Factors affecting team performance: An empirical study of Indian GenY and GenZ cohorts

• Date: 07 April 2023
• Pages: 986-1006
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2022-0114
• Published date: 07 April 2023
• Author: Pratibha Maan,Dinesh Kumar Srivastava

Factors affecting team

performance: An empirical study

of Indian GenY and GenZ cohorts

Pratibha Maan and Dinesh Kumar Srivastava

National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, India

Abstract

Purpose –The study intends to examine the generational differences between GenY and GenZ Indian

generational cohorts on the study variables, i.e. core self-evaluations (CSE), team cohesion, organizational

culture and team performance. Further, the present research aims to analyze the impactof CSE, team cohesion

and organizational culture on team performance as antecedents.

Design/methodology/approach –The study has adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey method

where the data were collected from Indian working professionals who belonged to GenY and GenZ generational

cohorts. Further, a total of 370 responses were received, and thereafter, the data were analyzed by employing

significant statistical tests such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA),

structural equation modeling (SEM) and an independent samples t-test.

Findings –The study results revealed that GenY and GenZ cohorts significantlydiffer on CSE, team cohesion

and organizational culture. However, no significant difference was reported in team performance between these

two generational cohorts. Also, the study results disclosed that CSE, team cohesion and organizational culture

positively influence team performance by acting as its determinants.

Practical implications –The study reports differences between GenY and GenZ that would assist managers

in effectively dealing with these generational cohorts and formulating human resource (HR) policies that can

accommodate the needs of these two cohorts. Additionally, the study benefits managers by highlighting the

importance of core-self evaluations, team cohesion and organizational culture to enhance team performance.

Originality/value –Existing research depicts that there lies a paucity of generational studies in the Indian

context. The present study attempts to address this lacuna by putting pioneering efforts into this field. The

main contribution of the study lies in empirically investigating the Indian generational cohorts (GenY and

GenZ) in the organizations. Further, the study has also conceptualized and examined a team performance

model by considering factors at three levels (individual, team and organization).

Keywords Teams, Core self-evaluations, Team cohesion, Organizational culture, GenY, GenZ

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

India, as a nation, has encountered a drastic surge in its youth population in the last years,

offering it a label of a ‘young country.’The existing data points project that the Indian youth

population will reach over 400 million by the year 2031 (Figure 1)(Verma, 2017). The United

Nations population database also highlights that India resorts to 242 million youngsters

(10–24) years of age [i]. These large chunks of youths are termed Millennials/GenY and GenZ.

They are often investigated under the concept of ‘generational diversity,’in Indian

organizations as they possess different tastes and preferences. Sources depict that these

younger employees prefer working for organizations that support diversity and inclusion [ii]

related to factors like age, gender, ethnicity, race, educational background, etc. However,

‘generational disparities’as a form of diversity have emerged as a new captivating research

theme for scholars (Hernaus and Polo

ski 2014;Becker et al., 2022). Indian organizations

employ four generational cohorts at present, namely Baby Boomers, GenX, GenY and GenZ,

among these GenX and GenY cohorts have captured the maximum share (25–35%) and

(45–50%) of the total workforce, respectively (Mukundan et al., 2013;Saxena and Singh,

2019). Moreover, the share of Indian GenY employees gained momentum accounting for

nearly 464 million, dominating the workforce, with an average age of approximately 29 years

(Naim and Lenka, 2017;Arora and Dhole, 2019).

EDI

42,8

986

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 11 May 2022

Revised 8 November 2022

24 January 2023

Accepted 10 March 2023

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 8, 2023

pp. 986-1006

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-05-2022-0114

Additionally, as we entered a new decade, GenZ, the successors of GenY, have started

participating in workplaces in large numbers (Gaidhani et al., 2019). GenZ cohorts prefer

working for employers who value diversity and inclusion more than their predecessors. Not

only that but the retention of GenZ in India is also estimated to be challenging, as they opine

changing their employer up to four times in their professional careers. Thus, the practitioners

discourse that they face intensified encounters in dealing with multi-generational workplace

issues (Pulevska et al., 2017;Dokadia and Palo, 2022). However, research also demonstrates

that the co-existence of these multi-generational cohorts at work can bear positive outcomes

for a firm’s development as it enables managers to have a multifaceted methodology for

problem-solving. But at the same time could yield negative results also if managers do not

tailor different strategies to motivate and provide job satisfaction to each of these cohorts

(Hapsari et al., 2019;Cote, 2019).

The present study investigates these cohorts within teams by incorporating core-self

evaluations, team cohesion and org anizational culture as critical el ements of team

performance. The dominant reason to study these cohorts in the context of teams is the

paramount importance teams hold in these modern times (Shuffler et al., 2020). As

organizations face constant challenges due to the extreme and uncertain conditions

prevailing in outer markets today, formulating teams can be beneficial (Benishek and

Lazzara, 2019).

Teams often remain efficient in achieving the organizational goals; however, the

intricacies get heightened as members belonging to different departments, possessing

different skill sets, and originating from various generational groups may be put together to

form a team resulting in impacting the team performances (Hopkins, 2012;Tasheva and

Hillman, 2019). Therefore, the efforts to maximize the benefits and minimize the negative

consequences of multi-generational teams become critical as their emergence is unavoidable

in these competitive times. Additionally, there is a reported shortage of generational research

in India, i.e. only 1%, which further signifies an ardent need to conduct such studies (Burton

et al., 2019).

Therefore, the study attempts to fill this gap and addresses its two main objectives (1) to

empirically investigate the differences between GenY and GenZ generational cohorts on the

study variables, i.e. core self-evaluations (CSE), team cohesion, organizational culture and

team performance (2) Subsequently, to explore the impact of core-self evaluations, team

cohesion and organizational culture on team performance.

The rest of the paper has the following composition. The literature review segment

discusses the theoretical backgrounds of ‘generation’and categorizes GenY and GenZ

cohorts. Also, the generational cohorts and their presence in organizations have been

Figure 1.

Growth of youth

population, the year

1971–2031

Factors

affecting team

performance

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