Generation X and Y: Impact of Work Attitudes and Work Values on Employee Performance

Sustainable competitive advantage lies in intellectual capital of firms, where it has become important to retain employees and train them for future leadership. Hence, firms must recognize the importance of the work values and attitudes of the employed Generation. Understanding Generational diversity and using the right strategy is crucial for firm’s success. Theorization of Generational differences have been applied in Western Cultures more often than Eastern Cultures, hence this research expanded the concept of Generational diversity to the banking workforce of Karachi, Pakistan. Relationship between Generation X and Y work values and attitudes on employee performance was examined. Three hundred people from the Generation X and Y were taken as sample from the Commercial Banks in Karachi and responses on different work attitudes and values were taken. It was found that values and attitudes have a significant relationship with employee performance for both Generation X and Y. However, cognitive and social values are important for Generation X while cognitive, instrumental and prestige values are important for Generation Y employees. The study theoretically contributes to work values and attitudes perspective, generational theory and performance perspective and offers implications for creating the 1 Department of Business Administration, Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan; 2 Department of Accounts and Finance, Buraq Enterprises; 3 Department of Finance, B|Braun Pakistan (Pvt. Ltd.); 4 Department of Creative Writing, ABTACH LTD; 5 Department of Marketing, Daraz, Pakistan. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sania Usmani, Department of Business Administration, Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan.E-mail: sania@iqra.edu.pk 52 | Generation X and Y: Work Attitudes, Values and Employee Perf Journal of Management and Research (JMR) Volume 6(2): 2019 suitable combination of tasks and rewards with respect to individual needs.

joining the workplace (Eletter et al., 2017). Kowske, Rasch, and Wiley (2010) found that people from different Generations have dissimilar work attitudes and work values. Moreover, employees from Generation Y were happy and satisfied with their job as compared to the Generation X employees.
According to Salahuddin (2010), in the context of the organisations, majority of the employees from Generation X like to work independently and there are chances that those employees will complete the given tasks with ease and comfort, if they have more autonomy. Furthermore, the majority of employees from Generation X have found to be more committed to their work related tasks and with their colleagues with whom they spend majority of their day. Employees from Generation X can play an essential role in the development of the organisations as they love to take risks and want fun in their work. Whereas they have found to be calmer and experienced as compared to Generation Y. As a result, employees from Generation X have more chances to maintain a good employment relationship as compared to Generation Y.
However, as Generation X employees are not exposed to different technologies such as computers and smartphones, they feel anxious whenever top management decides to bring new technologies or processes in their organisation. They resist the acceptance of new technology. Generation Y is also known for their multitasking abilities; they like to work on different tasks and projects at the same time. This is the only reason why these employees are more confident in decision-making. They also like to work in a team rather than taking responsibility alone. They like to work in flexible timings and as a result, when they are given flexible work schedules, they perform their tasks more proficiently (Salahuddin, 2010). As employees from such age groups have an extra edge over the use of the internet and smartphones, it can also be stated that they like technological changes and want to learn different technological innovations.
Researches on work values and work attitudes among Boomers, Xers, and Yers have been conducted, however they were conducted in Western culture. National culture plays an important role in shaping people's values in society as well as workplace (Eletter et al., 2017).This study will identify the differences between work attitudes and work values of Generation X and Y and how these effect their work performance. It will be a comparative analysis among these two Generation of employees.
Applying this research to the Pakistani workforce will expand the applicability of Western research to Pakistani generational workforce.
Moreover, Pakistani society has a lack of emphasis in motivating individuals for hard work, honesty and productivity. The demoralization in the society due to corruption, nepotism and favouritism, has damaged the values and attitudes of individuals (Tayyab & Tariq, 2001). Present study seeks insights and implications that could be useful for scholars and practitioners. The importance of the Pakistani context begins from the fact that Pakistan has a big pool of professional, unskilled and skilled, workers from many parts of the world. Recently, Pakistan has attracted attention due to the new government which created positive trends on FDI and economic growth. Very little research has been conducted in the Pakistani context on work values and attitudes and hence the potential value is added by this study. The main objectives of this study are:  To examine the relationship between work values and employee performance of generation X and generation Y.
 To examine the relationship between work attitudes and employee performance of generation X and generation Y.
 To examine whether work attitudes mediate the relationship between workplace values and employee performance for Generation X and Generation Y.

Literature Review
Generation is defined as individuals grouped together based on age, location, life experiences. These groups are known as cohorts due to their shared characteristics. Each generation shares a unique set of experiences, expectations and expertise. Their similar work values, attitudes and preferences also stem from the same economic and social background with which their generation belongs to. It is understood that understanding these generations will create better competitive advantages in utilizing such talent (Kian & Yusoff, 2012).

Generation X
Another term for Generation X is the Lost Generation according to Tay (2011), is born between 1960's-1970's. this generation mostly prefers to follow rules, regulations and discipline. They are organized and conventional in their work methods. Work-life balance is most important for them therefore work comes secondary. They prefer flexibility in work schedules, empowerment, challenging tasks, opportunity for professional development. They prefer to work on projects rather independently and instead of following their supervisors, they will create their own methods to complete tasks. Their turnover intention depends on lack of professional development and lack of promotion and appreciation. According to Altimier (2006), they do not mind job hopping and frequent switching in search of better professional development and opportunities. Due to financial crisis of 1997, they have lack or organizational trust, along with watching their previous generation being sacrificed in times of economic downturns (Kian & Yusoff, 2012) 2.2 Generation Y Another term for Generation Y is the Millennials who are born between 1980's -2000's (Tay, 2011). Identified as more cooperative and positive than their previous generation having higher degrees and better training. Informal work environments and employee well-being are very important to them. They accept diversity and are more humanitarian. They also prefer working in teams and flexibility in tasks. They believe in equality and hence voice their concerns and opinions and also expect feedback from supervisors. This generation is more techno-savvy contrary to the previous generation therefore they understand and use technology in information processing quickly and effectively. They also tend to remain loyal with the organization and stay longer if the organizations provide them with advanced technologies and makes their work fun and challenging (Kian & Yusoff, 2012).

Employee Performance
Employee performance is defined as the ability to achieve goals and objectives prescribed by the organisation. Over the years, several researches have been conducted to identify the various antecedents of employee and organizational performance. The research study by Gavrea, Ilies, and Stegerean (2011) mainly focused on the necessity of keeping a consistent organizational performance. Their research aimed towards the identification of various organizational performance determinants. They suggested that making the employees realize their responsibility towards the organization would make them perform better.
This research has used the role based employee performance evaluations (Welbourne, Johnson, & Erez, 1998). The job role is defined as doing the tasks which are part of one's job description also known as task performance or in-role behaviour (Jawahar & Raghavendra, 2011).
Organization role behaviour include organizational citizenship behaviours such as going beyond the job description in ones concern for the firm. It refers to voluntary action without expecting any explicit rewards (Jawahar & Raghavendra, 2011).
Career role is defined as the promotion systems which reward individuals for meeting career goals, participating in training or acquiring new skills. Career is defined as acquiring new skills to progress in the organization (Jawahar & Raghavendra, 2011).
Team role includes working with co-workers and team mates toward the goal achievement and success of the firm (Jawahar & Raghavendra, 2011).
The final role of performance is that of an innovator. If a firm intends to remain competitive in a dynamic environment, they must hire and retain creative employees. This suggests that employees must be innovative by contributing to the effectiveness of the entire organization (Jawahar & Raghavendra, 2011).

Work Values
Workplace values outline the elements, which play an essential role in an employee's belief. Facet theory is used to evaluate work values and performance in this study. As Facet theory is used to identify multidimensional structures for variables. It explains phenomenon by classification and structuring of items (Levy, 1996). Ros, Schwartz, and Surkiss (1999) divides work values into four types: intrinsic, extrinsic, social and prestige.
According to Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, and Lance (2010), intrinsic values refer to the internal values with respect to work. These values emphasize on the process of work which include the intangible rewards, relevant interest in the work, the learning prospect, and being creative at work (Wijesekeraa, Jayantha, & Ramanayaka, 2016). Intrinsic or Cognitive work values are linked with psychological satisfaction like interesting, challenging and intellectual work stimulation (Pryce, 2014).
Social values refer to the social stability and the social status of an employee. Social work values concern with the relationship of employees with their supervisor, co-worker and others in the organization (Pryce, 2014).

Journal of Management and Research (JMR)
Volume 6(2): 2019 Extrinsic work values include recognition and compensation (Shea, 2012). Extrinsic work values refer to the outcomes of work which include the tangible rewards, such as income, promotion and status (Wijesekeraa et al., 2016). Extrinsic or Instrumental work values are concerned with tangible aspects, like pay, benefits, annual leave and security on the job. Other work values include: social, and prestige work values (Pryce, 2014).
While prestige or altruistic value is known as the influence of an individual (Ros et al., 1999). Prestige work values refer to power, status, and influence of people (Pryce, 2014). Twenge et al. (2010) determined that work values in generation X have higher extrinsic value, a relatively unchanged altruistic value; they have less social values and hold higher intrinsic values. Generation Y have a high but comparatively lower extrinsic value as compared to Generation X. They have the same altruistic values, high social values and lower intrinsic values. Krahn and Galambos (2014) researched the effect of extrinsic and intrinsic values of generation X and Y on job entitlement beliefs. They found that intrinsic values were higher for both generations while extrinsic values in generation Y were high as compared to generation X. In addition, job entitlement was found to be weak in both generations. However, females in generation Y had higher job entitlements. According to Wey Smola and Sutton (2002), generation X desires to work in teams, aspires to have mentors, immediate feedbacks, practical problem solving tactics, and are at ease with diversity and multitasking. Overall, their findings strongly suggested that generational experiences shape work values rather than age.
Also, Gibson, Greenwood, and Murphy (2009) studied the differences amongst three generations; Baby Boomers, Generation X and Y using Rokeach Values; specifically, Terminal and Instrumental Values. According to them Baby Boomers resist authority, are loyal, prefer hard work and have a feeling to be in charge all the time. They are motivated by money, praise and position. Generation X, are characterized as independent and self-reliant. They value work-life balance and are not loyal to their firm. They are motivated by meaningful work and fun. Generation Y personify techno savvy individuals having the need to constantly connect with the world and expect instant gratification. They are motivated by exciting work and career opportunities.
This research study has two independent variables; workplace values and workplace attitudes. This research study discussed the differences of workplace values and attitudes of both generation X and Y. It assumes that generation Y grew with an unstable family (working parents or single parents) and lack of traditions. This will affect their workplace values as compared to generation X who grew up with traditions, customs and stronger family values. Anitha (2014) defines workplace attitude as the behaviour of employees within the organisation. The behaviour of the employees varies from generation to generation, as employees from generation X are cool, calm, and composed. Whereas, employees from generation Y are self-motivated, efficient, and proactive.

Work Attitude
The three categories used to determine an employee's work attitude involves; job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job security. Saari and Judge (2004) claimed job satisfaction is an important employee attitude. Park and Gursoy (2012) highlighted that work engagement has gained attention from both academic and professional world, since it represents constructive work experiences in organizational life.
The study carried out by Kowske, Rasch, and Wiley (2010) focused on two things; firstly, the different work attitudes of multiple generations i.e. job security, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Secondly, how their generation effects their work attitudes. The conclusion of the research found that different generations have different work attitudes. Additionally, the research recommended that generation Y are far more satisfied with their jobs than generation X. They are content with their job security, job recognition, career development and career advancement. However, compared to generation X, they are both equally satisfied with the incentives and the work. Westerman and Yamamura (2007) studied the attitudes of accountants in USA and their study found that system work environment fit and goal orientation had significant effects on Generation Y's satisfaction and retention; while relationship fit was more important for the satisfaction of Baby Boomers.
According to Costanza, Badger, Fraser, Severt, and Gade (2012) the work attitude of an individual is determined based on their job satisfaction, job security and organizational commitment. Saari and Judge (2004) claimed that an employee's work attitudes are linked to job satisfaction while Balfour and Wechsler (1991) stated in their research that an individual's work attitude is linked to their organization's commitment.

Work Attitude, Work Values and Employee Performance
This research has used the conceptual model of Solnet and Hood (2008) in which he has identified various linkages between external effects, organizational influences, values, human resource strategies, work attitudes and behaviours and other organizational outcomes. They have outlined that work values influence work attitudes of employees and eventually their work behaviours. More so, human resource management strategies also interact with employee's values and attitudes. According to them, if organizational and external factors and their contingent human resource strategies are in alignment with workers values, then employee attitudes and behaviours such as performance measures are influenced. Thus individual employee behaviours like performance enhance the overall profitability of the organization.
According to Park and Gursoy (2012), levels of employee engagement, which is an important employee attitude, varies based on generational differences. They found that two attitudes namely; job satisfaction and turnover intention was moderated by employee engagement amongst Baby Boomers, Xers and Millennials. Millennials have a lower employee engagement as compared to their previous generations. Millennials place greater emphasis on work-life balance. They emphasized that work values of different generations play a significant role in predicting employee engagement of employees and on behavioral outcomes.
The aim of Gin Choi, Kwon, and Kim (2013) study was to spread information about generation Y employee's workplace fun on the job satisfaction, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviours. They concluded a positive correlation between the generation Y and workplace fun. Workplace fun can create a positive workplace attitude. Subsequently, this can increase the job satisfaction, task performance and the organizational citizenship behaviours. Thus, the job performance of generation Y and generation X is influenced by their work attitudes and work values. Costanza et al. (2012) focused on the differences amongst the work attitude of multiple generations in an organization. Their research indicated that there was a very minimal to non-existent relation between the variables.
The performance is essentially unaffected by the work attitudes of different generations. Dynamics of Generation Y is pertinent for performance in organizations nowadays because they occupy most of our current workforce and young blood is required for the sustainability of any company. A more productive goal of any research paper using generational theory should be to focus on what each generation is offering to a team and towards the ultimate goal of employee and organizational performance (highlighted by McCann and Giles (2006)). Lack of research on this area is worth mentioning (McCann & Giles 2006).
Five work values were used in the study of Kuron, Lyons, Schweitzer, and Ng (2015); namely, good co-workers, interesting work, achievement, salary and doing work that helped people amongst Pre-career and Millennials. Although the differences were small in magnitude but they varied in terms of the importance. Their study suggested that Millennials' work values become stable as they develop and gain work experience. Gulyani and Bhatnagar (2017) used the self-determination theory to examine the association between protean career attitude and proactive work behaviours, career motivation and generational cohort theory to understand the role of passion for work as a mediator between both. Protean career attitude creates passion for work and eventually passion for work increases the proactive work behaviours among Indian Millennials.

Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Our focus in this study is how the values and attitudes of Generation X and Y are different and amplify performance differences. It is very important for practitioners and Human Resource Managers to take a look into the different values and attitudes of their employees because they can create suitable goals, rewards, policies and procedures for them. In Pakistan, there is no focus on understanding the individual differences of employees, they are treated as one size fits all, which leads to their lack of motivation and ultimate deterioration of performance. Further, it becomes vital for even line managers to know how their employees respond to which work values when creating their job descriptions and goals. The purpose of this study is to identify the workplace attitudes, values and performance relationship between generation X and Y. More precisely, what are the effects of Generation X and Y on employee performance? Furthering, this study has also examined the role of work attitudes as a mediator between work values and employee performance. Few studies (like, Amos & Weathington, 2008;Brown & Treviño, 2006) in the past have observed the relationship between values and work behaviors like workplace deviance and intention to leave. However, value and work behaviours also have an indirect relationship which was substantiated by Westerman and Cyr (2004) as well as Leung (2013). Westerman and Cyr (2004) found that the employee attitudes such as job satisfaction and commitment mediated between values and turnover intentions. While according to Leung (2013) employees who have higher value congruence have higher satisfaction, commitment, and citizenship behaviors whereas lower counterproductive behaviors and turnover intentions.
These findings propose that values of employees play a vital role in determining employee's attitudes and behaviors. The indirect effects of values on employee behaviors via attitudes have not been investigated comprehensively in the literature. Therefore, the present study hypothesized that work attitudes mediate the relationship between values and employee performance. Kowske et al. (2010) developed the generational theory, which suggests that people within a same age group share the same values and attitudes. His research pointed out the difference between the behavioural characteristic between various generations. Other theories like Mannheim's theory of generation support the idea that generational traits differ from one another on the basis of social factors (Mannheim, 1972). This study has used Kowske's theory of generations as well as facet theory.
Facet theory is used to evaluate work values and employee performance in this study. As Facet theory is used to identify multidimensional structures for variables. It explains phenomenon by classification and structuring of separate dimensions (Levy, 1996). Figure 1 shows the conceptual model of our research where path a shows relationship between values and attitudes, path b shows the link between attitudes and performance while path c' shows the link between values and performance. Hypotheses of this study is as follows; H1: The relationship between work values and employee performance is stronger for generation X than generation Y. H2: The relationship between work attitudes and employee performance is stronger for generation X than generation Y. H3: Work attitudes mediate the relationship between workplace values and employee performance is stronger for Generation X as compared to Generation Y.

Research Design and Sampling
The aim of this research was to explain the impact of work attitudes and work values on an employee's performance between Generation X & Generation Y. This study has used explanatory research design, based on deductive reasoning. Already established generational theory was used to explain the relationship between variables. The research approach was quantitative and the type of research design was correlational design because we wanted to check the relationship between our independent variables and dependent variable. We have studied whether workplace attitude and workplace values affect employee's performance or not. The population targeted for this study was generation X and generation Y. People born in the years from 1975 to 1985 (aged 31 to 40) was considered as generation X. The people born from 1985 to 1995 (aged 21 to 30) are categorized as generation Y. The reason we took ten years of gap for both generation was to identify clear differences between equal interval groups. Moreover, the target population for this research was the banking sector, which included Meezan Bank, Askari Bank, Faysal Bank, Bank Al Habib, Habib Metropolitan Bank, Allied Bank, United Bank Limited.
The banking sector was chosen for the study because there is a wider range of generational employees with maximum and minimum ages. This actually helped to differentiate and get more sample for both generations. Also, Eletter et al. (2017) emphasized the need to focus on financial work environments and employees in future studies as most studies have been conducted on hospitality or hotel employees (Park &
Non-Probability sampling technique has used in this study. Sampling frame was not available so the quota sampling was used. Quota sampling technique was used to get the sample, which requires that representative respondents should be chosen from a specific sub-group (Business Dictionary, 2019). Age was an important characteristic in identifying the target population and the selection of sample in this study. Age was used to represent the Generational differences between X and Y therefore quota sampling was carried out to attain the specific target sample. The sample size for this research was three hundred employees; 150 of generation X and 150 of generation Y, for equality. Daniel Soper sample size calculator recommended minimum sample size of this study were 300. It was a primary research, and the instrument used for the collection of data was a questionnaire, which was distributed to 300 employees and the data was collected. Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5; 1 defined as strongly disagree and 5 as strongly agree was used. The data was collected from the respective generations and then the results was compared among the generation in the banking sector of Pakistan. The predefined variables were used as categories to identify the interests of each generation. The statistical technique used to evaluate the results of the collected questionnaires was multi-linear regression analysis. Questionnaire was distributed among the employees through hard copy by face to face interaction, also with soft copies (through Google form).

Measures 3.2.1 Work Value
Work values measures the factors employees value the most in their workplace. For this evaluation, questionnaires distributed contained 25 items scale that were developed by Lyon, Higgins, and Duxbury (2010). The respondents determined their values using the rating scale ranging from 1 'Strongly Disagree' to 5 'Strongly Agree' on five categories of work values which included; instrumental, cognitive, social, and prestige (see appendix 1).

Work Attitude
The work attitudes of an employee were measured using 10 items from Macdonald and MacIntyre (1997). The scale used ranged between 1 'Strongly Disagree' to 5 'Strongly Agree'.   Table 3 and 5 shows the regression analysis of sub-variables of values and employee performance of generation X and Y. These differences were taken as to identify which values correlate significantly to which employee performance indicators i.e. which performance measures are most important with respect to each generational values among X employees and Y employees.
Instrumental values have a significant relationship with employee career performance for generation X while generation Y instrumental values have significant relationship with employee job performance. Cognitive values have a strong association with career and job performance indicators of generation X. Team and organizational based performance has significant association with cognitive values for generation Y. Social Values have a significant relationship with organizational based performance indicators for Generation X, while social values are insignificant for Generation Y. Generation X has no significant relationship with prestige values while generation Y has significant relationship with team, innovation and organizational based employee performance indicators.
Generation Y prefers prestigious and cognitive values as compared to social and instrumental values, they want authority and autonomy in their work. They prefer doing that work that is considered prestigious and has an impact on organization as well. They also prefer to work on projects, which are challenging, important and give a sense of accomplishment. They want to use variety of skills in their work as well. Generation X prefers cognitive values more on work as compared to any other values. They want to work on projects, which increases their working knowledge. They want opportunities to learn new processes, have a chance to advance on job and get a sense of personal achievement through work. They would also prefer work, which is exciting and challenging at the same time.

Journal of Management and Research (JMR)
Volume 6(2): 2019      Hypothesis 3 is also accepted as Generation X has higher positive and significant effect of mediation of attitudes between workplace values and employee performance, while Generation Y does not have significant indirect effect therefore there is no mediation amongst Generation Y employees. According to Table 6, there is partial mediation amongst Generation X sample of banking employees while Table 7 shows that there is no mediation amongst Generation Y employees.

Discussion and Implications
This study aimed to identify the relationship workplace values and attitudes with respect to employee performance. It was found that values and attitudes have a significant direct relationship with employee performance in both generation X and Y. Cognitive values are important for both Generation X and Y while prestige values are important for generation Y. As per the mediation analysis, Generation X had significant mediated effects of attitude between values and performance while Generation Y did not. Work values are significant in order to identify the needs of the workforce. First, the line manager can create the suitable combination of tasks and rewards with respect to individual needs according to their values and attitudes, which will enhance their performance. HR department can also align policies and reward systems according to generational needs (based on age; old versus young or middle aged).
Discussing values and expectations with employees may help to avoid disappointment and conflict particularly psychological contract breach. It also help manage expectations from the beginning. Developing and communicating work values, combined with good recruiting and selection techniques, will reduce turnover and hence decrease recruitment costs for the company.
This study has only focused on banking employees; future researches can study other sectors. In addition, future researches can focus on Islamic work values and ethical values instead of cognitive, instrumental, prestigious and social values. Role of servant and ethical leadership can also enhance or moderate this relationship, thus researchers can use these variables. As the sample size is three hundred therefore, other studies can increase the sample or conduct cross sectional analysis for better results. Work values and attitudes tend to change over time, as feelings and perceptions do not remain constant. True generational differences can only be pinpointed by studying generations and their values over time. Thus, longitudinal study design can use to assess the changes of the same sample with time. This change is attributed to societal environment and other factors. Differences often exist among generations therefore continued research in this field is important for managers, decision makers and leaders as they attempt to understand, motivate and lead the individuals in their organizations for proper functioning. Some recommendations through which organization can improve performance is that the organization rules, policies, procedures and culture should improve values in the firm for both type of generations. Impartiality in the hiring, promotion, training and development, decision making, reward, feedback, should be guaranteed.