Examining work values of generation X, Y and Z: A research on private sector employees

Nowadays, while the vast majority of employees leave working life relatively later due to various factors, new participants keep taking a part in working life. Thus, it is common for people from different age groups to work together in the same institution. In addition to this, it has been understood that as in social life, individuals of different ages are not completely similar in working life in terms of perspectives, expectations, priorities, organizational commitment levels, job satisfaction, preferred leadership types, and management styles. This situation brings about the management problems related to the management of different generations and some changes for institutions. In this study, it was aimed to determine the business values of X, Y, and Z generations working in the private sector and to guide managers in the management of different generations. In accordance with this purpose, Manhardt's Business Values Inventory was used and data of 502 people was collected by using the questionnaire technique, which is currently one of the quantitative research methods. At the same time, demographic questions were also included in the questionnaire to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants and whether their job values differed according to these demographic characteristics. In the first part of the study, information related to the Generations; in the second part, theoretical information on Work Values; in the third and the final section there are analysis, findings, and interpretations of the data under the title of Research Method. IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0 data analysis program was used in the analysis of the data obtained and the research hypotheses were tested using Independent Samples T-Test and One-Way analysis of variance (ANOVA). As a result of the analysis, it has been concluded that the work values of private sector employees differ between X, Y, and Z generations. At the same time, it has been determined that the job values of private sector employees differ according to demographic variables such as gender, marital status, monthly income from work, and total time spent in working life. Thus, it has been concluded that the results of the research largely support the general characteristics and business values of the X, Y, and Z generations.