Abstract:

The entry of members of the millennial generation cohort (i.e., individuals born after 1980) into the Chinese workplace has created a more diverse labor force. Researchers and practitioners alike have recognized that these younger workers hold different work expectations from workers in prior generational cohorts. Since the division between new generations and their older counterparts has become more salient, researchers have increasingly emphasized issues such as how to accurately understand and effectively manage multi-generation employees. To address these issues, the current study aims to explore work values in three generation cohorts (i.e., the pre-reform, the reform, and the post-reform generation cohorts) based on Inglehart’s evolutionary modernization theory and employing different research designs, measures, analysis methods and angles.
In Study 1, we used a longitudinal nationwide quantitative survey data (China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, CLDS). The sample size was 5, 850 in total from CLDS 2012 to CLDS 2016. We applied Age- Period-Cohort (APC) analysis to separate the cohort effect in work values from the age effect and the period effect. Study 2 aimed to validate the results of Study 1, and further explored intergenerational differences and similarities in work values. Since study 1 used a simple questionnaire to measure work values, we adopted the work values measurement developed by Cable and Edwards (2004), which followed Schwartz’s basic individual values framework to explore the work values more systematically. We conducted Study 2 through Credamo, a Chinese professional data platform. 992 full-time employees participated in the study, and we used hierarchical regression modeling to test the hypotheses. We conducted Study 3 through interpersonal perspective to overcome the potential self-serving biases in study 1 and study 2, and we asked participants to assess the work values of each generation. We recruited a total of 361 participants from the platform Credamo.
Descriptive statistices of variables are separately presented Table 1 (Study 1), Table 3, Table 4 (Study 2), and Table 7 (Study 3). The analyses of Studies 1~3 showed both generational differences and similarities in work values, and by and large, the post-reform generation showed more differences with the other two generations. Specific results are shown in Table 2 and Figure 1 for Study 1, Table 5, Table 6, Figure 2, Figure 3 for Study 2, Table 7 for Study 3. Specifically, the post-reform generation placed more importance on the post-materialism work value and less importance on the materialism work value than previous generations cohorts; the post-reform generation placed higher importance on the openness to change work value than their predecessors, but there was no significant difference on the self-transcendence work value among the three generation cohorts. In addition, studies also found that there were both age and period effects on work values, and finally, all the three generation cohorts still placed more importance on materialist than post-materialist work value in the current workplace.
The research provides new evidence and nuanced insight for generational differences in work values, which enriches our understanding of evolutionary modernization theory by empirically testing it in the Chinese context. Moreover, we conducted three studies with different designs, measures, analysis methods and perspectives, which not only supported the robustness of our research findings, but also set a multi-method research example for future studies on the evolution in generation cohorts. The study offers managerial implications for how to better understand the similarities and differences in generation cohorts, especially the characteristics of younger generation workers, and how to manage diverse employees effectively in the workplace. It also sheds lights on future research on work values in generation cohorts.