Motivation-and-Relatedness

HROB*4100

Professor S. Lyons

Investigating how motivation affects generation Y s relatedness in the workplace

December 9th, 2011

Tara-Lynn Dent, Lesley James, Cam Beck, Colin Vince, Pricilla Mena, Roxanne Johnson, Jennifer Grant, Paige Caletti

Introduction In today s workforce, organizations face the challenge of having to meet the needs of four different generational cohorts that have grown up in different times and have various perspectives based on life experiences and fluctuations in the economy (Twenge et al., 2010). The newest generation in the workforce, generation Y, has been said to have different values and needs than previous generations. In recent years, organizations have been faced with the new issue of integrating this generation. Generation Y has been found to be more external and to have lower relatedness than previous generations, which may cause problems when integrating them into the workforce. It is important for organizations to recognize the specific values and needs of generation Y, in order to foster an efficient workforce. We will investigate how extrinsic motivation affects generation Y s relatedness in the workplace using elements of the self determination theory as expressed by Deci and Ryan. This will help managers decide which approach is best to implement into their organization, to motivate generation Y to work more effectively. Self-determination theory makes the distinction between autonomous and controlled motivation. For generation Y to work most effectively it is important that the managerial approaches enforce the self-determination theory. Specifically when looking at the self-determination theory, we are looking at whether different types of motivation affect generation Y s relatedness in the workplace. The outcome of this study will allow us to determine the most effective way of motivating generation Y. Literature Review Generations Generation Y are individuals born between the years of 1982 and 1999. This...