For as long as anyone can recall, managers and leaders have been there to check, balance and guide decision-making. They have more experience, deeper knowledge and can effectively weigh up a greater number of issues and choices. Right?

Well, we all know that managers differ vastly in their abilities, motivations and styles. This is the great weakness of hierarchical structures, and it creates a major issue for Gen Y workers, which organizations must now solve.

Hierarchies are great frameworks for organizing ourselves, but Gen Y’s are less inclined to 'get' them, or take them at face value. Instead, Gen Y workers prefer intricately connected, cross-functional ways of operating. They like to collaborate regardless of location, rank or role. Their reach is global, 24-7 and they're ready to join any conversation that seems relevant or interesting. Gen Y prefers dialogue and informality, and it’s not because they’re lazy or disengaged.

While Baby Boomers and even Gen X'ers might hear self-centeredness in some of the ways that members of Gen Y speak and interact, Gen Y assumes that to be useful they must put up their hands and be heard.

They’ve had much more experience than the rest of us with making productive connections across traditional boundaries, as well as participating in global discussions about wide-ranging interests—and they assume that this is part of what organizations want from them.

Regardless of what older managers might think they hear, Gen Y is (generally) not thinking, “It’s all about me”, they’re thinking, “I need to contribute.” And this is a critical difference.

So, what should employers do about this generation 'gap'?

First and foremost, companies must learn to be more transparent about opportunities and change. There have been many articles written about Generation Y's 'FOMO' tendency—their 'Fear Of Missing Out'—and how this decreases loyalty and attentiveness to current tasks/jobs. This is something that isn't always confined to one generation, and is most certainly exacerbated by our constant interconnectivity via technology. However, it's something that companies must find strategies to combat if they want to attract and retain younger workers in particular.

The constant connection that Gen Y's have to other conversations, knowledge, opportunities and networks makes it possible to always know what else is going on 'out there'. And, this increases Gen Y's anxiety about, and focus on, being involved in the best possible experience available to them.

Reducing the FOMO mentality is partly about communicating openly about the direction of the organization so that younger workers know what's happening in their job, and that their company is constantly evolving too. They look for opportunity and change, so companies need to let them in on these conversations wherever possible.

This post is a substract of a chapter of the new white paper Don’t Manage Me, #understandme. You can download a free copy here.