Generational differences in work values of government employees: case of Public Administration of Latvia

Purpose: The findings of a variety of studies suggest the need for managers to take into account the generational diversity that exists within the workplace. However there are several studies that found no general differences.... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: The findings of a variety of studies suggest the need for managers to take into account the generational diversity that exists within the workplace. However there are several studies that found no general differences. Less attention in these studies has been paid to Public Administration/ Government employees. Therefore the purpose of this study is to contribute to the sparse empirical literature on generational differences at work by examining (1) whether generational differences exist in Public Administration/Government employees’ attitudes to work; (2) the effect of generation on work attitudes (e.g.,job satisfaction, commitment, and the willingness to quit) and (3) how work attitudes differ between three generations (e.g. Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y).
Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were collected from Public Administration employee of Latvia satisfaction survey (N = 1961). The data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney test.
Findings: In general, work attitudes differed across generations, although effect sizes were relatively small. Boomers were found to be significantly more satisfied with their job and to be less likely to quit than were GenX and GenY. Compared to Gen X and Gen Y, Boomers reported higher levels of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and work itself, promotional opportunities, role conflict and ambiguity. Gen Xers were found to be most sceptical between all three generations. They are less satisfied with promotional opportunities, supervisor and co-worker support, role conflict and ambiguity. They report lowest levels of satisfaction with pay and benefits. However all generations report similarly low levels of distributive justice, Gen Y are most convinced with job security. Gen X and Y report higher turnover intentions than Boomers. In the situation of relatively high number of turnover rates in government institutions of Latvia, research results support the necessity to develop appropriate workplace policies that take into account these differences.
Originality/Value: The authors focused on government employees within an under-researched context (studies about government employees, work values and generational differences are rare or non-existent in Baltic region countries of Northern Europe), making this systematic investigation unique and practically significant.