Comparing the motivation of Generation Y and Z non-academic staff at the Zimbabwe Open University

There is inadequate literature on research comparing the motivations of Generations Y and Z, especially for non-academic university staff. Therefore, this research compared the motivation of the two generational cohorts amongst non-academic staff at the Zimbabwe Open University. Two sub-objectives guided the research: first, to compare the intrinsic motivation of the two generations and the extrinsic motivation of the two generations. The generational theory guided the research, elaborating that generational cohorts have different preferences. The supplementary theory was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which shows how employees are motivated by the provision of needs from basic to fulfillment needs. The study was quantitative, using descriptive statistics to compare the motivation of Generation Y and Z. The research utilised closed-ended questionnaires, which were distributed to 196 respondents. SPSS version 30.0 was used for data analysis. Reliability, validity, and data normality tests confirmed the data. The findings show that both generations are motivated intrinsically, but preferences on the intrinsic motivators diverge. The research found that Generation Y is more extrinsically motivated than Generation Z. The research recommends using intrinsic motivation for Generation Z employees and using both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for Generation Y employees.