
Founders are often synonymous with a company’s history—and understandably so. Yet too often, founders are elevated to near-mythic status while their enduring value falls by the wayside. What matters over time are the mindsets and attributes founders embody.
For example, Bain’s Founder’s Mentality framework highlights traits such as insurgency, frontline obsession, and an owner’s mindset. And when Apple evokes Steve Jobs or Southwest Airlines cites Herb Kelleher, each does so in a way that reinforces the cultural behaviors it views as essential to its future. For Apple, that means an obsession with craftsmanship, simplicity, and user experience that drives its ethos, showing up in the products it makes, the entertainment it produces on Apple TV, and more. For Southwest, it’s an obsession with an employee-first culture that translates to how team members show up every day and care for their customers. Instead of treating founders as untouchable legends, tell their stories in a way that feels relevant rather than reverential
2. Diversify your cast of characters.
History Factory’s 2025 Brand Heritage Index revealed a founder paradox. While 78% of Americans show interest in content related to company founders, 39% say brands already talk about their founders too much. Audiences respond to stories where they see themselves reflected, and not all employees relate to the maverick entrepreneurs or balance sheet-driven executives who are often the stuff of company legend.
For example, as Adobe’s original and flamboyant “evangelist,” Russell Brown became the public face of Photoshop and has for decades been a brand ambassador who keeps the software relevant as a cultural phenomenon and technical tool. Similarly, Erica Feidner became Steinway & Sons’ legendary “piano matchmaker,” a sales-generating force of nature who embodied the brand’s commitment to making each instrument “humanized” and as “unique as the individual who plays it.”
Whether it includes frontline innovators like Russell and Erica, long-serving team members, or others who shaped your company’s culture without holding top titles, a wider cast of characters reflects the experiences and aspirations of today’s workforce. When younger employees see themselves reflected in your company’s story, they’re more likely to envision their own future within the organization.
3. Make it tangible.
Despite being digital natives, Gen Z and Millennials are drawn to what is tangible and real. This helps explain their fascination with the CDs and cassette tapes Baby Boomers and members of Gen X discarded long ago. Authentic artifacts like Sam Walton’s preserved truck or original product packaging aren’t just nostalgic curios; they’re also emotional access points that make history feel immediate and relevant.
History Factory’s 2025 Brand Heritage Index revealed that 70% of employees under 35 say they want their company to use artifacts and nostalgia at work. These tangible archival connections trigger the psychological benefits of historical nostalgia while satisfying younger workers’ hunger for authenticity by using corporate archaeology to transform abstract company values into concrete experiences.
4. Deliver your company’s history on brand.
Company history is most compelling when it’s told in an organization’s own way. Too often, companies that turn to their pasts adopt formal or nostalgic styles that don’t look or sound like them. Ford’s history is synonymous with making cars affordable and accessible, so it only makes sense that the company makes a huge portion of its vast archives easily accessible to the public. Nike’s brand is built on inspiration, so it positions its history through a lens of endurance and performance. Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment. For Caterpillar’s centennial, its history is showing up at employee sites around the world in a series of massive installations befitting the scale of its business and brand.
This alignment matters—younger employees in particular are adept at sensing when a brand’s storytelling feels staged or inconsistent. When your organization’s history is told in a voice that reflects its brand promise, culture, and values, it becomes a credible and energizing force for engagement. Research reinforces this, indicating that nostalgia needs to feel authentic to boost well-being.
5. Don’t erase history. Contextualize it.
One of the most common reasons many companies hesitate to embrace their history is a concern over difficult chapters in their past, or what we call past actions inconsistent with today’s ethics and standards. That hesitation is understandable, but often misplaced. Our experience and research show that many leaders misjudge which aspects of their history are truly problematic.
In a 2020 study commissioned by History Factory, we found that while a range of past practices can shape perceptions, the issues that executives most fear—such as historical racial or gender discrimination—are not, in fact, the strongest triggers for consumer backlash. People generally understand that organizations with long legacies are products of their time. What provokes stronger reactions today is evidence of ongoing alignment with divisive political or social causes—issues that audiences interpret as reflections of a company’s current values and culture.
In short, most reputational risks tied to history are less about the past itself and more about how a company handles it. The best approach is transparency paired with progress: tell the truth, provide context, and demonstrate with action how the organization evolved. Companies that do this with candor and consistency earn greater trust than those that ignore the past or remain defensive.
6. Turn storytelling into a two-way conversation.
Employees—especially younger ones—don’t want to be communicated to; they want to be communicated with. They want to hear stories that inspire them, but they also want to contribute stories of their own. The most forward-thinking organizations understand that organizational heritage becomes truly powerful when it’s a shared narrative rather than a corporate script. This approach works because it transforms employees from passive recipients of company lore into active contributors to the organizational narrative.
When History Factory partnered with S&P Global to unify a company made up of many acquired businesses, we built collective memory by sharing stories from legacy companies around the world. Employees came together in small forums to exchange experiences, building trust and connection across cultures. HR and communications leaders extended the project because the process itself—sharing and listening—was proving so valuable.
These types of initiatives where employees can share their own stories and artifacts tap into nostalgia’s social nature while building the shared experiences that will become tomorrow’s historical touchpoints. That’s the full circle of heritage: When employees share their own meaningful experiences within a company, they create the raw material for future organizational storytelling while strengthening social bonds with colleagues.
Using the Past to Move Forward
These strategies aren’t about dwelling in the past. Nostalgia helps people manage current stressors and approach the future with an energized, optimistic, and aspirational attitude. Because most adults—and especially younger generations—are nostalgic for the past, company history offers a powerful tool for today’s workplace.
