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Introduction
Generational differences among workers have recently received considerable attention in organizations given the increasing need to manage and develop more diverse groups in the workplace. Although generation cohorts have experienced similar economic, political, technological and social events that influence their behavior, each generational cohort brings its own values, beliefs, life experiences and attitudes to the workplace (Meredith et al., 2002). Understanding the generational differences and the implications in the workplace is critical to decrease potential conflict and effectively manage and develop workers in different generations.
As “specific expressions of basic values in the work setting” (Ros et al., 1999, p. 54), work values have contributed to positive outcomes at both the individual and organizational levels by providing guiding principles for individuals’ work-related behaviors (Cemalcilar et al., 2018). For instance, work values can promote communication, engagement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance and well-being (Chan et al., 2020; Kumar, 2019; Merriman, 2017; Ren et al., 2021). Because of the positive influence of work values, scholars have discussed the work values of different groups, specifically, different generational cohorts (King et al., 2017; Lyons and Kuron, 2014).
Comparing work values of different generational groups has been discussed in multiple country contexts (Hennekam, 2011; Hung Kee et al., 2019; Papavasileiou and Lyons, 2015), and the results have been mixed. For instance, a study in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector found that Baby Boomers held higher intrinsic, altruistic and prestige work values and were more satisfied with their jobs and committed to their organizations than Generation X and Millennials (Hung Kee et al., 2019). However, Zabel et al. (2017) reported that there were no differences in work ethics among Boomers, Generation X and Millennials in the USA. These findings on generational differences in work values have been inconsistent based on the research context.
Given the rapid development in South Korea (hereafter, Korea) in the past 50 years, there are significant generational differences with a notable generation gap (Koh and Kim, 2019; Park and Park, 2018). However, little empirical research has investigated the generational gap in employees’ work values in Korea. Specifically, few studies have provided empirical evidence to identify generational differences in employees’ perceptions of work values in the Korean Government sector (Ahn and Lee,...