Sanayi Sektöründe Çalışan Y Kuşağı Üretim İşçilerinde Çalışma Değerleri ile Örgüte Duygusal Bağlılık Arasındaki İlişkide İşe Bağlanmanın Düzenleyici Rolü
Ümit Deniz İlhan, Burcu Kümbül Güler, Mehmet AksaraylıBu çalışma, çalışma yaşamındaki değişimler çerçevesinde, sanayi sektöründe çalışan Y Kuşağı üretim işçilerinin örgüte duygusal bağlılıklarında etkili olacağı düşünülen çalışma değerleri ve işe bağlanmanın etkilerine odaklanmaktadır. Yapılan araştırmada, İzmir ilinde gıda ve içecek üretimi alanında ulusal ve uluslararası düzeyde faaliyet gösteren büyük ölçekli iki işletmede çalışan 66’sı (%12,8) kadın ve 450’si (%87,2) erkek olmak üzere toplam 516 Y Kuşağı temsilcisi üretim işçisinden veri toplanmıştır. Veri toplama araçları olarak, çalışma değerlerini ölçmek amacıyla, Lyons, Higgins, Chris ve Duxbury (2010) tarafından geliştirilmiş olan çalışma değerleri ölçeğinden (Lyons Work Values Survey-LWVS) yararlanılmıştır. İşe bağlanmayı ölçmek için, Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá ve Bakker (2002) tarafından geliştirilmiş olan işe bağlanma ölçeği (Utrecht Work Engagement ScaleUWES) kullanılmıştır. Son olarak örgüte duygusal bağlılığı ölçmek için, Meyer ve Allen (1991)’in örgütsel bağlılık ölçeğinin (Organizational Commitment Questionnaire-OCQ) duygusal bağlılık ile ilgili 6 maddesi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen sonuçlara göre, içsel-gelecek odaklı boyut hariç, diğer üç çalışma değerleri boyutunun (içsel-an odaklı, dışsalan odaklı, dışsal-gelecek odaklı) örgüte duygusal bağlılığı yordamasında işe bağlanmanın düzenleyici rolü olduğu görülmüştür. Bu bulgular doğrultusunda, sanayi sektöründe çalışan Y Kuşağı üretim işçilerinin örgüte duygusal olarak bağlılığının sağlanması için çalışma değerlerine önem verilmesi gerekliliği ile birlikte işe bağlanmayı da mümkün kılan bir çalışma ortamı oluşturulmasının önemi anlaşılmaktadır.
The Regulatory Role of Work Engagement in the Relationship Between Work Values and Affective Organizational Commitment of Generation Y Production Workers in Industry
Ümit Deniz İlhan, Burcu Kümbül Güler, Mehmet AksaraylıThis study focuses on the effects of work engagement and work values that are thought to be effective in providing the affective organizational commitment of Generation Y production workers in industry within the framework of the changes in working life. The data of the research were collected from a total of 516 Generation Y production workers (women %12,8, men %87,2) in two large-scale enterprises operating in the field of food and beverage production in the province of İzmir, Turkey. Work values were assessed through Lyons, Higgins, Chris and Duxbury’s (2010) Lyons Work Values Survey (LWVS). Next, to assess work engagement, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) developed by Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá and Bakker (2002) was used. Last, 6 items of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) related to affective commitment were used to assess affective organizational commitment. According to the results of the study, work engagement was found to have a regulatory role in three out of four dimensions of work values (intrinsic-present oriented, extrinsic-present oriented, and extrinsic-future oriented, with intrinsicfuture oriented not found) and affective organizational commitment. In line with these findings, to ensure the affective organizational commitment of Generation Y production workers in industry, it is suggested to create an organizational environment that enables work engagement while giving importance to work values.
This study focuses on the effects of work engagement and work values that are thought to be effective in providing the affective organizational commitment of Generation Y production workers in industry within the framework of the changes in working life. Thus, the interaction between work values and work engagement is emphasized in ensuring the affective organizational commitment of Generation Y production workers.
How and in what way Generation Y production workers in industry, which represents an important mass in today’s working life, work with motivation is very important. In addition to this, their work values, their engagement at work, and their commitment to organizations are also as important. These, especially, have importance in two aspects: The first one is the results of the researches showing that Generation Y is less committed to the organization than the previous generations. The second one is the existing difficulties arising from the nature of working in industry. Considering that each generation has its unique characteristics and value judgments that differ from those of other generations, it is of particular importance for the employers to try to keep Generation Y, which is believed to have low commitment, in industry with challenging work conditions and job characteristics.
As work done in industrial production is based on body strength and less cognitively demanding, uniformity and monotony are predominant in the whole process of work. Therefore, attitudes such as satisfaction, organizational commitment and work engagement of production workers in industry may be different and perhaps low compared to some others working in attractive business sectors. Working as a production worker in industry is not seen as attractive by Generation Y, especially since the younger generations look for working conditions in which they can show their skills of, be autonomous, use their creativity, have the right to speak, and work flexible hours.
Therefore, within the framework of the changes in working life, to understand the interaction between work values and work engagement, the data of the research were collected from a total of 516 Generation Y production workers (women %12,8, men %87,2) in two large-scale enterprises operating in the field of food and beverage production in the province of İzmir, Turkey. Work values were assessed through Lyons, Higgins, Chris and Duxbury’s (2010) Lyons Work Values Survey (LWVS). Next, to assess work engagement, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) developed by Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá and Bakker (2002) was used. Last, 6 items of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) related to affective commitment were used to assess affective organizational commitment.
According to the results of the study, work engagement was found to have a regulatory role in three out of four dimensions of work values (intrinsic-present oriented, extrinsic-present oriented, and extrinsic-future oriented, with intrinsic-future oriented not found) and affective organizational commitment. Therefore, it is understood that extrinsic work values in particular ensure affective organizational commitment in interaction with work engagement. Furthermore, the findings show that work engagement does not have a regulatory role in intrinsic-future oriented work values and affective organizational commitment demonstrates that in industry, work values in this category are not seen as achievable. Even though these values are associated with work engagement, it is understood that affective organizational commitment is not explained by the interaction of both variables.
In line with these findings, to ensure the affective organizational commitment of Generation Y production workers in industry, it is suggested to create an organizational environment that enables work engagement while giving importance to work values. For this purpose, in addition to providing satisfactory wage, work-life balance, job security, reward system, and right leadership style as external work values, it is necessary to implement practices that involve the employee in the decision-making process and encourage autonomy to make them be committed.