Generation Y at Work: The Role of e-HRM in Building Positive Work Attitudes

Gen-Yers are the new generation of employees; they are talented, self-starting and technology-oriented, but they are also controversial with respect to their employment drivers. Developing effective work arrangements for Gen-Yers is crucial for the future development and sustainability of firm competitive advantage. Adopting the Employee-Organization Relationship framework, we suggest that e-HRM systems facilitate work arrangements that produce positive outcomes; they signal and reinforce the organization’s investment in the employee-organization relationship. In this vein, the paper aims to explore the possible strategic role of e-HRM systems in sustaining these relationships. Specifically, we focus on the relationship between e-HRM systems and Gen-Yer work attitudes such as affective commitment, perceived procedural and distributive justice, intent to quit, trust in HR departments and job satisfaction. Our broad survey provides valuable and at times unexpected results particularly for the new and thus far littleknown Gen-Yers, serving as the basis for defining some useful guidelines to design strategic e-HR systems not only for the new Y-Gen to actually enhance the sustainability of organizational competitive advantage.