Work values of immigrant professionals: the New Zealand context

Exploring Extrinsic and Intrinsic Work Values of British Ethnic Minorities: The Roles of Demographic Background, Job Characteristics and Immigrant Generation

Despite the increasingly diverse ethnic composition of the British labor force, there is no research investigating whether ethnic minorities have different work values from the White British demographic (White British). Using nationally representative data (2012–2013), this article fills this gap by comparing extrinsic and intrinsic work values between White British and five ethnic minorities, while distinguishing between first and second generations. The results show that both first- and second- generation minorities have stronger extrinsic work values than White British, but the ethnic differences are more pronounced for the second generations. Compared to White British, while first-generation minorities have weaker intrinsic work values, the second generations have stronger intrinsic work values. Differences in extrinsic work values are partly explained by differences in age, education and income, while differences in intrinsic work values are largely explained by age, education and job autonomy. These results hold significant implications for understanding the career choices of ethnic minorities and labor market outcomes.

Do values reflect what is important? Exploring the nexus between work values, work engagement and job burnout

Purpose

Work values are a representation of people’s priorities as they reflect what is pertinent for them and what they want to accomplish. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to understand the priorities given to work values (extrinsic and intrinsic) by employees and also to explore whether these work values vary with the levels of work engagement and job burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was based on the survey responses of 386 officers working in Indian manufacturing organisations engaged in different areas.

Findings

The findings reveal that security officers give much priority to extrinsic work values than intrinsic work values (IWVs). Moreover, IWVs vary with different levels of work engagement along with job burnout. The security officers belonging to the engaged group differ significantly with those belonging to the job burnout group in terms of IWVs. Moreover, work values also have a negative correlation with job burnout and a positive correlation with work engagement.

Originality/value

This study explores the variation in work values of security officers working in Indian manufacturing organisations with changes in levels of job burnout and work engagement, which is a novel contribution in the field. The findings also advocate that it is crucial for human resource managers, supervisors and key people in organisations to find out employees showing early signs of job burnout (exhaustion or disengagement) or early stages of strain and frustration as the priorities of work values of the employees are affected by these parameters. Such identified employees should be provided with required managerial support and necessary work resources immediately.