Creative Performance of Millennials and Generation Z: What Matters More, Intrinsic or Extrinsic Rewards?

Shwetha M. Krishna and Somya Agrawal ()
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Shwetha M. Krishna: T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
Somya Agrawal: Department of Information Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 413, Taiwan

Administrative Sciences, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-31

Abstract: Millennials and Gen Z now dominate the global workforce, each with distinct reward preferences influencing motivation and creativity. Understanding these distinctions is critical for improving employee retention and performance. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for both cohorts. The main goals are to determine reward preferences, examine the mediation effects of moral importance of work and learning attitudes, and assess their impact on creative performance. Using online survey, data were collected from 319 individuals in India and analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results show that while intrinsic rewards were not significantly related to the moral importance of work for either generation, extrinsic rewards were linked to moral importance only for Gen Z. Extrinsic rewards also had no significant impact on learning attitudes for Gen Z, but they did for millennials. Additionally, the moral importance of work was unrelated to creative performance for millennials, but it had a significant impact on Generation Z. By examining these dynamics, this study aims to provide insights into generational shifts in workplace values in the Indian context, highlighting implications for employee’s creative performance that align with each generation’s unique priorities and ethical considerations.

Keywords: millennials; Gen Z; intrinsic rewards; extrinsic rewards; moral importance of work; learning attitude; creative performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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