As my grandmother always said… it doesn’t matter what you call me – just don’t call me late for dinner!!!

That said, I am very happy to see this shift from “what you can do for the company” to “what the company can do for you” that Josh Bersin from Deloitte has recently written about.

The reason I studied organizational behavior and development over 25 years ago is what still keeps me active in the field. Until the time when robots, aliens, cyborgs, etc., run the world – we must rely on humans – who have this thing called free will. And when they choose to exercise it in a positive way… watch out – it can make fair to average products, services, solutions and ultimately companies – really great.

I was asked the other day by leader in his early 30’s what I thought about millenials and the main differences they bring to the workforce.

I answered that honestly I wasn’t sure there was much of a difference in regard to what I had wanted when I entered the workforce. I wanted to be able to see the impact of the work I was doing and to be able to directly contribute my ideas, suggestions, efforts to those who had the authority to make something happen.

Don’t we all?

The matter that millenials don’t necessarily want to climb the corporate ladder or default to the management hierarchy to get their voices or ideas heard – is only a good thing in my mind. This may be perceived as an entitlement attitude but reframed another way – giving employees permission and building their confidence to go after what they believe in or where they can make a difference – is a company’s greatest competitive advantage.

So why not tap into this preference by providing employees with the room to intiate, create and implement ideas as well as help them to see their contribution to an end product or goal. By asking the questions below you will be better able to identify opportunities to satisfy this need and have the added benefit of increasing your organization’s performance.

Do you know how your job is important to the organization?
What skills do you use on the job? What talents do you have that you don’t use?
What about your job do you find challenging? Rewarding?
In what areas would you like to have increased responsibility for your current tasks?
What would you like to be doing in the next 3 – 5 years?
In what ways would you like your job changed?
What would you like to have a chance to learn or get involved with?

So – all you talent, I mean PEOPLE – it’s definitely time for dinner!!