My suggestion to help make our managerial culture more friendly to millennial employees would be to seriously perform the "LMX Maneuver" on them by their immediate supervisor. This procedure requires that managers privately query each new direct-report about career goals and current position aspirations, and share same. The bottom line is to communicate that the manager's number one job is to make the direct-report as successful as feasible and to watch her/his back so nothing bad happens and the direct-report's number on job is to reciprocate. Acceptance of this alliance by both should make their managerial culture more friendly to millennials and other new employees. It worked in our field experiments (Graen, Novak & Sommerkamp, 1982; Graen, Scandura, & Graen 1986). Why not give it a go? You won't regret it. What do you think?
Graen, G. B., Novak, M. A. & Sommerkamp, P. (1982). The effects of leader-member exchange and job design on productivity and satisfaction: testing a dual attachment model. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 30: 109-131.
Graen, G.B., Scandura, T., & Graen, M.R. (1986). A field experimental test of the moderating effects of growth need strength on productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 484-491.
George Graenjag