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In Depth

How to Recruit and Retain the Best Young Security Employees

Today's youngest generation of workers, known as Generation Y, have different career goals than their parents did. What do you need to know to get them to work for you?

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

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"Certainly the backlash is that they saw crimes being solved in 'glamorous' settings in an hour," noted Orrell. "So it will be interesting to see how many of these Millennials actually stick with their professions once they see the true reality."

Offer praise and frequent feedback

The same poll from Robert Half and Yahoo HotJobs also found over 60 percent of Millennials said that they wanted to hear from their managers at least once a day. This might be a very different style of performance review than experienced managers are used to. But not only do they want to know how they are doing, they want to be told in a nice way, said Orrell, who admits this often has managers rolling their eyes when she holds coaching seminars.

"The main thing to abandon is that curt approach many Boomer managers have had over the years," she said. "That does not play well with Millennials. They are looking for someone sensitive, compassionate and understanding."

Orell said Millennials have been raised in a culture of respect where there opinion was valued and have no intention of abandoning their value system on the job. For many companies, it can be a tough adjustment.

"They grew up in the 'Soccer Mom' age where every kid gets a trophy, every kid gets to be president," said Wipprecht. "Work may be the first time any one actually says no to them."

Wipprecht said while Gen Y won't tolerate harsh behavior from a manager, companies need to find a balance and make sure they aren't sugarcoating reviews either.

"False praise is phony," said Wipprecht. "Employees don't need fictious praise—it has no value to it, and they know that."