The number five myth about Generation Y is that they somehow need work to be fun. You hear this from a lot of the so-called experts about Generation Y that you should try to turn your workplace into a playground for them or else they won't enjoy being there. I think this is nonsense.

If you want Gen Yers to take you seriously at work, you'd better take them seriously.

Don't get me wrong, they want to work in a comfortable environment. They want to work with people they enjoy, people they respect, people they can learn from, and people they can rely on. They want to do tasks and responsibilities that they find challenging and interesting. They like to have some control over their schedule. They want to learn marketable skills. Whenever they can they want some control over their workspace and location.

But that doesn't mean that you need to turn the workplace into a playground. Gen Yers don't want to be humored. They want to be taken seriously at work. If you take them seriously, they'll take you seriously.

BONUS MANAGEMENT TIP - HOW TO MANAGE GENERATION Y
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: HOW TO MAXIMIZE DISCRETIONARY RESOURCES TO MOTIVATE GEN YERS
Most managers have more discretionary resources than they realize at their disposal. These are often resources that can be deployed as special short-term rewards. What extra funds are available to you that you might be able to use for special short-term bonuses? What can you do to improve work conditions in the short term for your employees? How much latitude do you have to make special short-term accommodations in employees' schedules or paid time off? How much control do you have over extra training opportunities? Can you offer exposure to decision makers? How hard is it to have a written commendation added to an employee's file? There are many extra rewards managers have in their control, and you need to leverage every resource at your disposal to drive performance. Trade those resources with GenYers for going the extra mile in their performance. Make the quid pro quo explicit: "Okay. I'll give you x, y, or z resource, if you will go the extra mile for me today and do X." Work a particularly undesirable shift? Work longer hours? Work with a difficult team? Do some heavy lifting? Work in some out of the way location? Clean up some unpleasant mess?