Business Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 1, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22598/pi-be/2024.18.1.11
MILLENNIALS CHANGING THE GAME: THE NEW GENERATIONS CHALLENGING THE WORKPLACE
Aleksandra Janeska-Iliev
; Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Economics - Skopje,
Bojan Kitanovikj
orcid.org/0000-0002-1968-8955
; Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Economics - Skopje,
Abstract
Purpose: With a substantial presence of Generation Y members in the workforce
and a growing number of Generation Z employees, managers are increasingly confronted
with the challenge of navigating intergenerational differences among employees. In this
research endeavour, the authors sought to explore the anticipated impacts of the emerging
generation on work dynamics. Specifically, the objective is to discern potential disparities
among generational cohorts concerning their attitudes toward work centrality and how
these disparities might influence work engagement, with a particular emphasis on
Generation Z. Methodology: The research endeavour was based on data from 204
participants spanning various generational cohorts aged between 19 and 48 years. The
survey gathered data on the respondents’ demographic, work centrality, and work-related
aspects and well-being. A Spearman’s rank-order correlation and a t-test were used for
data analysis in SPSS. Findings and implications: The findings revealed a significant
correlation between age and work engagement, as well as between work centrality and
work engagement, suggesting nuanced relationships within the diverse age groups in the
workforce. Limitations: The study mostly concentrated on the research context of the Republic of North Macedonia, leaving space for cross-regional and cross-country studies.
Originality: As the workforce becomes increasingly diverse in terms of age, newer
generations are instigating a transformation in workplace values, consequently shaping
a novel professional environment. This leads to a growing interest in academic and
practitioner circles. Yet, after an extensive search query in the Scopus database, it was
found that there were very few articles detailing the differences in work centrality and
work engagement levels among different age groups. So, this study will attempt to fill this
gap.
Keywords
generation gap; workplace behaviour; work-life balance; employee engagement; work centrality.
Hrčak ID:
318211
URI
Publication date:
21.6.2024.
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