No abstract

This paper investigates generational differences in the relations between psychological contract fulfillment and work attitudes. Data were collected from a sample of 909 employees in the Dutch service sector. SEM analyses were used to test moderating effects of generational differences on the influence of psychological contract fulfillment on affective commitment and turnover intention. The relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and these work outcomes was moderated by generational differences. Furthermore, results indicate that different generations respond differently to different aspects of psychological contract fulfillment, such as career development, job content, organizational policies, social atmosphere and rewards. The study provides evidence that generational differences impact the reciprocal relationship between employer and employee. Results from this study suggest that Baby Boomers and Generation X may be more motivated by social atmosphere, whereas Generation Y may be more motivated by job content and career development. Fair organizational policies are particularly motivating to Generation X, and providing rewards, though more important to Generation Y, seem mostly unrelated to work outcomes. This article is the first to study moderation of generational differences in the relationships between psychological contract fulfillment and work outcomes.Keywords: psychological contract fulfillment, affective commitment, turnover intention, generations, generational differences In press with International Journal of Human Resource ManagementCorresponding author. Email x.d.lub@saxion.nl 2 IntroductionIn recent years the academic interest in generational differences has increased tremendously, as indicated by recent publications (e.g. Taylor 2007; Bellou 2009; Benson and Brown 2011;Brown 2012;Cogin, 2012) and special issues in academic journals (Macky, Gardner and Forsyth 2008; Deal, Altman, and Rogelberg 2010). This rise in interest probably reflects the impact of large demographic, economic, cultural and technological shifts in society on the world of work. These societal shifts have a strong impact on how HRM managers have to manage a multi-generational workforce with potentially different perspectives on the employment relationship.The concept of generational cohorts has a strong tradition in sociology (Eyerman and Although in recent years the research on generational differences in work values and work attitudes has been growing (Cennamo and Gardner 2008; Costanza, Gardner, Fraser, Severt and Gade, 2012;Lyons et al 2010Lyons et al , 2012 Solnet and Kralj 2011), the evidence shows mixed findings. Also, despite the advances, the empirical evidence as well as theoretical justification for generational differences specifically linking work values and work attitudes is lacking in the current literature (Lyons & Kuron, 2013). A major theoretical issue in establishing this link is that generational values are proposed to be a result of broader formative experiences (Mannheim, 1952), whereas ...

This study examines the work-family conflict approach to the turnover intentions of highly educated employees within the hospitality industry. The purpose was to investigate the relation between workplace flexibility, organizational support, work-family conflict and the intention to leave among highly educated male and female employees working in the hospitality industry. The research study conducted among this specific group worldwide provided a corpus of 247 respondents. The results show that work-family conflict and organizational support can explain a substantial amount of variance among highly educated employees regarding their intention to leave an organization. This study also found that for men work-family conflict could be explained by lack of organizational support, while for women work-family conflict could be explained both by dissatisfaction with workplace flexibility and lack of organizational support. In addition, with regard to women, the study has shown that organizational support has a moderating effect on the relation between workplace flexibility and work-family conflict. This study suggests that maintaining a good organizational climate and offering the possibility of flexible work hours to improve the balance between work and family are important factors when it comes to retaining highly educated staff.

No abstract

During the past decade, a great deal of research has been carried out on the importance of employee engagement. In various studies, engagement is viewed as a positive state of mind of overwhelming satisfaction, which is characterized by feelings of vigour, dedication and absorption. In this article, ‘vigour’ refers to a state of mind in which individuals feel energetic, fit, strong and indefatigable. ‘Dedication’ refers to a state of mind in which individuals feel highly engaged by their work, which inspires them, and makes them feel proud and enthusiastic. ‘Absorption’ refers to a pleasant state of mind in which individuals are fully immersed in their work. This article provides an overview of a number of perspectives on leadership and discusses which leadership factors are likely to be the most effective in ensuring that employees remain engaged and productive. It also provides a conceptual model for further research on the relationship between leadership styles and work engagement.