CHAPTER 3: MILLENNIALS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND
3.7 WORKPLACE FUN
42 | P a g e are much more knowledgeable about the technological environment in comparison to their parents and instructors (D'Netto & Ahmed, 2012).
Due to exposure to such enriched high-tech information, the millennial generation has been propelled into a time or period during which information is easily available to any individual, no matter their location (Meier & Crocker, 2010). Therefore, Meier and Crocker (2010) indicate that millennials are the newest generation of individuals to move into the work environment, possessing a complete know-how and experience about the technology that surrounds them. Known as the technologically proficient generation, Generation Y individuals perceive technology as a way of living and as a part of who they are, rather than earlier generations who utilised technology as a device to fulfill a particular task (Cahill & Sedrak, 2011).
43 | P a g e influential work projects, and eventually make a positive contribution to the entire growth and success of the organisation (Lyons et al., 2010).
Huybers (2011) alludes that millennials look for meaningful work experiences that tie in with their desires, combined with work that has an overall positive outcome for the entire organisation. Dannar (2013) mentions that managers can continuously empower millennials in the workplace by allocating work-related tasks, which, in turn, will allow them to realise higher levels of responsibility, combined with a sense of meaning and self-actualisation. Therefore, it becomes imperative for organisations to integrate the work needs and expectations of millennials into the workplace, such as meaningful and rewarding work tasks, if they desire to retain this generation of employees within the current workforce (Park & Gursoy, 2012).
Smith and Galbraith (2012) also state that millennials hold the belief that they can bring about transformation wherever they are; hence, they desire work that brings them that sense of fulfillment.
Therefore, Smith and Galbraith (2012) recommend that managers and supervisors should assist millennials in clarifying the importance of their work and how it specifically fits in with the goals, values and mission of the entire organisation. This, in turn, serves to make work assignments more interesting to employees, by motivating them and making them feel more appreciated in their work environment (Smith & Galbraith, 2012).
3.7.2 The Opportunity to Give Back to the Community through the Organisation
Giving back to the community through an organisation is termed Corporate Social Responsibility.
According to Lou, Lee and Mathison (2011, p. 674), Corporate Social Responsibility can also be referred to as “corporate sustainability, corporate citizenship, corporate social investment, the triple bottom line, socially responsible investment, business sustainability and corporate governance”. Persons (2012, p. 64) defines Corporate Social Responsibility as “the moral obligations that maximise the positive impact of the organisation on its social environment and minimise the negative impact”. Lou et al. (2011, p. 675) define Corporate Social Responsibility as “a business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks originating from economic, environmental and social developments”.
Sharma (2012) alludes that the millennial generation displays eagerness to give their time to various types of services for the benefit of the public. Michailides and Lipsett (2013) indicate that millennials pay less attention to the legal and economic work aspects in comparison to previous generations, and are rather seen to place much more importance on moral and charitable corporate responsibilities to their society, in contrast to elderly employees. A study revealed that a greater part of millennials (79%) would opt to be employed by an organisation that is concerned about how it contributes towards the improvement of its
44 | P a g e society, whilst 69 % of millennials would never choose to be employed by an organisation that is not socially accountable (McGlone, Spain & McGlone, 2011).
Sharma (2012) further emphasises that millennials in general are much more community inclined and seem to be increasingly involved in volunteer work than members from earlier generations. Additionally, Sharma (2012) believes that voluntary work serves to benefit the individual and the organisation concurrently by firstly, improving the image of the organisation within the general public and secondly, providing millennial employees with the great opportunity to participate in work that is significant, adding to their daily work assignments (Sharma, 2012). This results in an organisation’s continuous ability to meet the needs of millennials seeking employment, thereby increasing their retention within the workforce (Sharma, 2012).
McGlone et al. (2011) mention that millennials choose to carry out voluntary work for numerous reasons such as selflessness, inspiration from friends and family members, as well as the need to fill up their curriculum vitae. Additionally, McGlone et al. (2011) point out that the millennial generation is not interested in showing loyalty to any organisation. Therefore, they choose to commit themselves to volunteer work for their self-development, rather than that of the organisation (McGlone et al., 2011). Furthermore, millennials are hard workers, and place much more significance on assisting other people and confronting challenges faced by society (McGlone et al., 2011). It is important to note that modern-day workers (including the millennial generation) in high-speed competitive labour markets, do not decide on an employer solely on the basis of a good salary (Vaiman, Scullion & Collings, 2012). As a result, numerous organisations view Corporate Social Responsibility as a vital part of their staffing and retention policy and utilise it as a valuable instrument for the attraction of highly skilled employees.
3.7.3 An Interesting and Fun Job
Tews, Michel and Allen (2014, p. 3) define fun as “a work setting that deliberately encourages, initiates and supports a range of entertaining and enjoyable activities”. Choi et al. (2011, p. 2) defined workplace fun as “playful, social, interpersonal, recreational or task activities at work of a playful or humorous nature, intended to provide an individual with amusement, enjoyment or pleasure”. Choi et al. (2013) suggest that, in principle, fun in the workplace consists of intentionally planned fun events that will most likely enhance productivity within any organisation. Therefore, the provision of a fun environment serves to strongly influence employees’ attitudes and levels of productivity in the workplace (Choi et al., 2011).
According to Tews et al. (2014), fun is an important aspect for the new generation of millennial employees in the current workforce. Thompson (2011) indicates that, for numerous millennials, a fun or enjoyable workplace stands out as one of the major factors when choosing an employer, placed before diversity and work-life balance. Hence, millennials may tend to view workplace fun as a prerequisite, instead of a benefit
45 | P a g e (Choi et al., 2013). When it comes to the work environment, Generation Y yearns for a sense of balance between work and play, autonomy and participation in social activities (Tews et al., 2014).
Furthermore, Houck (2011) mentions that millennials desire to have a work-life balance that is centred around the amount of work in proportion to the amount of fun, instead of being clock centred on a 9 – 5 work schedule. Thompson (2011) mentions that for millennials, the term ‘enjoyable’ means that the work environment is not merely one of fun, but one that equally provides support, values its employees and continuously encourages them. A study revealed that the presence of fun depicted a much more positive relationship in relation to job satisfaction, performance and personal outcomes for millennials, in contrast to the earlier cohort of Generation Xers (Tews et al., 2014). Likewise, fun is considered to play an important role amongst millennial employees for the reason that it might possibly result in the building of rewarding companionships (Tews et al., 2014).
Some examples of fun activities that organisations could introduce in the workplace include recognition of individual milestones (for example, public recognition of employees’ birthdays, marriages, marriage and work anniversaries, social occasions (for example, holiday get-togethers and picnics, public celebrations of work accomplishments (for example, recognition for outstanding performance, friendly contests amongst staff members (for example, productivity tournaments, personal growth opportunities, entertainment and team building exercises (for example, company-funded sports clubs and bowling events) (Becker, 2012).
Becker (2012) pointed out that the element of fun in the workplace was linked to definite advantages such as greater zeal from workers, team cohesiveness, worker satisfaction, personal resourcefulness, and companionships in the workplace, organisational social responsibility and decreased stress levels. Everett (2011) mentions that enjoyable work settings have a tendency to improve knowledge production, efficiency and creativity whilst concurrently decreasing the likelihood of absence and fatigue. Fun in the place of work may also be utilised as a practical tool to develop trust and improve modes of communication between managers and their employees (Everett, 2011).
Everett (2011) accentuates that a work environment that simultaneously promotes innovativeness and fun will find it much easier to hire and retain workers. A practical example of an organisation that has set the best pattern when it comes to fun in the workplace is Google. This organisation is believed to draw more than 3000 job candidates on a daily basis. The Co-Founder of Google, Larry Page, upholds that “we do not just desire our employees to have a great job, we want them to have a great life, hence we make available to our employees everything they need so that they can be productive and content on and off the clock”
(Everett, 2011, p. 2). In addition, Larry Page indicates that Google is structured around the proficiency to draw and influence the skill of excellent specialists and key individuals in the corporate world. Hence, this kind of attraction is mainly a result of Google’s expertise to effectively find a balance between work and
46 | P a g e play or fun (Everett, 2011). Other organisations such as Yahoo, Southwest Airlines, Domino Pizza, Sun Micro System and Kodak have promoted the practice of fun and acceptable humor in their work environments, which is an approach that appears to draw on high-tech millennials (Witt Smith & Khojasteh, 2013).
Therefore, fun or playfulness within the work setting improves motivation and efficiency amongst workers, decreases levels of anxiety and strain and serves to increase the satisfaction of clients (Everett, 2011).
Hence, several organisations have experienced an improvement in production and clientele service satisfaction due to integrating a culture of fun in the work setting (Everett, 2011).