The role of career expectations on employee engagement among Generation Y in Ireland

Thornton, Paula (2015) The role of career expectations on employee engagement among Generation Y in Ireland. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationship between career expectations and employee engagement. It focuses on the engagement levels among Generation Y in Ireland and if their career expectations impact on those levels.

The main objective of this research is to investigate if there is a link between high career expectations and low engagement levels. The research will also examine if Generation Y in Ireland have the low engagement levels expected of this generation, and if Generation Y in Ireland value the same workplace attributes as the literature suggests.

The researcher conducted the study with the use of a quantitative online survey. The survey was divided into three parts. The first part was demographic questions, about age, length of service, gender, employment status and industry and level of education. The second section used the Ultreact Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure engagement. The third part of the survey included the questions about career expectations and work attributes, these items were taken from previously used scales by Westerman et al (2010) and Ng et al (2011). The subjects of this dissertation were Generation Y in Ireland.

The findings suggest that there is no significant relationship between employee engagement and career expectations. The results did not support the expectation that Generation Y in Ireland would be disengaged it found the opposite to be true. The findings did indicate the work attributes most important to Generation Y are opportunity for advancement, good people to work for and good people to work with.

The research contributes to the literature review and to the area of employee engagement in Ireland and Generation Y in Ireland. The limitations of this study are; the sample is not random and the number of responses is low. Further research is recommended.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Careers H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Performance Management > Employee Engagement
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	13 Oct 2015 14:25
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2015 14:25
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/2077

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