Abstract:

Generation Z, born to a globally connected world, is slowly but surely entering their first jobs with their own set of expectations, preferences, and perceptions of the world of work. Similarly to previous generations, members of Generation Z are expected to share some unique characteristics that might bring noticeable changes to organizations in the future. Our study aims to identify and explore the perceptions of Generation Z members regarding the factors of their future work motivation. Using the narrative data collection method of empathy-based stories (MEBS) on a sample of 235 business students we collected 665 unique items that were further analyzed, coded, grouped into a set of 27 factors, and finally organized according to their relationship to three dominant themes (employee, job, and organization) into 5 clusters presenting different intersections of these themes. According to our results, enjoying one´s work, quality of relationship with co-workers, and achieving one´s goals seem to be the most prevalent motivational factors in the eyes of Generation Z. On the other hand, the factors of work load, work-life balance, organization of working time, and job security were far from being given importance. The factors generated in our research can be used for questionnaire construction in further quantitative research on motivational preferences of Generation Z.