By Americans Elizabeth McLeod and Lisa Earle McLeod (creator of the business concept Noble Purpose and author of the bestseller Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do work That Makes You Proud).

This article aligns closely with Legitimate Leadership’s view that people will give unconditionally to three things: 1) a purpose worth giving to, 2) a passion worth giving to, 3) and a person worth giving to. In this respect, millennials are no different from everyone else. Great workplaces invariably have great purpose, great passion and great people.

McLeod’s first and last points talk directly to the Legitimate Leadership criteria of Care and Growth. Care is about getting personal and figuring out what makes people “tick”. Growth happens when we tolerate only the best from our people and our teams. Only when leaders give us these two things do they elevate themselves to the descriptor “people worth giving to”.

McLeod is also accurate in saying that purpose is about more than ROI. It is about asking what our organisation is here to give. What contribution do we collectively aspire to making? Answer that question and you may have a purpose that people are willing to give to.

Lastly, on passion: if you want your team to be “on fire for what we’re doing”, then you really need to be on fire too!

OUR SLIGHTLY EDITED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE: Attracting and keeping top millennial talent is a burning issue for leaders. Millennials are 35% of the workforce; by 2020 they’ll be 46%.

Some of our most successful clients, like Google, are filled with millennials who are on fire for their jobs. Yet many organizations struggle to attract and retain top millennial talent.

The millennials are telling us what we already know in our hearts: people want to make money; they also want to make a difference. Successful leaders put purpose before profit, and they wind up with teams who drive revenue through the roof.

Elizabeth McLeod, in An Open Letter to Management, wrote:

You hired us thinking this one might be different; this one might be in it for the long haul. We’re six months in, giving everything we have, then suddenly, we drop a bomb on you: we’re quitting.

We know the stereotypes. Millennials never settle down. We’re drowning in debt for useless degrees. We refuse to put our phones away. We are addicted to lattes.

Our bosses are not wrong about these perceptions. But, pointing to our sometimes-irresponsible spending and fear of interpersonal commitment isn’t going to solve your problem. You still need us. We’re the ones who’ve mastered social media, who have the energy of a thousand suns, and who will knock back $5 macchiatos until the job is done perfectly.

I’ve worked in corporate America, administrative offices, advertising agencies, and restaurants. I’ve had bosses ranging from 24 to 64. I’ve had bosses I loved, and bosses I didn’t. I’ve seen my peers quit, and I’ve quit a few times myself. Here’s what’s really behind your millennials’ resignation letter:

1. You tolerate low-performance. It’s downright debilitating to a high achiever. I’m working my heart out and every time I look up Donna Do-Nothing is contemplating how long is too long to take for lunch. I start wondering why leadership tolerates this. Is that the standard here? No thanks.

FACT: Poor performers have a chilling effect on everyone.

2. ROI is not enough for me. I spent Sunday thinking about how I can make a difference to our customers. Now it’s Monday morning, what do I hear? Stock price. Billing. ROI. Suddenly, my Monday power playlist seems useless. I’m sitting in a conference room listening to you drag on about cash flow. I was making more money bartending in college than I am at this entry-level job. You say I’ll get a raise in a year if the company hits a certain number? So what? I need something to care about today. Talk to me about how we make a difference, not your ROI report.

FACT: Organizations with a purpose bigger than money have a growth rate triple that of their competitors.

3. Culture is more than free Panera (bread). Don’t confuse culture with collateral. Yes, I am a cash-strapped millennial who really appreciates free lunch. I need to be surrounded by people who are on fire for what we’re doing. I need a manager who is motivated to push boundaries and think differently. Working in a cool office is really awesome, as is free lunch. But a purposeful culture is more important.

FACT: A culture of purpose drives exponential sales growth.

4. It’s ok to get personal. Treat me like a number and I’ll return the favor. This job will quickly become nothing more than my rent payment. I’ll start living for Friday and counting down the minutes until 5. After a few months of that, I’ll probably have a drunken epiphany and realize I want more out of my life than this. Then I’ll prove your assumptions right. Eight months in, I’ll quit and leave. Or worse, I’ll quit and stay, just like Donna-Do-Nothing.

That’s not good for either of us. Here’s what you need to know: I was raised to believe I could change the world. I’m desperate for you to show me that the work we do here matters, even just a little bit. I’ll make copies, I’ll fetch coffee, I’ll do the grunt work. But I’m not doing it to help you get a new Mercedes.

I’ll give you everything I’ve got, but I need to know it makes a difference to something bigger than your bottom line.

Signed,

A Millennial