Generational Gap： Intrinsic （Non-monetary） Versus Extrinsic （Monetary） Rewards in the Workforce

Traditionally, organizations assume that compensation/pay and monetary benefits are what all employees need to work harder, be productive, or remain with the company. According to Abraham Maslow, within every person is a hierarchy of five needs： physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs Organizations must be able to identify what employees desire to secure optimum performance and to meet the needs of both employees and employers. This research focuses on the generational gap and the significance of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in the workforce. The purpose and objective of this research are to test the significance of monetary versus non-monetary rewards among the different generations in the organization. A self-designed questionnaire distributed to a multi-generational group of employees of selected organizations was used to collect the analyzed data. Sixty-five （65%） responses were obtained. Secondary data were used to elucidate the needs in this area of study. Because the workforce is predicted to become more diverse in terms of age, organizations will be unlikely to implement one set of rewards for the multiple generations. This is due to the differing expectations and requirements among the generations. However, the results indicate no significant difference in monetary versus non-monetary rewards among the different generations in the workforce.