When top grads from our most elite universities received their job offers, all was going as planned. Who could have predicted that some of these same eager achievers would see their offers for next year rescinded? Or that those just starting a career in professional services would be sent packing before their third grande macchiato grew cold? For the first time ever, new professionals are seeing signs that it's not all sunshine and Skittles out there on the mean streets of Manhattan, Boston or DC.

Under the title "Millennial Trophy Kids Meet the Cruel Adult World," the Opinion section of The Wall Street Journal recently printed a letter in response to the excerpt from Ron Alsop's new book, "The Trophy Kids Grow Up." Francis J. Vitale of Norwalk, Connecticut, beautifully expressed what I know to be on many a manager's mind when he wrote:

"I am amazed that every article about this subject refuses even to suggest that this trophy kid generation should somehow, even minimally, work in concert with their co-workers of all ages and generations to find solutions and move forward for the common good. It's always the company or the people they work with that have to adapt to them.

Grow up, get over yourselves and start working together."

With a tip of the hat to Mr. Vitale, here are five ways you can work with your newest professionals so they understand that life at your organization isn't all about them.

1. Set your expectations. The more specific the better for members of the Millennial generation, so make it abundantly clear what you expect from them daily and weekly, as well as what they need to have accomplished by year end. Members of this group look for explicit rules, and without them, make their own (ergo, wearing yoga pants and Ugg boots to the office).


2. Make a list and check it twice. This generation lives for all kinds of directives, from to-do lists, guidelines, and rubrics to show-and-tell. Let your new employees know what it will take for them to be successful at your firm, and provide them with training and professional development tools specifically designed for this group.


3. Follow through with consequences. If an employee wears inappropriate clothing to work, he or she should be sent home. If they fail to meet a deadline, fall asleep in a meeting, or display unacceptable behavior at a firm event, take action. This might include a come-to-Jesus meeting, memo to the file, or a formal warning.


4. Paint the big picture. New professionals need to know where they fit in the grand scheme of things where they work. Let them know that there is a hierarchy in place, what it looks like, and what it will take for them to progress up the ladder. You must also manage expectations conservatively — career development is not always an "if/then" proposition, so don't make promises you can't keep.


5. Stop being so fearful. My experience with organizations bending over backwards to please this generational cohort is that there is a lot of fear out there — particularly the fear that Millennials will leave if they're not happy. Here's a flash: by all accounts, they're leaving anyway.

Without a doubt, the newest additions to your organizations are bright and full of promise. But keep in mind that the tide has turned — it's now a buyer's market. It's neither useful nor appropriate for you to perpetuate the myth that Millennials are the cat's pajamas or the next thing you know, they'll be wearing them to work.

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