Human resources management solutions for attracting and retaining millennial workers

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2044-3.ch002Chapter 2 The Differences between the Millennial Generation and Other Generations ABSTRACT After you read this chapter, you will be able to know the c

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ISBN: 978-1-5225-2044-3

eISBN: 978-1-5225-2045-0

This book is published in the IGI Global book series Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development (AHRMOD) (ISSN: 2327-3372; eISSN: 2327-3380)

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Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development (AHRMOD)

Book Series

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The Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development (AHRMOD) Book Series (ISSN 2327-3372) is published by IGI Global, 701 E Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, PA 17033-1240, USA, www.igi-global com This series is composed of titles available for purchase individually; each title is edited to be contextually exclusive from any other title within the series For pricing and ordering information please visit http://www.igi-global.com/book- series/advances-human-resources-management-organizational/73670 Postmaster: Send all address changes to above address

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Mission

ISSN:2327-3372 EISSN:2327-3380

A solid foundation is essential to the development and success of any organization and can

be accomplished through the effective and careful management of an organization’s man capital Research in human resources management and organizational development is necessary in providing business leaders with the tools and methodologies which will assist

hu-in the development and mahu-intenance of their organizational structure.

The Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational ment (AHRMOD) Book Series aims to publish the latest research on all aspects of human

Develop-resources as well as the latest methodologies, tools, and theories regarding organizational

development and sustainability The AHRMOD Book Series intends to provide business

professionals, managers, researchers, and students with the necessary resources to effectively develop and implement organizational strategies.

• Employment and Labor Laws

• Worker Behavior and Engagement

Editor-in-Chief: Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain

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Handbook of Research on Human Resources Strategies for the New Milennial

Patricia Ordoñez de Pablos (University of Oviedo, Spain) and Robert D Tennyson versity of Minnesota, USA)

Management Education for Global Leadership

Innovation and Shifting Perspectives in Management Education

Strategic Labor Relations Management in Modern Organizations

Ana María Lucia Casademunt (Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Spain)

Bridging the Scholar-Practitioner Gap in Human Resources Development

Claretha Hughes (University of Arkansas, USA) and Matthew W Gosney (Hillcrest Care Systems, USA)

Quantitative Multidisciplinary Approaches in Human Capital and Asset Management

Meir Russ (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, USA)

Strategic Information Technology Governance and Organizational Politics in Modern

Tiko Iyamu (Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa)

Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Leadership in Modern Organizations

Nancy D Erbe (California State University Dominguez Hills, California) and Anthony H Normore (California State University Dominguez Hills, California)

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Chapter 7;

Promotion ; 193 ;

Chapter 8; Career.Development ; 223 ;

Section 4; Future Issues; Chapter 9; The.Future.Challenge.of.Millennial.Workers ; 254 ;

Appendix; 264 ;

About the Author; 267 ;

Index; 268 ;

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This book discusses the human resource management issues from nial generation individuals This is a special generation; the Millennial indi-viduals have a lot of novel ideas and thoughts Therefore, this book compares Millennial generation with other generations, and finds that there are many differences

Millen-There are many books discuss the topics about human resource ment, and the information about Millennial generation individuals are suf-ficient However, the main concepts of this book is to explore the approaches

manage-to attract and retain Millennial workers This book contains four sections and nine chapters to explore this topic This book is able to explore the charac-teristics of Millennial generation, as well as assists the employers, managers, and other workers understand this generation

At the beginning of each chapter, the objectives are listed This is able to make the readers realize the key points in each chapter At the end of each chapter, several questions are offered, and these questions are able to develop the readers’ thinking

This book provides sufficient background knowledge and theory about the topic Furthermore, this book also offers 12 stories which focus on the practical viewpoints, and these stories are able to help readers understand the knowledge and theory Regarding the complex concepts, this book uses tables and figures to explain them, and cites previous studies or books to provide the models Through tables and figures, the readers can easily to understand and establish the right concepts

This book describes not only many opinions from Eastern culture and Chinese viewpoints, but also collects a lot of literature and researches from database Hence, this book clearly illustrates the issues, problems, and trends related to the topic, as well as promotes the readers’ international viewpoints

Meng-Shan Tsai

Clouder Technology Inc., Taiwan

October 2016

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In this section, the author introduces the basic but important concepts The main objective of this section is for make readers to get to know the Millennial Generation

as background for reading the following chapters If you are an employer, you have

to know how to manage Millennial Generation workers If you are an employee, but

do not belong to the Millennial Generation, you have to understand how to municate with Millennial Generation workers If you are a Millennial Generation worker, you should be able to understand other Millennial Generation workers’ thinking If you are a Millennial Generation individual and you are yet to enter the labor market, you need to understand what negative attitudes you should avoid

com-If you are interested in these issues, this book will provide you with relevant information

The Basic Concept

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WHAT IS THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION?

Generations

“Generation” refers to a group of people who were born and came of age gether over a period of roughly 20 years This is an approximate period, which refers to an individual’s birth to early adulthood To date, current generations can be divided into six periods: The Greatest Generation (G.I.) (1901–1924), Silent (1925–1942), Boom (1943–1960), Gen-X (1961–1981), Millennial (1982–2002), and post-9/11, whom some have termed 20-20 (2003–present)

to-It is worth noting that the Boom Generation refers to “Baby Boomers,” and the Millennial Generation is also called “Generation Y”, “Generation Me,”

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and the “Net Generation.” Additionally, each generation experiences the same events during the same period, and has similar values, and, viewpoints, both cultural and economic, so they are called a generation cohort (Özçelik, 2015; Sauser & Sims, 2012) Sauser and Sims (2012) indicate that writers use different names for these generations, and even the birth dates are dif-ferent However, Özçelik’s (2015) account of the eras of Boom, Gen-X, and Millennial differs from Sauser and Sims’s (2012) version Özçelik (2015) describes as the Baby-Boomer Generation, those who were born between

1946 and 1964; Generation X those who were born between 1965 and 1980; and the Millennium Generation those who were born between 1981 and 2000 Furthermore, Murphy (2012) reports different periods for the six generations Table 1 shows the period of the six generations from these three authors’ viewpoints The Millennial Generation have already started or are about to start their careers, and the Baby-Boomer Generation are nearing retirement age Both generations (Baby Boomers and Millennials) have roughly twice

as many members as Generation X (Murphy, 2012) In this study, “Boom Generation” and “Baby-Boomer Generation” are used interchangeably

Millennial Generation

The Millennial Generation is the youngest workforce in today’s workplace, and is the most immediate cohort of new employees that human resource managers are now facing (Sauser & Sims, 2012; Sills, 2014)

Millennial Generation individuals came of age during a period of economic growth, and are influenced by modern culture (e.g., media, television), val-ues, and internationalization (Parment, 2013) Additionally, this generation

is influenced by technological developments, so they are digital natives Furthermore, social, technological, and economic conditions shape Millen-nials; they have more opportunities to use mobility-based devices compared

to other generations, and thus they use the Internet or social media to learn (Hopkin & Stephenson, 2014; Rand, 2013)

Table 1 The period of six generations

Sauser and Sims 1901-1924 1925-1942 1943-1960 1961-1981 1982-2002 2003-present

-Note: “-” means the authors do not mention the era.

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According to statistical data from The Council of Economic Advisers (2014), the Millennial Generation is the largest population in the United States This generation accounted for one-third of the total population in

2013 Figure 1 presents the population of five generations: Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and the Homeland Generation

In Taiwan, there are many people who were born in the Millennial eration This book uses Özçelik’s (2015) version to define this generation Thus, the Millennial Generation refers to the period between 1981 and 2000 Table 2 reports the population during this period, and Figure 2 is based on that data and shows the change and trends in the birth population from 1981

Gen-to 2000 According Gen-to Table 2, the Gen-total of the birth population in the lennial Generation in Taiwan is 6,669,855 Figure 2 presents the highest birth population in 1981, and the lowest birth population in 1998 From 1991 to

Mil-1997, the birth population changed little

The Attitudes of Millennials

In this section, the attitudes of Millennials are discussed from three aspects: population, priorities, and happiness and trust

Figure 1 The population of the five generations in the United States in 2013 Source: The Council of Economic Advisers (2014).

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Table 2 The birth population in Taiwan, 1981-2000

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The Pew Research Center (2010) proposes a series of reports to describe the attitudes of the Millennial Generation First, this center investigates the population structures in the United States of two groups: Millennials and adults The result is shown in Figure 3, which demonstrates that the white population decreased from 70% to 61%; however, both black and Hispanic populations rose from 11% to 14% and from 13% to 19%, respectively The proportions of Asians and others were 5% and 1% in two groups Hence, the Pew Research Center (2010) demonstrates that Millennials are more ethni-cally and racially diverse than adults

Priorities

The Pew Research Center (2010) claims that the Millennial Generation pays more attention to parenthood and marriage than to career and financial success Later, Sauser and Sim (2012) also investigated the priorities of the Millennial Generation, and found that their respondents valued almost all priorities higher than the Pew Research Center’s (2010) respondents did In Figure 4, both results show that Millennials focus on “Being a good parent” and “Having a successful marriage, ” while “Becoming famous” has equal proportions in the two groups (1%) However, the report from the Pew Research Center (2010) did not investigate “Having access to affordable healthcare, ”

so this item does not have any data in the blue line in Figure 4

Figure 3 The population structure of Millennials and adults

Source: The Pew Research Center (2010).

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Happiness and Trust

According to the investigation by the Pew Research Center (2010), the portion of the Millennial Generation who feel happy is larger compared to the proportion of Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation The results show that 87% of Millennials say that they feel happy (31% are very happy and 56% are somewhat happy), and that nearly equal proportions

pro-of Generation X (27%), Baby Boomers (29%), and Silents (27%) express that they are very happy Only 12% of Millennials and 20% of Silents feel not very happy The reasons Millennials have a higher happiness rating than other generations are that they have higher incomes, they are married, and they attend church weekly The author of this book considers the important reasons for Millennials’ happiness to be related to their characteristics: they can accept different cultures, use technological products (e.g., Facebook, Line, Internet), they like to participate in community activities, as well as being independent and able to work with others In other words, Millennials are flexible and are not controlled by traditional thinking

Additionally, the Millennial Generation has less trust than other tions The Pew Research Center (2010) surveyed social trust between the ages

genera-of 18–29 and 30 and older, and the results are shown in Figure 5

Figure 4 Comparing the priorities between the Pew Research Center and Sauser and Sim

Source: Sauser and Sim (2012).

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Figure 5 indicates that the two groups have different viewpoints on social trust In 1996, 35% of aged 18–29 said that most people can be trusted, and nearly half of those (48%) ages 30 and older say that most people can be trusted In 2010, both groups showed less difference on this item (28% and 32%); however, the group of those aged 30 and older showed the lower per-centage of trust.

REFERENCES

Chang, C.-H (2009) The relevant research about birth rate in Taiwan

Re-trieved from http://www.nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/83/83-06.htm (in Chinese)Hopkin, D., & Stephenson, J (2014) Generation Y mobilities through the

lens of energy cultures: A preliminary exploration of mobility cultures

Jour-nal of Transport Geography, 38, 88–91 doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.05.013

Murphy, W M (2012) Reverse mentoring at work: Fostering

cross-genera-tional learning and developing millennial leaders Human Resource

Manage-ment, 51(4), 549–574 doi:10.1002/hrm.21489

Figure 5 The result of social trust between two groups

Source: The Pew Research Center (2010).

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Özçelik, G (2015) Engagement and retention of the millennial generation in

the workplace through internal branding International Journal of Business

and Management, 10(3), 99–107 doi:10.5539/ijbm.v10n3p99

Parment, A (2013) Generation Y vs Baby Boomers: Shopping behavior,

buyer involvement and implications for retailing Journal of Retailing and

Consumer Services, 20(2), 189–199 doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.12.001

Pew Research Center (2010) Millennials: Confident Connected Open to

change Pew Social & Demographic Trends Retrieved from http://www.

to-change.pdf

pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-Rand, S (2013) A Generation Yers Perspective on Generation Y Learning

PM & R, 5(7), 602–603 doi:10.1016/j.pmrj.2013.04.013 PMID:23880044

Sauser, W I., & Sims, R R (2012) Managing Human Resources for the

Millennial Generation Information Age Publishing.

Sills, M (2014) E-recruitment: A comparison with traditional recruitment

and the influences of social media A qualitative and quantitative review

Helsinki: Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences Bachelor of Business Administration

The Council of Economic Advisers (2014) 15 Economic facts about

Mil-lennials Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/

millennials_report.pdf

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DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2044-3.ch002

Chapter 2

The Differences between the Millennial Generation and Other Generations

ABSTRACT

After you read this chapter, you will be able to know the characteristics

of Millennials, understand the behaviors of Millennials in the workplace, understand the Millennials viewpoints for his/her jobs, compare Millennial

to other generations, and find the differences among different generations.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MILLENNIALS

Several studies have compared Millennials with Baby Boomers The main reason for this is that Baby Boomers are in many instances parents of Mil-lennial Generation individuals, and readers can understand the relationship between parents and children (Parment, 2013) Both cohorts have different characteristics; that is to say, many of the things that Baby Boomers do not

do, the Millennial Generation do Additionally, the Millennial Generation also differs from Generation X Generation X is independent and survival oriented, while the Millennial Generation is sheltered and team oriented (Keeling, 2003) Sa’aban, Ismai and Mansor (2013) and Brown et al (2009) propose and describe the following characteristics of the Millennial Generation

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Technological Savvy/Impact

The Millennial Generation is in contact with a lot of new technology, such

as the Internet, cell phones, television, and so on This generation’s lifestyle

is also influenced by these technologies Because Millennials grew up with these new technologies, they depend on technology more than Baby Boomers and Generation X do, and the technology even becomes part of their life Ad-ditionally, they use online social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and so

on (Sa’aban et al., 2013) Based on these social networks, Millennials easily communicate with others and obtain information quickly (Brown et al., 2009)

Cultural Acceptance

The Millennial Generation can accept novel things Hence, Millennials are able to work with other people easily and accept diverse cultures Unlike previous generations, the Millennial Generation is more tolerant of different races, religions, and cultures (Sa’aban et al., 2013) Additionally, the Millen-nial Generation is less likely to have a sense of cultural superiority (Brown

et al., 2009)

Flexibility and Multitasking

As already mentioned, the Millennial Generation is able to accept different cultures Hence, flexibility means that Millennials work with new people, places, and situations Although they do not expect to change, they are ready

to adapt to new things and people On the other hand, technological opment help Millennials to multitask Therefore, they are able to deal with multiple tasks at the same time Moreover, they use technology to develop the ability to multitask (Sa’aban et al., 2013)

devel-Being Independent

The Millennial Generation is likely to do things according to their own proach but this does not mean that this generation prefers to work alone, or that they do not want to propose ideas and thoughts about the task assigned Millennials consider themselves as being confident in dealing with tasks with the help of technology That is to say, technology is the reason they are independent (Sa’aban et al., 2013)

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Although Millennials tend to show independence, they also prefer teamwork where they are working together in a group to implement a certain task The reason for this is that they are happy to join in a group, and they can finish their work earlier and get more opinions from discussion or brainstorming Hence, the Millennial Generation prefers collaborating and working as a group to working alone (Sa’aban et al., 2013)

Entitlement

The Millennial Generation is considered the entitlement generation In the workplace, sense of entitlement refers to this generation’s hopes of climbing the career ladder at a rate considered unreasonable by colleagues of other generations When their expectations are not met, the Millennial Generation will search for new opportunities, and they want to move quickly up the career ladder (Brown et al., 2009)

Volunteerism

The Millennial Generation is willing to donate time to some form of public service Several previous studies have demonstrated that this generation is more likely to volunteer, compared to individuals in previous generations (Brown et al., 2009) For example, Cole, Smith, and Lucas (2002) and Brown

et al (2009) stated that the Millennial Generation has more willingness to engage in community service compared to Generation X Therefore, Erickson (2008, cited in Brown et al., 2009) described this generation as part of a new wave of volunteerism

COMPARING MILLENNIALS WITH OTHER GENERATIONS

The Pew Research Center is devoted to exploring the behaviors or phenomena

of every generation In 2015, published an article discussing the differences between Millennials and other generations According to this survey (Pew Research Center, 2015), in 2014 the population of adult Millennials was 68.39 million, Generation X was 64.58 million, and Boomers and Silents were 74.33 million and 26.82 million, respectively

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The Behaviors in the Workplace

Every generation has different characteristics, and these differences are shown

in an individual’s life, habits, and even their work attitudes Because every generation confronts a different external environment, they show varying behaviors Mikita (2009) indicated that organizations provide flexibility, establishing a rounded group to gather experience, skills, and offering novel approaches to solve problems In order to achieve these objectives, organiza-tions employ a multi-generational workforce (e.g., Matures, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials) These organizations find that interaction among these generations generates innovative approaches and opinions to improve productivity, safety, morale, and competitive advantage Therefore, every generation has different perspectives toward its work

Baby Boomers (Born 1946 - 1964)

According to data from the Pew Research Center (2015), Baby Boomers constitute the bulk of the existing workforce at present and the largest gen-eration in the workplace (Brown, Thomas, & Bosselman, 2015; Gursoy, Chi,

& Karadag, 2013) Baby Boomers have loyalty, respect the organizational hierarchy, and wait their turn for advancement Moreover, they have high stability in their jobs, because they do not like to change in this regard, and they expect to begin their career and retire from the same company (Chi, Maier, & Gursoy, 2013) Baby Boomers grew up in a period of American global pre-eminence and rising economic prosperity, they believe strongly

in lifetime employment and company loyalty due to obtaining respect and seniority, and Baby Boomers also tend to be satisfied with and less likely

to change their jobs, and demonstrate lower job turnover compared to other generations (Benson & Brown, 2011; Costanza, Badger, Fraser, Severt, & Gade, 2012; Festing & Schäfer, 2014) This generation is beginning to leave the workforce; however, for financial or personal reasons, many employees

of this generation are delaying or forgoing retirement, and some are entering entirely new careers Baby Boomers take valuable knowledge and experience with them if they exit the workforce, and these are useful assets Hence, hu-man resources departments provide several approaches to encourage Baby Boomers to stay in their jobs a little longer, such as flexible working ar-rangements (Brown et al., 2015; Bursch & Kelly, 2014) Baby Boomers are less likely to change jobs than Millennial Generation: they tend to stay in the same company from when they begin their careers to when they retire They have higher loyalty, satisfaction and stability in their jobs, compared to

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other generations Additionally, they are able to bear a heavy workload and long working hours, as well as being satisfied with their wages and welfare.

Generation X (Born 1965 - 1980)

Generation X follows Baby Boomers, and they have different thoughts about their jobs Generation X tend to be skeptical of the system; they are indepen-dent, autonomous, and like to be in control, view job freedom as a reward, and search for training opportunities to improve their skills, as well as want-ing fast feedback In addition, Generation X are concerned with work–life balance, and they do not like to sacrifice their lifestyle, health, and friends to gain promotion opportunities However, they spend long hours at their jobs and keep their family and activities outside of work separate from their jobs (Chi et al., 2013; Festing & Schäfer, 2014) Furthermore, Generation X face higher unemployment and keener competition for jobs than Baby Boomers

do (Schullery, 2013) Generation X have less loyalty toward their employers than Baby Boomers, and therefore they are more likely to change their jobs compared to Baby Boomers (Festing & Schäfer, 2014) Generation X lack loyalty toward their jobs, because they attempt to find a good fit between employer and employee Once they find the fit, they do have high loyalty to their employer (White, 2011) Generation X entered the workforce and tried to move upward through the layers, and today they are moving into middle and senior leadership positions (Brown et al., 2015) Generation X is a thought-ful generation; they pay more attention to their own perspectives, and they are concerned with the balance between work and leisure Therefore, this generation is viewed as having low loyalty and high turnover in their jobs However, they show high stability in their jobs once they identify with the company, employer, and co-workers

Millennial/Generation Y (Born 1981 - 2000)

Millennials are also known as Generation Y is also known as GenY, tion Me, GenMe, and iGen (Festing & Schäfer, 2014) Millennials are the youngest group, and they have grown up in a fast-paced and technology-dominated society (Chi et al., 2013) Millennial employees have several positive attributes that include being ambitious for success, being more likely

Genera-to work Genera-together, as well as being able Genera-to use new technology (Pompper, 2011; Todd, 2014) Millennials emphasize corporate social responsibility, value the balance between work and life, look for training and development opportunities, and find mobility in their early careers A study by Kowske,

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Rasch, and Wiley (2010) indicated that Millennials show high satisfaction with their company, job, job security, recognition, as well as career develop-ment and advancement Nevertheless, Millennials present a higher voluntary turnover rate than Baby Boomers and Generation X do Therefore, compared

to Baby Boomers and Generation X, Millennials find it hardest to stay in the same workplace, the reasons for which include the following: (1) Mil-lennials find that changing jobs is beneficial for them, so they are willing

to leave their current jobs; and (2) Millennials experience the biggest age gap in the workplace; they are known as very demanding and want a quick response and results, and this is the critical reason for their intention to leave their jobs (Brown et al., 2015; Weingarten, 2009) Hence, Millennials are considered to have no loyalty to a company, and this generation is also the hardest to recruit and retain (Weingarten, 2009); this means that they have low stability in their jobs However, this generation pay attention to their personal goals and tend to make decisions with others Once this condition

is met, they show loyalty; if not, they seek new opportunities in other jobs (Barron, Maxwell, Broadbridge, & Ogden, 2007) This generation depends on high technology; thus, they use technology, such as the Internet to seek new jobs Furthermore, Millennials are concerned with positive company culture (Barron et al., 2007), salary, welfare, and benefits If managers empower Generation Y employees to make decisions, even with a heavy workload, stress, and challenges, these conditions reduce the intention to change jobs and improve the job satisfaction of this generation

As discussed above, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials show different behaviors in the workplace Table 1 compares the differences among the three generations in terms of year of birth, status in the workplace, job stability, loyalty to their jobs, job satisfaction, and turnover

COMPARE THE THREE GENERATIONS

According to Table 1, the Baby Boomer generation does not like change and they face difficulties in the workplace with positivity Of course, they complain about unfairness and frustrations; however, they bear these aspects without

it leading to the intention to change jobs, and they show high stability and loyalty even if they have to tolerate these uncomfortable things

Compared to Baby Boomers, Generation X express more opinions and pay more attention to freedom Therefore, the job stability and loyalty of this generation are lower than those of Baby Boomers Furthermore, Gen-eration X have more channels through which to obtain work opportunities,

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including newspapers, television, the Internet, and so on, so it is easier for them to find new jobs than for Baby Boomers To this point, Generation X have worked almost ten or more than ten years in the workplace They have middle- or high-ranking positions; thus, their careers tend to be stabile, and they do not like changing jobs On the other hand, Generation X focuses on the fit between employer and employee When the fit is good, Generation X employees are satisfied with their jobs, and vice versa.

Gradually, Millennials are entering the workplace This generation pay more attention to freedom and are more individualistic than other genera-tions (Festing & Schäfer, 2014), but Millennials are the most team-centric (Jenkins, 2008) Because of the external environment, Millennials are very well educated and are technology savvy (Festing & Schäfer, 2014), so they are able to use the Internet to seek new information, including job opportunities Since this generation finds new jobs easily, they do not put up with unfair-ness They strive for their rights, promotion opportunities, welfare, and so

on If companies cannot satisfy their demands, they are more likely to quit Therefore, some employers consider Millennials to have low stability, loyalty, and job satisfaction Nevertheless, Millennials focus on their personal goals, and they expect to be able to develop their careers in a single workplace Once

a company can satisfy them, Millennials are less likely to quit

Table 1 The differences among Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennial

Year of birth From 1946 to1964 From 1965 to 1980 From 1981 to 2000 Status Existing employees and

beginning to leave jobs • Following Baby Boomer

• Promoting to middle and senior positions

The youngest group in the workplace

between employer and employee.

If the job meet their personal goals, they show high satisfaction for their jobs and companies, and vice versa

Baby Boomer) Highest (Higher than Baby Boomer and

Generation X)

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Generation X is self-oriented (Festing & Schäfer, 2014), while als tend to have high self-esteem and assertiveness, and are highly confident

Millenni-in their abilities (Chou, 2012) On the other hand, Baby Boomers consider job security to be an important factor, and are satisfied with their jobs.Although Baby Boomers and Millennials have different degrees of loy-alty toward their jobs, both generations have similar ways of thinking: Baby Boomers and Millennials are thought to feel a strong desire to succeed and measure their success by the meaningfulness of work However, Millennials are considered to value their leisure more than other generations do (Becton, Walker, & Jones-Farmer, 2014)

Table 2 cites previous studies by Kowske et al (2010) and Weingarten (2009), and provides theoretical descriptions, milestones, and characteristics

of Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials

Kowske et al (2010) studied the different viewpoints of the various erations in overall company and job satisfaction, satisfaction with recognition, satisfaction with career development and advancement, as well as job secu-rity Figures 1 to 4 show the differences among these generations, in which

gen-Table 2 Understanding three generations: generation theoretical description, stones, and characteristics

Baby

Boomers Much heralded but failing to meet expectations, smug, self-absorbed,

intellectually arrogant, socially mature,

culturally wise, critical thinkers, spiritual,

religious, having an inner fervor, radical,

controversial, non-conformist,

self-confident, self-indulgent

• Assassination of political icons

• Civil rights movement

• Women’s rights movement

• The Vietnam War

• Optimism

• Team orientation

• Work for personal fulfillment Generation

X Cynical, distrusting, bearing the weight of the world, fearful, lost, wasted,

incorrigible, in-your-face, frenetic,

shocking, uneducated, shallow, uncivil,

mature for their age, pragmatic, apathetic

and disengaged politically, independent,

self-reliant, fatalistic, mocking,

under-achieving

• Impeachment of President Nixon

• Fall of the Berlin Wall

Millennial Optimists, cooperative, team players,

trusting, accepting of authority,

rule-followers, smart, civic-minded, special,

sheltered, confident, achieving, pressured,

• Social

• Diverse

• Education Sources: Kowske et al (2010) and Weingarten (2009).

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zero is the grand mean In Kowske et al.’s (2010) study, they divided erations into 12 groups: G.I., early Silent, middle Silent, late Silent, early Boomers, middle Boomers, early Generation X, middle Generation X, late Generation X, early Millennials, and late Millennials.

gen-Figure 1 presents the trend among 12 generations in overall company and job satisfaction In Figure 1, the levels decrease from the G.I generation to the middle Boomers, and then increase from the late Boomers to the late Millennials In addition, the middle Boomers have the lowest points and are lower than average, as well as five generations (i.e., G.I., earily Silent, late Generation X, early Millennials, and late Millennials) having points that are higher than average Furthermore, Millennials’ overall satisfaction is higher than average (Kowske et al., 2010)

Figure 2 demonstrates the trend among the 12 generations regarding isfaction with recognition In Figure 2, the levels decrease from the G.I generation to early and middle Generation X, and then increase to the late Millennials Again, the Millennials’ score is higher than average (Kowske et al., 2010) The lowest point belongs to the late Boomers; however, the scores

sat-of late Boomers and early Generation X are almost equal

Figure 3 shows the trend among 12 generations in satisfaction with career development and advancement In Figure 3, the levels decrease from the G.I

Figure 1 Generational differences in overall company and job satisfaction

Source: Kowske et al (2010).

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Figure 2 Generational differences in satisfaction with recognition

Figure 3 Generational differences in satisfaction with career development and advancement

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generation to the middle Boomers, and then increase to late the Millennials Moreover, the score of the G.I generation is slightly higher than average On the other hand, the score of Millennials is still higher than average (Kowske

et al., 2010)

Figure 4 depicts the trend among 12 generations in job security In Figure

4, the levels decrease from the G.I generation to the middle Boomers, and then increase to the late Millennials The highest score is the G.I generation, and the lowest score is the late Boomers The score of Millennials is higher than average, and than Silents and Boomers, but it is lower than the score of the G.I generation (Kowske et al., 2010)

The purpose of Table 3 and Table 4 is to compare the 12 generations in terms of overall company and job satisfaction, satisfaction with recognition, satisfaction with career development and advancement, and job security, and they are based on the above statements and Figures 1 to 4

Table 3 describes the scores for the 12 generations, which are higher or lower than the average score According to the study by Kowske et al (2010), the results for overall company and job satisfaction are the same as for career development and advancement Additionally, the results for satisfaction with recognition are the same as the results for job security

Figure 4 Generational differences in job security

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Table 3 Comparing the 12 generations in four aspects: overall company and job satisfaction, satisfaction with recognition, satisfaction with career development and advancement, and job security

Company and Job Satisfaction

Satisfaction with

and Advancement

Job Security

Notes: 1 “+” means the score higher than average, 2 “-” means the score lower than average.

Table 4 The highest and lowest scores in overall company and job satisfaction, satisfaction with recognition, career development and advancement, and job security

and Advancement

Job Security

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These results mean that a generation has similar viewpoints on overall company and job satisfaction and career development and advancement, and has similar viewpoints on satisfaction with recognition and job security.The G.I generation, early Silents, and early and late Millennials have higher scores than average on these four aspects Late Silents, Boomers, and early and middle Generation X have lower scores than average on these four aspects Middle Silents have the highest scores on satisfaction with recog-nition and job security, and the lowest scores on overall company and job satisfaction and satisfaction with career development and advancement In contrast, late Generation X has the highest scores on overall company and job satisfaction and job security, and the lowest scores on satisfaction with recognition and job security.

It is worth mentioning that the scores of late Generation X are close to average, except for satisfaction with career development and advancement Furthermore, the scores of middle Silents are close to average, except for job security However, the score for satisfaction with recognition almost equals the average Regarding the scores close to the average, these scores mean that individuals do not have significant positive or negative viewpoints on these issues

Figures 1 to 4 are curvilinear; namely, they from a U-shaped curve (Kowske

et al., 2010) In the four figures, the lowest point is the middle Boomers, and then increases to the late Millennials In Table 4, the highest points are located

in the G.I generation in overall company and job satisfaction, satisfaction with recognition, and job security Nevertheless, those most satisfied with career development and advancement are the youngest group in the workplace; that

is, the late Millennials

The main reason for this result is that employees in the youngest tion have their entire career path to plan, as well as having more flexibility

genera-in career direction at the beggenera-inngenera-ing of their career path compared to enced employees (Kowske et al., 2010) Therefore, Millennials change jobs

experi-if a company cannot provide valuable relationships that will benefit them for their entire career development For this reason, firms’ recruitment strategies should aim to provide a possible career path for each individual (Durocher, Bujaki, & Brouard, in press)

Here, I want to share a personal experience A Generation Y employee did not have stability in his employment, and he had had several unpleasant job experiences So, when I read his resume, I found that he had changed jobs many times and several of the jobs he had held lasted less than three months Of course, I doubted his stability and ability to do job However, during the recruitment process, he shared his reasons for changing jobs

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several times He emphasized that he would have been able to obtain some stability if he had an appropriate job, and I noted his determination For this reason, I decide to provide an opportunity for him Moreover, I gave him a potential career path, he would be able to follow if he remained stable in this new job, and was able to handle it well He subsequently worked hard

at his job, readily received recognition from co-workers, and then passed the probationary period This example shows that if companies can satisfy Millennial employees’ career, aspirations and provide them with promotion opportunities, then these employees will show high satisfaction with and loyalty to their job and company

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hospitality management: Generation Ys experiences and perceptions

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Becton, J B., Walker, H J., & Jones-Farmer, A (2014) Generational

differ-ences in workplace behavior Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(3),

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Benson, J., & Brown, M (2011) Generations at work: Are there differences

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R., Johnson, E., & Richardson, K (2009) Generation Y in the workplace

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Chi, C G., Maier, T A., & Gursoy, D (2013) Employees perceptions of

younger and older managers by generation and job category International

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American Workforce Journal of Business Administration Online, 1(2).

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doi:10.1007/s10869-012-9259-4

Durocher, S., Bujaki, M., & Brouard, F (in press) Attracting Millennials: Legitimacy management and bottom-up socialization processes within ac-

counting firms Critical Perspectives on Accounting.

Festing, M., & Schäfer, L (2014) Generational challenges to talent ment: A framework for talent retention based on the psychological-contract

manage-perspective Journal of World Business, 49(2), 262–271 doi:10.1016/j.

Jenkins, J (2008) Strategies for managing talent in a multi-generational

workforce Employment Relations Today, 34(4), 19–26 doi:10.1002/ert.20172 Keeling, S (2003) Advising the Millennial Generation NACADA Journal,

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Parment, A (2013) Generation Y vs Baby Boomers: Shopping behavior,

buyer involvement and implications for retailing Journal of Retailing and

Consumer Services, 20(2), 189–199 doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.12.001

Pew Research Center (2015) Comparing Millennials to Other Generations

Retrieved from millennials-to-other-generations/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/03/19/comparing-Pompper, D (2011) Cheap labor speaks: PR adjuncts on pedagogy and

preparing Millennials for careers Public Relations Review, 37(5), 456–465

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.015

Sa’aban, S., Ismai, N., & Mansor, M F (2013) A study on generation y

behavior at workplace.International Conference on Business Innovation,

Entrepreneurship and Engineering.

Schullery, N M (2013) Workplace engagement and generational

dif-ferences in values Business Communication Quarterly, 76(2), 252–265

doi:10.1177/1080569913476543

Todd, V (2014) Public relations supervisors and Millennial entry-level

practitioners rate entry-level job skills and professional characteristics Public

Relations Review, 40(5), 789–797 doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.05.002

Weingarten, R M (2009) Four generations, one workplace: A Gen X–Y

staff nurses view of team building in the emergency department Journal

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White, M (2011) Rethinking Generation Gaps in the Workplace: Focus on

Shared Values Retrieved from

http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/executive-ment/rethinking-generation-gaps-in-the-workplace.ashx

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INTERPERSONAL RELATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Interpersonal Relation and Important Theories

Interpersonal relations are a matter of degree: they focus on a participant feeling he/she is in a good relationship with others, such as family members, friends, or colleagues (Lin, 2014) Jung and Yoon (2016) define interpersonal relations that focus on human relationships with colleagues or supervisors in the workplace Kim and Eves (2012) indicate that interpersonal relations can

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be viewed as reciprocal, social, and emotional interactions between people, as

a desire to spend time with family and friends, and as a need to be satisfied from beyond the normal circle of acquaintances

However, the quality of interpersonal relations depends greatly on ality Many factors influence interpersonal relations, including personality disorders and attachment insecurities that generate problems in emotional regulation, interfere with the construction of a stable and positive sense of self, as well as disrupt the accomplishment of major developmental tasks (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007) Hence, poor interpersonal relations cause tension in the workplace, which occurs between colleagues, managers, and customers, as well as sellers (Gunbayi, 2009) In contrast, a close interpersonal relationship can improve communication and exchange more information, and then strengthen inter-firm outcomes, including inter-firm trust, relationship satisfaction, and performance (Wang, Wang, & Zheng, 2014)

person-In Chinese society, interpersonal relations are based on “guanxi.” This term refers to a particular type of relationship, social connections, or personal connections that bonds the exchange partners through reciprocal exchange

of favors, personal resources, and mutual obligations, as well as establishing expectations (Shou, Chen, Zhu, & Yang, 2014; Wu & Chiu, in press) How-ever, guanxi can have several negative influences in society or the workplace, such as influence privilege or promotion Once an interpersonal relationship

is used to obtain individual benefits or results in losses to others, it becomes un-healthy

Interpersonal Needs Theory: Schutz

Schutz’s interpersonal needs theory indicates that an individual has a specific need for interactions and that only interactions satisfy this need, if this person experiences the interaction to be a rewarding one These needs include the feeling of perceiving a sense of authority in making decisions or the need for respectful treatment Once the need is met, an individual is likely to be satisfied with his or her experiences (Brexendorf, Mühlmeier, Tomczak,

& Eisend, 2010) Schutz proposes that interpersonal needs theory contains three main interpersonal needs; that is, affection, inclusion, and control (Lu

& Ramsey, 2013) Additionally, individuals create and maintain relationships

to meet these three needs (Wood, 2014)

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This is the first interpersonal need The amount of affection that a person requires varies, but all humans desire some degree of affection Types of af-fection are diverse, ranging from intimate touch in interpersonal relationships

to positive work evaluation in the workplace setting An individual with a low affection-seeking score only requires simple appreciation or praise in the workplace; in contrast, an individual with a high affection-seeking scores requires more attention and emotional support (Lu & Ramsey, 2013)

Inclusion

The second need is inclusion The needs for inclusion speaks to our human desire to belong Like affection, although the amount a person requires varies, all humans need to belong However, most people have experienced loneli-ness or the psychological discomfort of not being included Interpersonally, our families, friends, social organizations, and workplaces satisfy our needs for inclusion (Lu & Ramsey, 2013) Therefore, inclusion refers to a feeling

of mutual interest and recognition of other people, as well as establishing and sustaining a mutual interest with others (Markopoulos & Mackay, 2009)

Control

This is the third interpersonal need Control entails the need to experience oneself as a competent, responsible person, as well as establishing a feel-ing of mutual respect for the competence and responsibility of other people (Markopoulos & Mackay, 2009) The core of this need is interpersonal com-munication As humans, we control an important part of our daily interac-tions If a person perceives a lack or loss of control, he or she feels anxiety or discomfort In addition, if an individual lacks control or power, this coincides with uncertainty (Lu & Ramsey, 2013)

FIRO-B ®

Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior TM (FIRO-B) was posited by Schnell (2009) According to reports by Schnell and Hammer (2010) and Morris (2009), FIRO-B is an assessment tool, that is able to assist

an individual to understand his or her behavior and the behavior of other people

in an organizations, as well as provide information about interpersonal needs

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in the three interpersonal relationship needs Figure 1 presents the model of this assessment tool, which is proposed by William Schutz (Lorigan, n.d.) This model contains six types: eI, eC, eA, wI, wC, and wA.

Figure 1 contains two dimensions, namely, needs and behaviors Needs refer to the three areas of interpersonal needs theory: inclusion, control, and affection Behaviors include expressed and wanted behaviors FIRO-B is used to evaluate or control the feelings of a group of individuals when it comes to the three types of needs or being able to obtain feedback from the members of a group (Lorigan, n.d.) This tool contains 54 questions to be answered (Sahu, 2009) The 54 items are cited in http://www.msubillings.edu/BusinessFaculty/larsen/MGMT353/FIRO-B.pdf and are reported in Ap-pendix A

According to the report by Schnell and Hammer (2010), this tool sures a person’s interpersonal needs from three aspects Table 1 depicts the contents and descriptors of the three interpersonal needs

mea-Regarding each of the three interpersonal needs—that is, inclusion, trol, and affection—FIRO-B also provides a measure of how much each need

con-is expressed or wanted by an individual (Morrcon-is, 2009; Schnell and Hammer, 2010) Table 2 provides information about these two dimensions

Schnell and Hammer (2010) explain that an individual obtain the scores

of total expressed and wanted behaviors Total expressed behavior equals eI

Figure 1 FIRO-B assessment

Source: Lorigan (n.d.).

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+ eC + eA, and total wanted behavior equals wI + wC + wA Total expressed behavior refers to how often an individual takes the initiative to approach others to fulfill the three interpersonal needs Hence, this value shows how

comfortable an individual is being proactive Total wanted behavior

demon-strates how much an individual depends on other people to obtain what he

or she needs Therefore, this value shows how comfortable an individual is

being reactive or responsive.

On the other hand, the results of total needs reflect the overall strength of the three needs, or how much an individual seeks to meet each of the three needs in interpersonal situations The needs with the highest scores are those that the individual feels most comfortable pursuing These needs are those to which the individual will probably return again and again in situations that provide opportunities for him or her to meet them, and are also those that he

Table 1 The contents and descriptors of inclusion, control, and affection

Contents The need for Inclusion

relates to forming new relations and associating with others; it determines the extent of contact and prominence that a person seeks.

The need for Control relates to decision making, influence, and persuasion between people; it determines the extent of power or dominance that a person seeks.

The need for Affection relates to emotional ties and warm connections between people; it determines the extent of closeness that a person seeks.

Table 2 The content of expressed behavior and wanted behavior

Description The extent to which you will initiate the

behavior The extent to which you want or will accept that behavior from others Questions Q1: How much do you prefer to initiate

the behavior?

Q2: How do you behave toward others

with respect to the three interpersonal needs?

Q3: How consistently do you engage in

the behaviors associated with the three needs?

Q1: How much do you prefer others to

take the initiative?

Q2: How much do you want to be the

recipient of those behaviors?

Q3: How consistently do you want others

to direct their behaviors associated with the three needs toward you?

Source: Morris (2009); Schnell and Hammer (2010).

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or she is least likely to sacrifice In contrast, the need with the lowest score

is the one that an individual is most likely to give up; as time goes on, he or she may drift away from situations that offer opportunities to fulfill this need

Social Exchange Theory

Social exchange theory is the premise that human behavior or social interaction

is an exchange of activity, tangible and intangible—particularly of rewards and costs This theory analyzes how the structure of rewards and costs in a relationship influence patterns of interaction (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2012) Additionally, the core of social exchange theory is benefit maximization and cost minimization (Yan, Wang, Chen, & Zhang, in press) Social exchange theory indicates that social behavior is the result of an exchange process (Tsai & Cheng, 2012)

The important issue in social exchange theory is trustworthiness This

theory proposes that trustworthiness on the part of both parties is critical for

an effective social exchange relationship (Zapata, Olsen, & Martins, 2013).Social exchange theory proposes two types of exchange in organizations: economic and social Economic exchange between employees and the organi-zation is usually explicit and monetarily rewarded On the other hand, social exchange has unspecified obligations with indirect chains of exchange, as well

as being concerned with non-monetary aspects of employment, especially those rooted in social exchange concepts (Slack, Corlett, & Morris, 2015)

In fact, social exchange theory is derived from economic exchange theory However, social exchange proposes that individuals participate in exchange behavior since they consider that their reward will justify the cost (Liao, 2008)

As reported earlier, trust is an important element for social exchange theory Liao (2008: 1883) indicates that trust can be defined as “the willingness of

a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party, with the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irre-spective of the ability to monitor or control that other party.” In addition, key elements such as commitment and loyalty offer the basis for social exchange

Role Theory

Role theory is often used to discuss phenomena in the workplace, such as the relationship between supervisor and subordinate Like social exchange theory, role theory explains various “currencies of exchange,”, such as con-tribution, professional respect, loyalty, as well as affect (Matta, Koopman,

& Conlon, 2015)

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Role theory emphasizes the incompatible, inconsistent, or unclear pectations resulting from role dynamics in the work environment In role theory, two concepts are proposed; that is, role conflict and role ambiguity

ex-(Liu, Gould, Rollins, & Gao, 2014) Role conflict refers to when a person

is confronted with situations where they may be required to play a role that conflicts with their value system or to play two or more roles that confront each other (Liu et al., 2014) Thus, employees in the workplace experience

a degree of role conflict, which is strongly related to interpersonal variables, such as the degree of trust and respect, as well as the liking they have for

their colleagues (Nicholson & Goh, 1983) Role ambiguity refers to the fact

that the single and multiple roles that confront one person may not be clearly articulated in terms of performance levels expected (Liu et al., 2014) Ac-cording to research by Hu, Wang, Xu, and Xu (2014), a positive significant correlation is shown to exist between role ambiguity and interpersonal relations

(r = 22, p < 01) Therefore, if an individual shows the expected behavior

and plays the expected role, the purpose is to foster socialization and obtain identification from other members in the group

THE INTERPERSONAL RELATION

VIEWPOINTS OF GENERATION Y

Those in Generation Y pay more attention to interpersonal relations, and especially to their friends, than do other generations Their degree of caring for their friends is higher than that for their families and co-workers

As reported earlier, those in the Millennial Generation use a lot of ogy products Additionally, Valentini (2015) indicates that digital technologies and social media have substantially changed, which can develop interper-sonal relations Therefore, Generation Y is able to maintain and establish interpersonal relations via technology products In addition, Generation Y is interested in 3C products, namely, computer, communication, and consumer electronics (e.g., smartphones, email, Line, Facebook, and so on) and this generation likes to use technology products to contact others They spend a lot time using 3C products to get in touch with their family, friends, colleagues, and supervisors Hence, Millennial individuals are not limited by time and space in building interpersonal relations

technol-In contrast, Generation Y relies on technology products too much, which leads to a reduction in opportunities to communicate and interact with other people face to face Although Generation Y uses various approaches to con-

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