MILLENNIALS KEEP QUITTING THEIR JOBS--BUT THEY DON'T WANT TO: Your employees are searching for meaning in their careers, and if they don't find it with you they'll continue their quest elsewhere.

• Author: Foreman, Kelsie

I recently met one of my good friends for cocktails. She had finally hit her second anniversary with her company and we agreed a celebration was in order. Though we went to college together, she was one of the first of my millennial-aged friends to graduate and get a "real job" in the grown-up world. I couldn't wait to celebrate the anniversary with her and toast to many more to come. I quickly learned, however, that she had something else in mind.

"I'm going to quit my job," she mentioned between sips of her cocktail. I couldn't believe it. Up until this point, her job seemed to be the perfect fit and she had appeared to be happy there. Just a month into her career, she referred to it as a "dream job." I couldn't wrap my mind around why she would decide to quit after just two years, but she later spilled that it was because she felt unengaged in almost all aspects of her work.

She isn't alone. According to an article from Forbes, as many as 74 percent of millennial workers plan to quit their jobs sometime within the next three years. And that same article says that only 28 percent of workers plan to keep their current job for longer than five years. The days when employees would spend decades of their lives with one company prior to retirement are long gone.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE PING-PONG TABLE

So what is it about the current state of work that has so many millennials running for the exit? Is it a problem with work structure? Or does it have something to do with the perceived attitudes of millennial professionals? For a better understanding, I asked Eric Rea, a fellow millennial as well as the cofounder and CEO of Silicon Slopes-based tech giant Podium. "I think it's a matter of engagement," he says. "It's been my experience that millennial professionals deeply value being connected to what they are doing and the effect it is having on the world."

Engagement. I perked up just as soon as I heard the word. A lack of engagement and professional fulfillment is exactly why my good friend ditched her so-called dream job. A study from Clutch says as many as 40 percent of millennial workers feel that they are unfulfilled and unengaged in their current jobs, leaving many to pursue job options elsewhere. Cue the resignation letter.

"[Millennial workers] are wanting to make a difference. They're wanting to be challenged. They're wanting to explore new ideas and opportunities," says Cassie Whitlock, the director of human resources at BambooHR. "If you...