Workplace fun: the moderating effects of generational differences

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how generational differences moderate the relationship between workplace fun and individual workplace outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The authors review and integrate the literatures on workplace fun and generational theory and empirically test the interaction effects of generation membership and workplace fun with job satisfaction, task performance, and OCB using a sample of 701 workers.Findings – The findings suggest that not only do members of different generational cohorts respond differently to workplace fun, but cohort membership moderates the relationship between workplace fun and some individual workplace outcomes.Research limitations/implications – Snowball sampling and cross‐sectional data limit the generalisability of the study's findings.Practical implications – The authors provide managerial implications for promoting workplace fun.Originality/value – The paper contributes to the workplace fun conversation by addressing the overlooked question o...

[1]  Arup Varma,et al.  Psychological climate and individual performance in India: test of a mediated model , 2007 .

[2]  Stephen Ackroyd,et al.  Can Culture be Managed? Working with “Raw” Material: The Case of the English Slaughtermen , 1990 .

[3]  N. Howe,et al.  Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation , 2000 .

[4]  Lynne C. Lancaster,et al.  When Generations Collide , 2002 .

[5]  Dianne Gardner,et al.  Generational differences at work: introduction and overview , 2008 .

[6]  Katherine A. Karl,et al.  How Does Workplace Fun Impact Employee Perceptions of Customer Service Quality? , 2006 .

[7]  Katherine A. Karl,et al.  Is Fun for Everyone? Personality Differences in Healthcare Providers’ Attitudes toward Fun , 2007, Journal of health and human services administration.

[8]  Erin Rae Fluegge Who put the fun in functional? Fun at work and its effects on job performance , 2008 .

[9]  Robert C. Ford,et al.  Questions and Answers about Fun at Work , 2003 .

[10]  N. Howe,et al.  The next 20 years: how customer and workforce attitudes will evolve. , 2007, Harvard business review.

[11]  B. Kupperschmidt Multigeneration employees: strategies for effective management. , 2000, The health care manager.

[12]  L. Cronbach Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[13]  Mark A. Griffin,et al.  Specifying organizational contexts: systematic links between contexts and processes in organizational behavior , 2007 .

[14]  Harvey Meyer FUN FOR EVERYONE , 1999 .

[15]  Cortlandt Cammann,et al.  Assessing the attitudes and perceptions of organizational members , 1983 .

[16]  N. Howe,et al.  Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 , 1991 .

[17]  Ricky P. Hicks,et al.  Boomers, Xers, and other strangers : understanding the generational differences that divide us , 1999 .

[18]  Carolyn P. Egri,et al.  Special Issue on Corporate Transformation in the People's Republic of China: Generation Cohorts and Personal Values: A Comparison of China and the United States , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[19]  Walter C. Borman,et al.  Task Performance and Contextual Performance: The Meaning for Personnel Selection Research , 1997 .

[20]  Zoe S. Dimitriades The influence of service climate and job involvement on customer‐oriented organizational citizenship behavior in Greek service organizations: a survey , 2007 .

[21]  Ron Zemke,et al.  Generations at work: managing the clash of veterans, boomers, xers, and nexters in your workplace , 1999 .

[22]  P. Fleming Workers’ Playtime? , 2005 .

[23]  Donald F. Roy “Banana Time” Job Satisfaction and Informal Interaction , 1959 .

[24]  L. J. Williams,et al.  Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship and In-Role Behaviors , 1991 .

[25]  A. D'amato,et al.  Learning orientation, organizational commitment and talent retention across generations , 2008 .

[26]  John Wilson,et al.  What Happened to the "Long Civic Generation"? Explaining Cohort Differences in Volunteerism , 2004 .

[27]  Katherine A. Karl,et al.  Attitudes Toward Workplace Fun: A Three Sector Comparison , 2005 .

[28]  Tammy D. Allen,et al.  The Relative Importance of Correlates of Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Counterproductive Work Behavior Using Multiple Sources of Data , 2007 .

[29]  Abraham Carmeli,et al.  The Relationship Among Emotional Intelligence, Task Performance, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors , 2006 .

[30]  J. Markert Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion , 2004 .

[31]  Y. Fried,et al.  Location, location, location: contextualizing organizational research* , 2001 .

[32]  Katherine Karl,et al.  Give Them Something to Smile About: A Marketing Strategy for Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers , 2008 .

[33]  L. T. DeCarlo On the meaning and use of kurtosis. , 1997 .

[34]  Eric Abrahamson Managerial Fads and Fashions: The Diffusion and Rejection of Innovations , 1991 .

[35]  D. Fields Taking the Measure of Work: A Guide to Validated Scales for Organizational Research and Diagnosis , 2002 .

[36]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[37]  S. Caudron Humor is healthy in the workplace , 1992 .

[38]  Nicky Dries,et al.  Exploring four generations' beliefs about career: Is “satisfied” the new “successful”? , 2008 .

[39]  Stacy Campbell,et al.  Generational differences in psychological traits and their impact on the workplace , 2008 .