Comparative empirical analysis of motivational differences of various generational cohorts

MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION – HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DISSERTATION Comparative empirical analysis of motivational differences of various generational cohorts in the Irish workplace A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Dublin Business School for the degree of M.B.A in Human Resource Management Katarzyna Raganowicz-Gargasz Student number 1257909 Thesis Advisor: Claire Devlin May 2014 Declaration: I Katarzyna Raganowicz - Gargasz declare that all the work in this dissertation is entirely my own unless the words have been placed in inverted commas and referenced with the original source Furthermore, texts cited are referenced and placed in the reference section A full reference section is included within this thesis 20th of May 2014 To my family Especially to my parents whose willing sacrifice and ongoing support made it all possible, for which I am forever grateful “An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking To generalize means to think” – Georg Wilhelm Hegel “All generalizations are false, including this one” – Mark Twain Abstract Building on previous research on inter-generational differences, this study seeks to examine whether differences in motivational factors truly exist in the Irish workplace across various generations Using the data gathered through Motivational Factors Questionnaire as measures of motivational drivers, the study examined cross-sectional differences in three groups of working population in Ireland: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y Results are not entirely supportive of generational stereotypes that have been present in the popular and management literature and media This analysis found some radical differences between various drivers of different generations, however, these might be attributed to the age rather than generational difference overall Even though, statistically differences were quite significant, in practice they might not pose such difficulty in overall management approach Furthermore, analysis of current literature available on the subject has revealed some discrepancies and showed that present research did not have the same results on some occasions In order to get a better understanding of the profiles and factors that motivate Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, all three age groups were tested against five motivational drivers: compensation, free-time, advancement potential, work environment and more responsibilities Differences found, although statistically significant, are not considerably impactful on the workplace and may be because of the various life stages presented by the age group However, it does not remove the fact that each age group does think differently because of the specific environment one was growing up in and various situations it was exposed to in their life-time It may mean that although they are different as people, in the work setting they will be similar Present analysis has many limitations and further research in the field is recommended Overall, organizations need to foster the environment for respect and mindfulness to create the bridge linking all age groups to build and maintain a productive workforce Key words: Generation, Motivation, Generation X, Generation Y, Baby Boomers, Human Resource Word count: Thesis - 19,866 Reflection on learning and development - 1,728 Table of Contents ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES: LIST OF TABLES: CHAPTER INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE TOPIC .9 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCHER 10 LEARNING STYLE 11 RESEARCH QUESTION 12 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 12 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 13 THESIS DISPOSITION 13 RECIPIENTS OF THE RESEARCH 14 CHAPTER 15 LITERATURE REVIEW 15 FOREWORD 15 2.1 DEFINITIONS 16 2.1.1 Generation 16 2.1.2 Generation Gap 17 2.2 BABY BOOMERS – CHARACTERISTICS 18 2.3 GENERATION X – CHARACTERISTICS 19 2.4 GEN Y – CHARACTERISTICS 20 2.5 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF MOTIVATION 22 2.5.1 Motivation - definitions .22 2.5.2 What motivates employees? .23 2.6 REVIEW OF EXISTING STUDIES 24 CHAPTER 33 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33 INTRODUCTION 33 3.1 DEFINITIONS 33 3.1.1 Research .33 3.1.2 Methodology .34 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 35 3.3 CHOSEN METHODOLOGY 35 3.4 THE RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY – POSITIVISM 36 3.5 THE RESEARCH APPROACH: DEDUCTIVE APPROACH: TESTING THEORY 37 3.6 RESEARCH STRATEGY: SURVEY 38 3.7 THE RESEARCH CHOICE: QUANTITATIVE MONO-METHOD APPROACH 40 3.8 TIME HORIZON: CROSS-SECTIONAL 42 3.9 RESPONDENTS: POPULATION & SAMPLE 43 3.9.1 Population 43 3.9.2 Sample .43 3.10 DATA ANALYSIS .45 3.11 DATA COLLECTION, EDITING & CODING 45 3.11.1 Data Collection 45 3.11.2 Data editing 47 3.11.3 Data coding 48 3.12 ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE RESEARCH .48 3.13 THE LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH 49 3.14 QUALITY STANDARDS: VALIDITY & RELIABILITY 49 CHAPTER 51 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 51 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH THROUGH SURVEYS 51 4.1 RESPONDENTS PROFILE 52 4.1.1 Question 1: Out of the following three time periods, which one were you born in? 52 4.1.2 Question 2: What is your gender? 52 4.1.3 Question 3: What is your job classification? 54 4.1.4 Question 4: What is the highest level of education you have completed? 55 4.1.5 Question 5: Which one of the following would make you feel most motivated at work? 57 4.1.6 Question 6: Please rank below factors according to importance for you in the workplace with being the most important, and being least important 61 CHAPTER 69 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 69 5.1 5.2 5.3 CONCLUSION 69 IMPLICATIONS AND ADVICE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 71 RECOMMENDATION FOR MANAGERS 72 CHAPTER 73 REFLECTION ON LEARNING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT 73 6.1 6.2 LEARNING STYLE .73 SKILL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT 77 APPENDICES 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY 85 List of figures: FIGURE THE LEARNING CYCLE (ADAPTED FROM KOLB, 2011) 11 FIGURE COMPARISON OF THREE GENERATIONS’ CHARACTERISTICS AND VIEWS OF WORK 21 FIGURE THE RESEARCH ‘ONION’ SOURCE: (SAUNDERS ET AL., 2009, P 108) .36 FIGURE RESEARCH CHOICES (SAUNDERS ET AL., 2009, P.152) 41 FIGURE RELATIVE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LONGITUDINAL AND CROSS-SECTIONAL DESIGNS (MALHOTRA & BIRKS ET AL., 2006, P 77) 42 FIGURE TYPES OF SECONDARY DATA (SAUNDERS ET AL., 2009, P.259) 46 FIGURE RESPONDENTS GENDER BY GENERATION .52 FIGURE JOB CLASSIFICATION PER GENERATION 54 FIGURE HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION BY GENERATION 56 FIGURE 10 MAIN MOTIVATION GENERATIONAL BREAKDOWN .58 FIGURE 11 IMPORTANCE FACTORS BREAKDOWN BY GENERATION 63 FIGURE 12 KOLB’S LEARNING CYCLE 74 List of tables: TABLE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS CLASSIFIED BY GENERATION 52 TABLE CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS’ GENERATION AND GENDER 52 TABLE GENERATIONAL BREAKDOWN OF GENDER BY PERCENTAGE .53 TABLE BREAKDOWN OF JOB CLASSIFICATION PER GENERATION 54 TABLE PERCENTAGE OF JOB CLASSIFICATION PER GENERATION .54 TABLE HIGHEST EDUCATION ACHIEVED BY GENERATION 55 TABLE HIGHEST EDUCATION ACHIEVED BY GENERATION IN PERCENTAGE .55 TABLE MAIN MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS BREAKDOWN BY GENERATION 57 TABLE MAIN MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS BREAKDOWN BY GENERATION IN PERCENTAGE .57 TABLE 10 BABY BOOMERS IMPORTANCE SCALE IN NUMBERS 61 TABLE 11 BABY BOOMERS IMPORTANCE SCALE IN PERCENTAGE 61 TABLE 12 GENERATION X IMPORTANCE SCALE IN NUMBERS 61 TABLE 13 GENERATION X IMPORTANCE SCALE IN PERCENTAGE .62 TABLE 14 GENERATION Y IMPORTANCE SCALE BY NUMBERS 62 TABLE 15 GENERATION Y IMPORTANCE SCALE BY PERCENTAGE .62 TABLE 16 RESPONSIBILITIES: CROSS GENERATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMPORTANCE BY EACH COHORT 63 TABLE 17 COMPENSATION: CROSS GENERATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMPORTANCE BY EACH COHORT 64 TABLE 18 WORK ENVIRONMENT: CROSS GENERATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMPORTANCE BY EACH COHORT 65 TABLE 19 ADVANCEMENT POTENTIAL: CROSS GENERATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMPORTANCE BY EACH COHORT .66 TABLE 20 FREE TIME: CROSS GENERATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMPORTANCE BY EACH COHORT 68 Chapter Introduction Generational diversity has been a topic of much discussion, exploration, and debate among organisational scholars and researchers (Mhatre & Conger, 2011) Many studies have been undertaken in order to understand and make sense of differences between different generations which cannot be ignored It is not a current concept, many generations have been working together in the past, but today we are able to see and study the differences between them In today’s work and social organizations, it is quite common to find individuals who were born during different times, circumstances, and situations (Erickson, 2009) Most commonly there have three generations currently present in the workplace: Generation Baby Boomers, Generation X and most currently Generation Y, also known as Millennials As these various generations work side-by-side in the workplace, organizational behavior has changed to adapt to each generation Managers are dealing with the generations that have a unique work ethics when compared with each other (Kaifi, Nafei, Khabfar & Kaifi, 2012) What’s more exciting is that, “organizations and researches are now beginning to address issues related to generational differences that might have significant impact on leadership and success of an organization”(Salahuddin, 2010, p.1) With such understanding it becomes imperative to research and study generational differences in any workplace Personality of an individual is formed by the events experienced at their growth stage Therefore it is common that the communication style, values and expectations of the work cohorts will differ between generations (Glass, 2007) These differences showed the need for variety of needs and demands, which shaped organizational behavior and reward systems In today’s demanding and ever changing environment, organizations are realizing the importance of satisfied and well educated workforce Human resources became one of the key strategic functions in organizations, where key employee retention is an important factor Therefore, organizations must study and apply different motivational techniques tailored to needs of each generation in order to retain and attract best talent available Background of the topic Crumpacker & Crumparker (2007) highlighted that today’s workforce comprises of various age groups, ranging from twenties to sixties Because of that diversity, understanding of such varied workforce has become a priority for organisations in order to understand the challenges and opportunities created (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007) The success of any organization largely depends on its employees Taylor 111 et al., (2006), points out that employee satisfaction is a closely related predictor of turnover, together with major categories of predictor variables, “one emphasizing job attitudes of satisfaction is perceived alternatives and job search behavior” (Mitchell et al., 2001) Bhatnagar (2008) explains that it is important for organizations to take an active role in identifying and cultivating their own people who have the capabilities and potential to become an effective leaders and “the most powerful talent management practices respond to an organization’s unique business and human capital context” (Franks et al., 2004) Employees job satisfaction promises to maintain low employee turnover therefore it is very important for the leaders of the organisations to address the subject and develop suitable motivational techniques This study will analyze three generations: Baby Boomers, Generation Y and Generation X and enquire for motivational differences and for levels of importance of these motivational factors, in an effort to determine which motivational factors are valued the most by each generation Knowledge of various importance levels assigned to each factor will allow for alteration of managerial techniques used to motivate employees in today’s Irish work environment making them more effective to all three generations Many Irish organizations are exposed to troublesome economy and human resources have become a major strategic component in keeping them afloat Therefore right motivational techniques, based on needs of each generation, will help to minimize staff turnover and help to retain best talent Gunnigle, Heraty & Morley (2011, p.137) explain that if motivational needs are met and satisfied, employees will be encouraged to work at high-performance levels High-performance levels are what can bring competitive advantage to an organization; it is the one factor that can make a difference between long-term success and a short-term victory or even failure Background of the researcher The researcher is a graduate in Business Management with specialization in Human Resource Management and currently completing her Master’s degree in Business and Administration with specialization in Human Resources During her professional career, the researcher noticed hat various groups of employees act and react differently to various managerial and motivational techniques posed by their peers Researcher herself belongs to generation Y and was trying to understand the way her managers, who belong to 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