Generational Differences in the Importance, Availability, and Influence of Work Values: A Public Service Perspective

• Author: Christopher Smith,Laura Gover,Michael Halinski,Linda Duxbury
• Published date: 01 June 2019
• Date: 01 June 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1485

Generational Differences in the Importance,

Availability, and Influence of Work Values: A

Public Service Perspective

Christopher Smith*

Carleton University

Michael Halinski

Ryerson University

Laura Gover

Vancouver Island University

Linda Duxbury

Carleton University

Abstract

This study uses a sample of 832 Canadian public servants to

test a theoretically derived framework which hypothesizes

that generational cohort: (1) predicts the importance public

servants place on intrinsic and extrinsic work values, (2)

predicts the perceived availability of such rewards in public

service workplaces, and (3) impacts the relationship

between perceived availability of important rewards, organi-

zational commitment, and job satisfaction. Our study adds

to the limited body of research on generational cohort and

work values in the public service. Generational cohort had

little impact on the importance of work values, but did

predict perceived availability of work-rewards and the rela-

tionship between perceived availability of important

rewards, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction.

Findings could help public service organizations’

recruitment and retention efforts. Copyright © 2018 ASAC.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: generational difference, work values, organiza-

tional commitment, public service, millennials

Résumé

La présente étude s’appuie sur un échantillon de 832

fonctionnaires canadiens pour tester le cadre théorique basé

sur les hypothèses selon lesquelles la cohorte générationnelle:

(1) prédit l’importance que les fonctionnaires accordent aux

valeurs intrinsèques et extrinsèques du travail, (2) prédit la

disponibilité perçue de ces récompenses dans les milieux de tra-

vail de la fonction publique et (3) inf‌luesurlarelationentrela

disponibilité perçue de récompenses importantes, l’engagement

organisationnel et la satisfaction au travail. Notre étude

s’ajoute au nombre limité de recherches sur la cohorte

générationnelle et les valeurs liées au travail au sein de la

fonction publique. Elle montre que même si la cohorte

générationnelle a peu d’impact sur l’importance des valeurs

professionnelles, en revanche, elle prédit la disponibilité perçue

des récompenses professionnelles et la relation entre la

disponibilité perçue de récompenses importantes, l’engagement

organisationnel et la satisfaction au travail. Nos résultats

pourraient aider les organisations de la fonction publique dans

leurs efforts de recrutement et de rétention. Copyright © 2018

ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots-clés: différence générationnelle, valeurs

professionnelles, engagement organisationnel, fonction

publique, millénaires

Introduction

Researchers predict that most of the world’s industrial-

ized nations will face signif‌icant skilled labour shortages

within the next decade due to shifting labour market demo-

graphics (Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 2012). In

Canada in 2015, for the f‌irst time ever, people over the age

of 65 outnumbered those aged 14 or younger (Statistics

Canada, 2015). The wide-scale retirement of baby boomers

(those born between 1945 and 1964) combined with the

reduced number of younger workers in the labour market

means that organizations will be competing to recruit and

retain a limited number of qualif‌ied younger individuals

(Janzen, 2014).

While all organizations are likely to be impacted by

these signif‌icant demographic shifts, evidence suggests that

*Please address correspondence to: Chris Smith, Carleton University, Sprott

School of Business, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6.

Email: christophersmith4@cmail.carleton.ca

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

36: 177–192 (2019)

Published online 23 March 2018 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1485

Can J Adm Sci

36(2), 177–192 (2019)Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 177

public service employers are more vulnerable to these labour

market shifts than their private sector counterparts. Reasons

for this assertion include data suggesting that the bureau-

cratic nature of the public service makes it diff‌icult to com-

pete with the private sector for qualif‌ied candidates. As

Coombs (2009) explains, public sector recruitment processes

are slow and cumbersome compared to those in the private

sector and compensation packages are often not competitive.

Also relevant are data showing that on average, public sector

workers tend to be older than their private sector counterparts,

and Canadian public servants retire at a higher rate and a

younger average age than their counterparts in other sectors

(Lammam, Palacios, Ren, & Clemens, 2015).

Generational cohort theory provides a useful lens

through which to examine this issue. This theory was ad-

vanced by Mannheim (1952) who argued that people who

are born in the same temporal, geographic, and cultural loca-

tion grow to view the world through a similar “generational”

lens due to “their unique location in the stream of history”

(Ryder, 1965, p. 844). Generational cohort is believed to

inf‌luence members’“feelings toward authority and organiza-

tions, what they desire from work, and how they plan to

satisfy those desires”(Smola & Sutton, 2002, p. 364).

Three generations are currently common within the

North American workforce and therefore within our study:

baby boomer, Generation X (i.e. Gen X) and millennial

(i.e. Gen Y). Our review of the literature showed that the

boundaries used to delineate the different generations vary

between studies (Gursoy, Maier, and Chi, 2008; Smola &

Sutton, 2002). To maintain consistency with the much of

the work done by others in this area, this study uses the same

boundaries as two of the most prolif‌ic contemporary genera-

tional cohort researchers: Twenge and Lyons. The baby

boomer (“boomers”) generation includes those born roughly

between 1946 and 1965, a period that overlaps with the

accelerated birthrates in Canada and the USA that followed

the end of the Second World War (Zemke, Raines, &

Filipczak, 2000). Generation X includes those born around

1965 and 1980, a period that corresponds to the lull in birth-

rates that occurred between the end of the baby boom and

the period in which boomers began to start families of their

own (Lyons 2003; Zemke et al., 2000). The Millennial gen-

eration includes those born after 1980, a time period that

aligns with the increase in birth rates that can be attributed

to boomers entering parenthood (Zemke et al., 2000).

While there is a growing body of literature indicating

that work values vary across generational cohorts (including

Twenge & Campbell, 2012; Lyons, 2015), two features of

this work limit its ability to inform recruitment and retention

practices for Canadian public service employers. First, very

little of this research has been undertaken within a public

service context. Much of the work in the area relies on his-

torical data from students (Twenge, 2006, 2010; Krahn &

Galambos, 2013; De Cooman & Dries, 2012). The rest of

the research on generational cohorts (Cennamo & Gardner,

2008; Hansen & Leuty, 2012; Kowske, Rash, & Wiley,

2010; Lyons, Duxbury and Higgins, 2006) uses samples

made up of both private and public sector workers and draws

conclusions that are not specif‌ic to the public service. Sec-

ond, those studies that do focus on the public service look

at a restricted set of generations in their study. Some (such

as Jurkiewicz & Brown, 1998; Benson & Brown, 2011)

compare only the baby boomer and Gen X cohorts. Others

(such as Ng & Gossett, 2013) focus only on the millennial

cohort. This study is motivated by the current absence of re-

search into the relationship between generational cohort and

work values in the public service context. Findings from this

study should provide both policy makers and academics

with valuable insights into how best to recruit and retain

knowledge workers of all ages into the public service.

Literature Review

This study has three objectives: (1) to explore the extent

to which generational cohort predicts the perceived impor-

tance of intrinsic and extrinsic work values; (2) to explore

the extent to which generational cohort predicts the per-

ceived availability of valued work rewards; and (3) to exam-

ine how generational cohort impacts the relationship

between perceived availability of important rewards, organi-

zational commitment, and job satisfaction. Our analysis con-

sists of two main stages. The f‌irst stage, which addresses

objectives 1 and 2, is theoretically rooted in the generational

cohort literature (Mannheim, 1952). The second stage,

which addresses our third research objective, is theoretically

grounded in the person–environment f‌it literature (Chatman,

1989; Dawis, 1992; Kristoff, 1996). In this literature review

we present relevant f‌indings from the extant literature related

to generational differences and work values (that is, related

to objectives 1 and 2) and person–environment f‌it (related

to objective 3). The hypotheses that are derived from these

literatures are presented at the end of this section.

Generational Differences and Work Values

Dose (2007) def‌ines work values as “evaluative stan-

dards relating to work or the work environment by which in-

dividuals discern what is ‘right’or assess the importance of

preferences”(p. 227). Work values are theoretically similar

to general values (Ros, Schwartz, & Surkiss, 1999) in that

both are viewed as being hierarchically ordered within our

cognitive maps based on their importance (Ros et al.,

1999). While general values guide us in day to day life

“work values relate to what people want to do, or want to

have, in the workplace”(De Cooman & Dries, 2012, p. 43).

Work values are thought to be very stable with signif‌icant in-

f‌luence over the perceptions, goals, and decisions of job

hunters (De Cooman & Dries, 2012). Any tangible or

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN PUBLIC SERVICE WORK VALUES SMITH ET AL.

Can J Adm Sci

36(2), 177–192 (2019)Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 178