Following on the heels of Generation X, a group born after the post-World War II baby boom, comes Generation Y, also known as the Millennials. This generation is highly adaptable to change. They grew up with technology at their fingertips. They’re highly diverse and individualistic, and they have a whole new skillset to bring to the table.

“Millennial employees are valuable because they bring a new perspective, are highly connected and understand tech tools like no other generation,” said Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, a Generation Y research and management consulting firm.

But because they are unwilling to settle, they often jump from one job to another to try to find the perfect culture. This often takes older generations by surprise. “They see them as disloyal, needy and entitled,” Schawbel said.

Dissatisfied employees are likely to move on rather quickly, but there’s a flip side to that. “If Gen Y’ers have a good experience, there is a fierce and intense loyalty that comes with that,” said strategic marketing consultant Noah Fleming.

And many businesses are looking for ways to boost retention. “A lot of companies understand that they lose Millennials because of a lack of cultural fit, so they are investing in their cultures,” said Schawbel.

The best way to start is by understanding the mindset of this young generation, and what they are looking for, so as to be able to adapt to it.

SEEKING WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY

A key characteristic of this new generation is that they are actively searching for a good work/life balance. They are far less likely to want to slave away for long hours day in and day out, sacrificing their personal lives in the process.

“People have always wanted workplace flexibility; they’re just more likely to get it now. Now, employees expect options,” said Megan Loch, VP marketing at Zep Vehicle Care. This creates a new set of challenge for employers. How do you manage a generation that doesn’t see their profession as a top priority?

“This generation recognizes they can just pick up and move to a new job. That puts a lot of the onus on the employer,” said Fleming. “You’ve got organizations like Google that are spoiling employees almost to the point of insanity,” he said. (Google offers a wide range of benefits, including free unlimited food and snacks, bicycles, vegetable garden plots and even nap pods, to start.) “I don’t think you need to go that far, but there does need to be an understanding of what they are looking for, and I think flexibility is crucial.”

Companies like Netflix allow employees anywhere from 25 to 30 paid vacation days, and Johnson & Johnson offers new parents an extra week of paid vacation. But trying to incorporate some of these perks isn’t always realistic for every business, and attempting to offer schedule flexibility with the needs of a company isn’t easy.

“The field service organization is 24/7, so finding a way to balance that is a challenge,” said Jim Hogan, vice president of human resources at Ryko Solutions, Inc. “Typically there’s some type of a rotational basis for who has to cover weekends and who is on call, so there’s more of a rotational structure equality. That takes the generational aspect out of it.” Hogan also believes that being startlingly honest about the schedule during hiring is crucial. “We try to paint the picture of what a day in the life, week in the life is really like. We don’t want someone who just wants a job to respond and then find out it’s not a good cultural fit.”

And though work can’t always be fun and games, hosting an occasional company-wide event where people can kick back and enjoy themselves can go a long way. ScrubaDub Auto Wash Centers hosts an annual company outing where all associates and their families are invited. “Although company outings are nothing new, we think a fun team event makes everyone, including the Millenials, feel good about their workplace,” said CEO Bob Paisner. The most recent was at a venue with golf driving, a 3-par course, bumper boats, mini golf and batting cages. “We have a big barbecue with an ice cream eating contest at the end.”

A SENSE OF PURPOSE

But Generation Y’ers are looking for more than just perks and outings. “[Millenials] choose meaningful work and advancement opportunities over more money,” said Schawbel. “They look for companies that give back to society in positive ways.”

“They want to believe in what they’re doing and feel passionate about their work; they’re not as interested in just cashing a paycheck,” said Scott Mark, Senior Innovation Project Manager at Medtronic. The medical technology company ranked third in Generation Y jobs according to a survey conducted by PayScale and Millenial Branding, which analyzed responses from 500,000 workers between the ages of 19 and 30. Mark believes the company’s high rank may be because “Medtronic is a very mission-driven company. Everyone is very familiar with the mission.”

In addition, the company hosts an annual holiday party where they bring in patients whose lives were changed by technology Medtronic makes. These select patients discuss the disease condition they had, the negative effects it had on them, and how their life was improved through a Medtronic therapy. The event is broadcast globally.

Generation Y employees seeking to develop a sense of purpose in their career doesn’t necessarily mean they need to work in an industry that’s humanitarian-driven. Other companies incorporate volunteerism through events. Ernst and Young, for example, has ‘EY Connect Day,’ an annual opportunity to participate in community service activities for a day.

Many other companies recognize that employees feel a sense of purpose in their work simply because they receive public recognition for work they’ve done, which contributes to an organization’s greater mission.

Medtronic makes sure that their employees are recognized for their work, both formally and informally. “There are a lot of different types of recognition. There are some very high-level awards that you can earn. We have both individual and team awards, as well as an entire framework called Recognize!, which allows people to give recognition points to their peers if they did something above and beyond,” Mark said.

ScrubaDub Auto Wash Centers, which operates 17 locations in four New England states, incorporates a little bit of healthy competition into their sales advisors positions. “We have an online ‘Dashboard’ that allows our sites to compare themselves to similar sites within our organization,” Paisner said.

The dashboard has live stats allowing sites to compete with one another. In addition, ScrubaDub also has a scorecard program that rates sales advisors across the company in several specific criteria including sales and the customer service experience. According to Paisner, the results are posted each month and associates are ranked according to their score. “We highlight the top 10, and those at the top of the list over time are eligible for promotions to senior sales positions and possibly management positions,” he said. “This competition across the company we think can motivate the Millennials to be the best of their peers and look toward the potential of promotions.”

This desire for a sense of purpose extends outside of the workplace and affects consumer behavior as well. “Generation Y is more socially and ecologically conscious, and that’s been the trend in the industry with more government regulation, so we’ve been showing that we are eco-friendly as a part of our branding,” said Hogan. “That’s a part of our process that people understand and want to utilize because they know it’s good for the environment.”

EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY

Of course, a generation of early adopters to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is likely to be more tech-savvy. “The engineering and design aspect of the company is what’s really intriguing for a Generation Y individual because they’re really designing for their peer generation,” said Hogan. “It goes a step beyond having a comfort level with technology. There’s an expectation that things are tech-oriented and it kind of has that cool factor; that current factor.”

And Gen Y’ers are great at marketing to other Gen Y’ers using technology, especially because they understand the mindset ... for example, by having the awareness that customers would rather not put dollar bills into a car wash or even swipe a credit card, but would rather pull out their smartphone.

“That’s what’s been adding value on the engineering/design side. We’ve seen that play out with two new products we’ve introduced; the Pulse touch-free system largely designed by members of our engineering team who are recent graduates from Iowa State. These young engineers got an opportunity to put into practice what they’ve learned by putting a smart, new design in activation, a credit-card only machine. They’ve helped breathe new energy and new life into the company, and that’s what’s really exciting,” said Ryko Solutions Inc. Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications Russell Bell.

THE GEN Y CONSUMER

Businesses are specifically targeting Generation Y consumers in ways that extend beyond just technology, to include entire new products and brands. “Companies are getting very serious about supporting Millennials because they will have more buying power than boomers by 2020,” said Schawbel. These include Campbell’s Soup, which created an entire product line, Campbell Go Soup, to specifically target Millenials. The soups come in a bag, rather than a can, and offers novel new flavors like Chicken & Quinoa with Poblano Chiles and Golden Lentil with Madras Curry.

“Macy’s just launched three new brands that cater specifically to Millennials,” Schawbel said, including QMack, a mix-and-match line which will sell blazers, slacks, skirts, dresses and other professional clothing to women. And Marriot International is working on importing their Madrid-based hotel brand AC Hotels to the U.S. The hotels offer select wines, cocktails and craft beers in the lounge, a library with wide-tables and relevant reading material, free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, and the ability to book spaces to work in the lobby via Liquidspace.

Gen Y consumers also look for convenience and incentives. Fleming believes that the car wash industry could look to companies like Amazon and subscription-based products like Bespoke Post to boost sales, build loyalty and craft their marketing message to resonate with this new market.

“This is a generation that’s getting more and more used to buying things with a subscription model, whether that’s boxes that come in the mail or punch cards offering a free service after a certain number of purchases. Why not think of doing a subscription model with a certain number of visits, or finding new and different ways to incentivize the number of visits?”

Fleming also thinks tracking how often people visit a given business can help with marketing efforts. Consider Amazon. “I bought infant diapers three years ago, and I got an email from Amazon last week telling me they had some great potty training products for me. They’re keeping track of the data, just like when you buy a new car and receive offers to trade it in five or six years down the road.” And Amazon Prime has plugged into the subscription model as well, allowing customers unlimited movie and TV streaming, a free borrowed e-book and automatic two-day shipping on most purchases for a $79 annual fee.

Clean Machine Inc. President Matt Bascom said that Generation Y consumers are looking for faster service at a better value, rather than the full service car washes previous generations grew up with. “People are becoming more and more comfortable with automatic equipment, whether that’s pay stations or the wash process itself,” said Bascom. “This is happening in other industries as well, as home improvement stores and grocery stores move toward self-checkout lanes and people get more and more comfortable with that type of thing.”

Bascom’s father started the family based business 25 years ago. It now includes only one full-service location and 10 other locations, but “at one point, we had seven full-service stations around the state of Virginia,” Bascom recalls. They sold all but one of the full-service sites and got more involved in self-serve and automatic car washes.

The world is changing. “This is a global shift for sure, and we’re still just in the beginning edges of the changes that are coming,” said Fleming. “You can either sit back or get in the game.”

Touchless car washes, like this one from Clean Machine Inc., offer convenient service that Gen Y consumers crave. Clean Machine Inc. President Matt Bascom said that Generation Y consumers are looking for faster service at a better value, rather than the full service car washes previous generations grew up with.