Does Motivational Strategies and Issues Differ Across Generations: An Analytical Study

Namita Rajput; Ritu Kochhar nee Bali; Subodh Kesharwani

Namita Rajput 1Associate Professor, Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi;
Ritu Kochhar nee Bali Asst. Professor, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Institute of Management and Research, New Delhi;
Subodh Kesharwani 3Faculty, School of Management Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi-India;

Abstract

Although most organizations today are giving importance and lot of consideration to encouraging and appreciating workforce diversity in their culture, however for them definition of workforce diversity is limited to just gender and ethnicity. One of the most demoralizing diversity challenges—generational diversity—often goes disregarded and unaddressed. Motivation has long been referred as the most important component for job satisfaction, productivity and performance, and therefore enjoys a long history of academic attention and research theories. It is also proved that motivated employees performs 25% extra than the employees who are not satisfied. At present, workforce representing four generations viz. Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y are working side by side in the organizations. In this study, a modest attempt was made to check whether significant differences exist among faculty members working in Universities/Colleges in Delhi and NCR region towards factors influencing motivation using a sample size of 690 faculty members. The null hypothesis was rejected proving that differences exist among generations on what motivates them. The study calls the attention of HR Managers to this fact and suggests them to revise their motivational strategies keeping in mind the changing needs and expectation of diverse workforce.