It’s one of the questions I get asked the most from my clients: “How do I motivate and retain talented millennials?”

It’s often written that millennials are unloyal job hoppers. Don’t worry about trying to retain them because they will leave despite your efforts to make your company appealing to this generation.

Are you buying into what the majority of the masses are saying about this demographic? If so, you can expect the problem of employee retention to linger for years at your company.

Instead, figure out what makes this generation want to work for and with you.

Millennials know more about what they want and expect from their work experience than prior generations have. The consensus that they feel entitled really comes from their knowing what they deserve more than entitlement.

The old ways of doing business via intimidation and dictatorship are crumbling as this generation comes to the forefront of our work environments.

This generation needs to be inspired and motivated, and they will not tolerate intimidation from a supervisor. If you are experiencing high turnover, this could be one major reason that it is happening. I encourage you to listen to the people leaving via exit meetings. Pay attention to why people refuse to stay in your organization. Change is most likely needed.

Millennials are less motivated by money and more driven by doing what is right and good for the whole than our past generations. They are educated at the speed of light regarding whatever topic they are interested in. They have grown up with technology vs. encyclopedias. This is something that needs to be considered if you want to understand, motivate, and inspire this group of younger people as a whole. They are more inspired by acknowledgment vs. the almighty dollar.

Have you heard the expression, “You can buy a person’s back but not their loyalty”? This very much applies to the generation of individuals entering your doors of business.

The job of any team leader is to figure out what makes their team tick. In the past, we used the mentality that there is no “I” in “we” or no “I” in “team.” This generation breaks that mold and says, “ We are all an “I” coming together to form the “we” or “team.” They need to be seen and heard as individuals first, and then they will be inspired to function together more cohesively as a team unit.

They want to be acknowledged for their thoughts, ideas, and input. The days of the supervisor taking all the credit for their team’s ideas and claiming them as their own are also gone. This generation expects to receive credit for their input. They will also work together cohesively, helping one another if coached, led, and trained appropriately.

The time for change in leadership style is upon us.

Get in the game, and embrace the necessary changes to retain the next generation of talent entering the workforce.

About the Author:

Experienced business strategist and team development sales leader, I carry the extraordinary ability to visualize organizations at both micro and macro levels. While consulting and coaching a multitude of businesses in marketing and sales strategy, growth, brand awareness, strategic partnerships and long-term goal attainment, I have also coached individuals to reach new levels of achievement personally and professionally.

Plan it! Drive it! Do it! @AskAileda