If you can understand their unique philosophies, manage their “quirks,” and leverage their abilities your company could see a surge of growth. They’re called “Millennials,” or more commonly, “Gen Y.” They’re professionals in their 20′s, there are about 80 million of them, and they’re slowly starting to take over the business world.

They’re young, brash, smart, and crave authenticity. They want to work, but they don’t want work to be their life. They’ve typically been pampered since birth with trophies just for participating and been constantly stimulated with technology and endless activities.

So how do you extract all of the great qualities from this generation, while at the same time keep them managed and stimulated? This is a major question burning through corporate America, and is especially top-of-mind for those leading and managing teams of inside sales agents.

First, we have to understand the loyalties of the next generation. According to Cheryl Cran, in her book 101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y, and Zoomers Happy, she explains where each generation’s loyalties lie.

• Baby Boomers are loyal to their company or corporation. Phrases like “GE’s been good to me for 30 years,” and “SteelCorp is my home” are commonplace.
• Generation X’s however are less loyal to the company and more loyal to specific managers. We hear phrases like “I’d do anything for Steve Cooper, our VP of Sales. If he goes, I go.” Gen Y’s loyalties lie with their friends.

It’s not uncommon for a Gen Y’er to leave a company, simply because their friends left or because they didn’t feel like their manager was their friend. In fact, according to Gallup research, the number one reason people quit their job is because they dislike their boss. How many managers in your organization, responsible for managing Gen Y’s, are cultural mis-fits that don’t embrace a friend first, boss second approach to managing the next generation?

In addition to Gen Y’s loyalties, they require fresh and ongoing stimulation. They need to feel like they’re learning new things, gaining new skills, and overcoming new challenges or boredom and complacency can set in. This can be done with new products, systems, incentives, competitions, or goals. Baby Boomers average 3-5 jobs in their career, while Generation X will average 5-10 jobs in their career. However, Gen Y’s will average a staggering 20 jobs in their career. If you expect a Gen Y’er to stay just because they got the job, you’ll be severely disappointed in 12 months when they leave for a lack of stimulation, challenge, and friendship. Daniel Pink suggests the only way to keep any employee happy is to foster intrinsic motivation through principles of autonomy, mastery, and purposeⁱ. Never has this advice been more apropos than for Millenials.

How you motivate and compensate Gen Ys is unique as well. For the Baby Boomer, a $50 bill is ideal and meaningful. But to a Gen Yer, you get the most mileage if you gear your incentives around unique life experiences. Taking a sales agent to a nice restaurant, and buying them Filet Mignon with five of their peers has more value than the $50 gift card. Instead of a $250 cash bonus, how about a $250 heli-skiing trip? They crave unique life experiences that foster an emotional connection with their employer.

Despite some of their unique priorities and views on work, Gen Y’s can be incredibly productive. They’re extremely bright, multi-task incredibly well, can have very high social skills, and can be extremely driven (with the right carrots being dangled). In the future, companies that learn how to mine these Gen Y talents and harness these gifts, while understanding their “quirks” will win… and win big!

ⁱDrive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Riverhead, 2009