Millennials are no different than any other generation who wishes to be recognized, thanked and praised for doing a good job, writes Zimmerman, founder of the Optimistic Millennial blog site. “Millennials are unlikely to work on a project when they can’t understand the ‘why’ behind it,” Zimmerman writes. “When you give them the rationale for why a project is important, they will use that explanation as fuel to complete it with excellence.”
Barbara Galante, director of human resources at Ascensus, a retirement and college savings firm, notes how she can “definitely see how [millennials] crave recognition and praise in the workplace, but this stems from their desire to make sure they are doing things right or wrong.”
Galante has seen multiple generations in 30 years working HR. “I often tell the leaders I work with that a millennial would be willing to scrape the gum off a chair, as long as they knew what they are doing has a purpose,” Galante says. “They are extremely hard workers.”