Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy

Asian Society for Innovation and Policy (아시아기술혁신학회)
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An Empirical Study on the Happiness of Generation MZ Employees in South Korea: Focusing on the Preceding Factors of Happiness and Engagement

  • Received : 2022.11.25
  • Accepted : 2023.01.09
  • Published : 2022.12.31
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Abstract

This study focuses on the happiness of the generation MZ of innovative enterprises, which are evaluated as the driving force of economic growth at a time when the value of happiness is emerging. Happiness is related to the prosperity and performance of the organization. However, MZ generation office workers, who account for 45% of the economically active population, are considered unhappy at work. Therefore, this study attempted to explore the preceding factors (organizational factors, relationship and communication factors, and personal factors) of happiness for the generation MZ of innovative enterprises and to examine the effect of happiness on employee engagement. For the study, 300 usable responses were collected from generation MZ working in innovative enterprises through an online survey. Research hypotheses and research questions were verified using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0. As a result, it was confirmed that procedural justice among the organizational factors, rewarding co-worker/supervisor relationship among the relationship/communication factors, and personal factors (meaningfulness of work, personal accomplishment) positively affected the MZ generation's workplace happiness. In particular, the meaningfulness of work, which corresponds to personal factors, exerted the most significant influence. In addition, in the case of happiness at the workplace, there was a positive effect on employee engagement, which was stronger in organizational engagement than in job engagement. As a result of examining the structural relationship between variables used in the study, it was found that procedural justice, rewarding co-worker/supervisor relationships, the meaningfulness of work, and personal accomplishment positively affected employee engagement through happiness. Through research, the importance of happiness at the workplace was suggested by systematically reviewing the preceding variables of happiness at the workplace and grasping the positive effects of happiness. In addition, the management measure of generation MZ employees of innovative enterprises was discussed, the necessity of research on happiness at the workplace was emphasized, and follow-up studies were proposed.

Keywords

References

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