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Gen Z representatives from one Western and one Eastern European country were the subjects of an empirical study investigating leadership style preferences and effects of motivation and performance on leader preferences. Data from 131 Ukrainian and 157 Austrian Gen Z representatives were analyzed. Different dimensions of leadership were examined, including transactional/transformational leadership and production/employee/change orientation of leaders. The results show significant differences in expectations between cultures, and within different leadership styles. Generation Z representatives from collectivist cultures with high power distance, long-term orientation, and high uncertainty avoidance have higher expectations of their future leaders than those from individualistic countries with lower power distance, less long-term orientation, and low uncertainty avoidance. A higher level of work motivation leads to a higher relevance of transformational, transactional pecuniary, and transactional non-pecuniary leadership styles in a collectivist, uncertainty-avoiding country with high power distance (Ukraine), while there is no effect in an individualistic country with low uncertainty avoidance and low power distance (Austria). Also, higher levels of work motivation lead to more appreciation of employee / production / change orientation in Ukraine, but only to higher levels of employee orientation in Austria. High performers in Austria tend to accept transactional sanction-based leadership, while this is not the case in Ukraine. In general, generations that may be described as universally similar have different perceptions depending on the culture they grew up in. For business leaders, the study provides insights into Gen Z employees and their leadership expectations. Managers from different business sectors working with employees from different cultural backgrounds should be aware of their employees’ different expectations. Recruiters will eventually have a better understanding of which arguments regarding leadership their future employees prefer and can adjust their recruitment messages accordingly.

Current trends that trigger changes in organisations and companies create the prerequisites for revision of leadership theory background, and theory of generations should be concerned as necessary for rethinking of the basic postulates if leadership theory. The purpose of the research is to represent the theoretical background of choosing leadership style according to the features of generation the leaders and their subordinates belong to. Multiple definitions of the term leadership have been considered taking into account different approaches. In addition, it is emphasized that the leadership theories were mainly concerned with a manager succeeding based on their characteristics, behaviour or leadership styles. Further, with the influence of generational changes, the issues of effective leadership have been reviewed. It is outlined that generational differences affect not only the communication in the company, but represent different leadership styles. The main statements of the theory of generations by N. Howe and W. Strauss are analyzed and summarized, the characteristics of different generations are given. The importance of repetitive archetypes is emphasized. The formation of each generation is affected by two opposite periods of transformation of society, crisis and recovery. The connection between archetypes, generation and society condition is researched and generalized. It should be taken into consideration that unlike general statements, every country may have some specific features of each generation depending on historical events. However, an important aspect of the theory of generations is the study of the process resulting the formation of value characteristics of national generations, providing both synchronic and diachronic research. In conclusion, the theoretical grounding relating leadership style, psychological features and values of specific generation gives possibility to theoretical implications along with practical implementation of recommendations on leadership style changes in the process of generation transition. The further research including the “leadership-generation” model cultural factor could be of great practical value.

As the new generation of workers has entered the working environment so far, the issue of productive collaboration of different generations rises up becoming more and more crucial. The purpose of this paper is to study the interaction between representatives of different generations, which makes it possible to develop recommendations for establishing interaction between employers and employees. The study defines that one of the key problems of modern companies is the change of generations in the work teams, which in many cases leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the companies' activities. Thus, main characteristics of four generations were given for better understanding the peculiarities of each one. Social and political events that influences different generations were outlined, which formed the traits of whole generations, in particular, their attitude to work. It was established that in order to build effective relations with personnel belonging to four different generations, employers need to determine the basic needs of employees, their values, taking into account that the employers as a rule belong to elder generations than their employees. To omit misunderstanding, managers should know the needs and wants of their subordinates belonging to younger generation to organize the working process effectively. In the article the strengths and weaknesses of the BB, X, Y and Z generations were considered and highlighted, the main expectations were formulated and recommendations were made on how company managers can better establish communication and effective cooperation with labor teams consisting of representatives of different generations. The attention is paid to Generation Z that has entered the labor market recently because managers should be ready for specific demands of this generation in the working environment and they must realize the specific features of this generation, their motivation to make the company activities more productive at all possible levels. Keywords: theory of generations, diversity of generations in the workplace, interaction of generations, labor market.