Exploring the Leadership Preference of Malaysian Generation Y Employees: A Conceptual Paper

Abstract

<p>Generation Y, individuals age 34 years and below are dominating the workforce in Malaysia today with nearly half of the labour force comprised of this generational cohort. They will be playing a vital role in the Malaysian labour market and will have unprecedented impact to the country’s future economic growth. However, a dilemma confronting leaders today is the limited understanding when leading the Gen Y. This paper is not empirically based but merely conceptual in nature. It is aimed at presenting the preliminary work for a study. The concepts of leadership and the many theories that have evolved are examined. Review of past literature concerning the Gen Y and their leaders are deliberated. From the literature review, many missing parameters were discovered. Firstly, studies in Gen Y mostly covers motivation, values, behaviours, job satisfaction and organisational commitment but not on leadership preferences per se. In addition to that many of the studies conducted are in the Western perspectives and to accept the results entirely will be an over-generalisation. Lastly, the field of leadership is continuously evolving inspired by the current wants and needs. Thus this brings light to the intention of this study which is to explore the leadership preferences of Gen Y employees specifically looking at the local context. The conceptual framework proposed as the foundation of this study consists of the different leadership theories from early days of trait theory to the more contemporary transformational leadership theory. This conceptual framework will guide in the data collection process whereby a basic qualitative method is proposed as the most suitable approach for this study. It will be based on the interpretive or constructivist perspective where multiple realities and lived experiences of Gen Y concerning their leadership preferences will be uncovered through in depth interviews with the participants involved.</p>

Examining the Effectiveness of Teamwork in Work Engagement among Gen Y-A Conceptual Framework

“…In Malaysia over 50% of the workforce constitutes of Gen Y (Queiri et. al., 2014) whereas Baby Boomers are approaching retirement and by the year 2025 it is predicted that around 20% of Gen X will be retiring (Sharkawi et. al., 2016) As Gen Y emerges as a big cohort in the labor market, the attraction and retention of them is vital for any organization to sustain and grow (Shah, 2017).…”

“…This generation cohort is predominantly characterized for having high levels of self-reliance, self-confidence, autonomous, individualistic, and socially active and enjoys working in group (Ozelik, 2015). This is partly due to the reason that they belong to nurturing and protective parents who entertains and treats each and every of their children's' emotional, educational and physical needs (Ozelik, 2015) which is possible because generally Gen Y comes from a family where the both parents are working (Sharkawi et. al., 2016).…”

“…The Baby Boomers, Generation X or Gen X and Gen Y are the three generations which are still active in the workforce (Pyoria, Ojala, Saari & Jarvinen, 2017). Baby Boomers comprises of those who were born between the years 1946 to 1964 while Gen X are those who were born between the years 1965 to 1979 (Sharkawi, Mohamed & Roslin, 2016). Over the last decade, the term employee engagement has received great attention in organizations (Mun, Suhaimi, Abdullah, Rahman & Mat, 2012).…”

The Generic Attributes of the New Millennial Leaders

“…Most research is carried out in the Western context, investigating Western samples by Western scholars. The findings from these studies may not be applicable to the Malaysian context (Sharkawi et al, 2016).…”

“…Other than that, Graybill (2014) has identified seven leadership attributes pointed out by millennials, namely, communication, respect, vision, influence, trust, integrity and teamwork. For Sharkawi et al (2016), millennials have high preference for an approachable leader with vision and working in collaborative environment. Millennials are also likely to feel a certain freedom and, thus, be more creative in thought and innovative in action (Holt, 2018).…”