Comparing Demanded Work Values, and the Relationship between Work Values Congruence and Organizational Commitment between the Gen-X and Gen-Y Employees in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between work values congruence and organizational commitment as well as to determine the comparison between demanded work values between generation X (Gen-X) and generation Y (Gen-Y) cohort generation staff in the field of Accounting and Finance in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. This is because information regarding workplace diversity is very important to create a better workplace environment in stimulating organizational effectiveness specially to cater on different age among employees. Therefore, this research used a quantitative, survey and purposive sampling involving established instruments; these include Work Value Inventory (WVI), Work Value Congruence Scale (VCS), and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). The results of Pearson correlation analysis among 169 respondents showed that there was a significant relationship between the work value congruence and organizational commitment (r = 0.617, k 0.01). In addition, a t-test analysis indicated only six dimensions of demanded work values were significantly different between Gen-Y and Gen-X including management, prestige, nature of supervisor, lifestyle, economic returns, and variety of task. From these, Gen-X had higher mean score in management, prestige, nature of supervisor and lifestyle; meanwhile, Gen Y had higher mean score in economic returns and variety of tasks. This research implies that there is a significant difference between Gen-X and Gen-Y in terms of demanded job values; in which, the congruence work values was significantly correlated with organizational commitment. Therefore, employers need to be more careful and vigilant in managing the job behaviour of Gen-X and Gen-Y employees to ensure that both generations can work as a team and sustain a high level of work performance.