The Situational Leadership Approach Effects on Employee Motivation in Multi-Generational IT Organizations

Transcription

1 The Situational Leadership Approach Effects on Employee Motivation in Multi-Generational IT Organizations Thaddaeus Andrew Irby Doctoral Candidate Key Words: situational leadership approach, employee motivation, Baby Boomer, Generation X, Generation Y, IT Organizations

2 Purpose and Scope Purpose - The purpose of this research is to explore IT Organizations preferred leadership approach, situational leadership, to determine what motivational effects it has on employees in Information Technology (IT) organizations where multiple generations of employees exist Scope - The scope of this research consists of the three generations (Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y) and what motivational effect the situational leadership approach has on each generation.

3 Research Questions Research Question 1 - What motivational effect does the situational leadership approach have on employees in multi-generational IT organizations? Research Question 2 - What leadership characteristics support multi-generational IT organizations?

4 Significance of this Research for Management The exploration of situational leadership, and its effectiveness, in leading and motivating employees in - today s multi-generational IT organizations will give managers an understanding of how to move away from this leadership approach. Will provide managers, and leaders, whom have daily direct contact with each generation of employees, with unique leadership tools and knowledge to utilize in their organization to motivate its multi-generational workforce to meet and surpass performance expectations.

5 Main Literature Themes and Authors Themes Unique Generations in IT Organizations Leadership Influence on Generational Employees Motivational Needs and the Situational Leadership Approach Authors Artley, J. and Macon, M. (2009). Can t We All Just Get Along? A Review of the Challenges and Opportunities in a Multigenerational Workforce Blanchard, K (1985). SLII: A Situational Approach to Managing People. Brown, R., and Jurkiewicz, C. (1998), GenXers vs. Boomers vs. Matures: Generational Comparisons of Public Employee Motivation. De Kerpel, E., Dries, N., and Pepermans, R. (2008). Exploring Four Generations' Beliefs About Career is "Satisfied" the new "Successful"? Faraj, S., Sims, H., & Yun, S. (2009). When Should a Leader be Directive or Empowering? How to Develop your own Situational Theory of Leadership Thompson, G., & Vecchio, R. (2009). Situational Leadership Theory: A Test of Three Versions..

6 Key Propositions 1. Generation X prefers freedom and flexibility in IT organizations, which theoretically comes out of content and process motivational theories. 2. Generation Y prefers multi-tasking, teamwork, and social collaboration in IT organizations, which theoretically comes out of content and process motivational theories. 3. The Baby Boomer generation prefers advancement and monetary rewards in IT organizations, which theoretically comes out of content and process motivational theories. 4. The situational leadership approach does not meet the motivational needs of any generation in IT organizations and will have a negative effect on the employee performance in regards to tasks such as knowledge transfer. 5. The expectation for leaders in Multi-generational IT organizations are they should be able to handle their own administrative, recruiting, training, orientation, performance management, employee motivation, and retention needs. 6. Each generation of employees will be motivated by unmet needs and that once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator. 7. IT generation organization leaders should focus on the positives by addressing what their workforce can do, instead of what it cannot do are the ways to get their workforce to march to the same tune. 8. There is a desire for today s leadership to move into a new scope where social values and employee work-related needs require its leaders to implement new type of leadership to remain a viable in today s economy.

7 Conceptual Framework Quality of Supervision Employee Motivational Needs Quality of Supervision Leadership Approach Content Motivations Generations in IT Organizations Employee Needs Generations in IT Organizations Future Employee Performance Process Motivations Baby Boomer Generation X Generation Y

8 Thesis Statement A move away from the situational leadership approach and into a more dynamic leadership approach will allow leaders in IT organization to motivate its multi-generational workforce to perform tasks such as knowledge transfer.

9 Conceptual Model Groundwork & Research Question Research Approach and Argumentation Independent Variable Situational Leadership Approach Quantitative data collection Subject Matter Expert (SME) Review Unit of Analysis Primary Factor Dependent Variables Multiple generations in one organization Employee performance Motivation HYPHOTHES E S Qualitative data collection Analysis of Findings Refined Conceptual Framework Implications for Management Theory and Practice

10 Findings Employee motivations are generally based on where that generational employee falls in the Age Maturity Lifecycle, and not so much what generation that employee falls under. Common leadership traits that each generation looks for are leaders that are visible and have a genuine concern for their personal and professional needs. A wide ranging leadership approach is preferred and should be taught in all IT organizational leadership training that caters to these common traits. Leaders should have the option to utilize any leadership approach that is capable of addressing any generational employee s personal and professional motivational needs.

11 Implications for Management Practice Situational leadership approach is widely used in management training courses and is most applicable to this research due to its flexibility in multi-generational IT organizations. These training courses should be modified to include all of leadership approaches that can address an employee personal and professional needs such as: Leader- Member Exchange Theory, Transformational Leadership, Psychodynamic Approach, Transformational, and Transactional.

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13 Future Research Follow Generation X and Generation Y through the rest of their age maturity life cycle. This will assist in identifying specific generational similarities and differences. Research what impact the economy has on employee motivational behaviors Research what impact the economy has on leadership behaviors Research cultural beliefs affects on leadership behavior Research cultural beliefs impacts on generational work force. This can also be explored under diversity in multi-generational IT organizations