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Understanding Generation Z employees: The role of motivators, engagement, and performance in organizational success
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DOI：10.1016/j.heliyon.2026.e45168.png)
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Abstract
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As Generation Z becomes an increasingly dominant segment of the workforce, understanding its distinct work values, motivational drivers, and engagement patterns is essential for organizational effectiveness in multigenerational contexts. This study aims to examine the structural relationships among Employee Motivators, Employee Engagement, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), Task Performance, and Organizational Performance among Generation Z employees. Using survey data collected from 424 Generation Z employees working in medium-sized organizations in Bangkok, Thailand, the proposed model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results show that Employee Motivators have a stronger effect on Employee Engagement than on OCB and Task Performance, with Engaging Leadership emerging as the most influential motivational dimension. While Task Performance, particularly work quantity and task management, has a positive and direct impact on Organizational Performance, OCB, especially sportsmanship, exhibits a negative relationship with Organizational Performance, suggesting that excessive discretionary behavior may reduce efficiency. In addition, Employee Engagement, with “Say” as its strongest dimension, plays a significant mediating role between Employee Motivation and Organizational Performance. These findings extend prior research by demonstrating that OCB may not uniformly enhance performance in the context of Generation Z and by highlighting the central role of engagement in driving organizational outcomes. The study offers practical implications for human resource management by emphasizing leadership practices, engagement-focused strategies, and balanced expectations of discretionary behavior to enhance motivation, performance, and retention among Generation Z employees.
Keywords:
Generation Z
Employee motivation
Employee engagement
Organizational citizenship behavior
Task performance
Organizational performance
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