Psychological Contract and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A New Deal for New Generations?

Abstract

This research aims to shed light on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of different generations of hospitality workers in relation to their psychological contract. The psychological contract, which describes employees' implicit expectations of their employer, is related to a range of work-related outcomes such as commitment, turnover intention and OCB. Yet, virtually no studies have explored the psychological contract or OCB in a hospitality setting. These topics were approached from a generational context as a new generation of employees is entering the workplace with a reportedly different approach to work. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys on site from a sample (N=111) in 7 hotels of an international hotel chain. Findings provide evidence of generational differences in the content of the psychological contract, as well as the process through which the psychological contract impacts OCB. In particular, findings indicate that hospitality managers will increasingly have to consider motivating their staff through satisfaction of intrinsic needs for development, job content, and a pleasant working atmosphere. This was found to be particularly true for Generation Y, the youngest generation of workers.