When it comes to working life, it is clear that millennials are very different to thegenerations that came before them. In order to support and manage this type of talent, it isessential to address the generational differences and understandtheir unique motivations and behavior in the workplace.

Millennials share a common goal: they want to make a differenceat work. Given the significant motivational differences with thisgeneration, current leaders must consider a new approach tomanaging these employees. Work forms a strong part of millennial’sidentity, and this needs to be accounted for in the way they aremanaged.

1. Focus on advancement

Millennials consider promotion and career advancement as fundamentalto their existence in the workplace, as well as the opportunity todevelop their skill set. Managers need to focus not just on whatthese employees can bring to the business, but how the organizationcan support millennials in the next stages of their professionalgrowth.

This generation is not only interested in their own advancement,but the idea that everything is progressing forward collectively.Tasking millennials with creating innovative solutions to existingprocesses and problems will increase job satisfaction, whilstcontributing to the wider growth and progress of the organization.Creating a progression structure that clearly defines in black andwhite what is required to progress eliminates discretion, bias,ambiguity and gives millennials clear targets to aim for.Furthermore, they don’t want to wait years for there nextpromotion. In our instant gratification world of social media,instant communication and smartphones this is reflected inmillennials getting frustrated easily if they don’t see the roadmapto their next promotion.

2. Encourage feedback from management

Millennials like to know where they stand, and how they areperforming in relation to their goals and aspirations. Whether itis constructive criticism or just praise for a job well done, thisgroup appreciates feedback. A continued dialogue and feedback ontheir work is critical to their self-development. The mentalitybehind this is similar to that of advancement – millennials like tofeel that they are always moving forward.

To a millennial, a job is not just about money. They want toknow that they are learning and developing throughout their career.Regular meetings and feedback are likely to boost performance,creating a more productive, and motivated team. We live the age ofconstant and instant communication, therefore our generation raisedin this age craves this communication constantly.

3. Strive for diversity

Millennial talent around the world has identified diversity andinclusion as important when it comes to choosing a workplace. It isvital for organizations to build diversity into their employervalue propositions, and communicate it to potential candidates withtheir employer branded marketing. Businesses should look to go astep further, by integrating it into the foundations of thebusiness. Diversity is not only important for attracting millennialtalent, but also retaining them and keeping them engaged with theorganization. Alongside this diversity of talent creates diversityof ideas and generally this a great thing for any organization.

4. Promote flexible environments

One of the most central priorities for millennial workers isflexibility. This generation prefers work when given detailedinstructions and set KPIs, but would prefer to have a more flexibleworking arrangement to being micromanaged.

Flexible working environments are also attractive to millennialsin order to maintain a focus on work life balance. Millennialsvalue the potential to work from home or even from a coffee shop –with the emphasis on quality of work, rather than the locationwhere the work is performed. Millennials value the ability to seeand do new things, and this being flexible in the work setting.

5. Empower millennials for leadership roles

Millennials value ‘soft’ principles when it comes to leadership.These include areas such as wellbeing and employee development.Qualities such as the ability to inspire, vision, the ability tomake decisions, and passion were all earmarked as vitalcharacteristics for a strong leader.

The majority of millennials want to be transformational leaderswho disrupt the status quo and inspire their team. The nature ofleadership is evolving, and the more traditional model of hierarchyhas fallen in popularity. Collaboration and innovation are keypriorities. Millenials want to be heard and know that their ideasare valued so a truly democratic leadership style tends to workbetter than a more traditional autocratic style.

6. Don't overlook compensation

A recent study indicated that millennials value compensation intheir top three most important factors in choosing their career,which is somewhat conflicting considering that work/life balancewas also in the top three. There is a common misconception thatmillennials are “lazy” or “want more for doing less." While theremay be some basis for this misconception there are some incrediblyhard working people out there and this generation may be regardedas arguably one of the more entrepreneurially driven groups of thelast 50 years. Compensation is important to millennials but in ourview, it is lower down the pecking order than other factorsmentioned above.

Millennials have a different take on management, both how theyprefer to be managed, and the types of manager they aspire to be.The central factor lies in their inclination towards leadership,rather than traditional management, and they desire to be inspiredboth by their managers and their team around them.

As they now make up such a large proportion of the workforce,it’s likely that these changes will create long-term evolution tothe nature of leadership in the workplace. As the traditionaldefinition of leadership begins to change, it’s important fororganizations to keep an open mind about the changing relationshipbetween management and employees, and adapt processes to make wayfor these shifting priorities.