The Impact of Authentic Leadership on The Work Motivation of Generation Z Employees in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63222/pijar.v3i1.52Keywords:
Authentic Leadership, Work Motivation, Generation Z, Employee MotivationAbstract
The increasing participation of Generation Z in Indonesia’s workforce has created new challenges for organizations, particularly in maintaining employee motivation, engagement, and long-term retention. Compared with previous generations, Generation Z places stronger emphasis on transparency, meaningful work, and trust-based relationships with leaders. Although previous studies have extensively discussed leadership style and turnover intention, limited empirical research has specifically examined how authentic leadership influences work motivation among Generation Z employees in the Indonesian context. Since work motivation functions as a psychological foundation for employee engagement, commitment, and retention, examining this relationship is considered important both theoretically and practically. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the impact of authentic leadership on the work motivation of Generation Z employees in Indonesia. This study employed a quantitative survey design involving 361 Generation Z employees from five major provinces in Indonesia selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through a structured online questionnaire and analysed using validity, reliability, and simple linear regression tests. Validity testing confirmed that all measurement items were statistically valid, while reliability testing demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach’s Alpha values of 0.916 and 0.981 for Authentic Leadership and Work Motivation, respectively. The results showed that authentic leadership has a positive and statistically significant effect on work motivation (β = 0.734; p < 0.001), with an R² value of 0.653, indicating that authentic leadership explains 65.3% of the variance in work motivation. These findings confirm that authentic leadership plays an important role in strengthening the motivation of Generation Z employees in Indonesia. Practically, organizations are encouraged to implement leadership development initiatives focused on self-awareness, transparent communication, ethical decision-making, and regular feedback practices to improve employee motivation, engagement, and long-term retention among Generation Z in the workplace.
References
H. Schroth, “Are you ready for Gen Z in the workplace?” California Management Review, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 5–18, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0008125619841006.
K. Gabrielova and A. A. Buchko, “Here comes Generation Z,” Business Horizons, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 489–499, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.013.
M. D. Benítez-Márquez, E. M. Sánchez-Teba, G. J. B. González, and E. S. Núñez-Rydman, “Generation Z in the job market and workplace: A bibliometric analysis,” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, p. 736820, 2022, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.736820.
N. Saracel, E. Bilgiç, F. Topal, G. T. Kozak, H. Kütükçü, and N. Madi, “Leadership expectations of Generation Z employees,” Journal of Business Research, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 970–987, 2023.
O. D. Adekoya, T. A. Adisa, and O. Aiyenitaju, “Going forward: remote working in the post-COVID-19 era,” Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 1410–1427, 2022, doi: 10.1108/ER-04-2021-0161.
O. Hajjami and O. S. Crocco, “Evolving approaches to employee engagement: comparing antecedents in remote work and traditional workplaces,” European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 48, no. 3–4, pp. 375–392, 2024, doi: 10.1108/EJTD-10-2022-0103.
N. Aydınoğlu, “Examining the influence of managers' authentic and paternalistic leadership behaviors on teacher motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (example of Ankara private schools),” Master's thesis, 2020.
S. Formica and F. Sfodera, “The Great Resignation and quiet quitting paradigm shifts,” Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 899–907, 2022, doi: 10.1080/19368623.2022.2136601.
S. Hamouche, C. Koritos, and A. Papastathopoulos, “Quiet quitting,” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 4297–4312, 2023, doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-11-2022-1362.
A. Serenko, “Human capital management and quiet quitting,” Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 27–43, 2024, doi: 10.1108/JKM-10-2022-0792.
Deloitte, “2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey: Living and working with purpose in a changing world,” 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.deloitte.com
E. Nababan and A. N. Indrajaya, “The mediating effect of perceived organizational support,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2023.
D. S. Widodo and A. Maghfuriyah, “Factors affecting the performance of the Gen Z workforce,” DIJEFA, vol. 5, no. 3, 2024.
A. M. Syukur, D. P. P. Wibowo, and O. Usman, “Mentoring, motivation, and proactivity,” Golden Ratio Data in Summary, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 754–766, 2025.
Y. Iskandar and M. I. R. Trisandri, “The impact of motivation and commitment on the work performance of Gen Z,” Buletin Poltanesa, vol. 25, no. 1, 2024.
O. D. Sujanto, D. Sanjaya, D. Berisanto, and A. Rohman, “Exploring Gen Z employee retention,” Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, vol. 22, no. 2, 2024.
B. U. A. Kanbur, “Postmodern organizational structure in the globalization process,” SDU IIBF Journal, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 387–404, 2008.
E. Menteşoğulları, “A systems approach in modern management theory,” International Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 7, no. 29, pp. 58–72, 2023.
C. Demir, M. K. Yılmaz, and A. Çevirgen, “Research on leadership approaches and leadership styles,” International Alanya Faculty of Business Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 129–152, 2010.
N. Baker, “The evolution of leadership and main leadership styles,” Florya Chronicles of Political Economy, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 29–46, 2022.
G. K. Özkaynar, “Civil servants' preferences for contemporary leadership approaches,” Uşak University Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 157–180, 2017.
M. Kaya and C. Erdem, “Students' well-being and academic achievement: A meta-analysis study,” Child Indicators Research, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 1743–1767, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s12187-021-09821-4.
R. A. Gürler and A. Erkasap, “The mediating role of employee loyalty in the effect of ethical leadership perception on employee motivation,” Third Sector Social Economic Journal, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 2157–2169, 2025.
J. Kesken and N. A. Ayyıldız, “Positive and authentic leadership,” Aegean Academic Review, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 729–754, 2008.
M. İ. Akyürek, “Authentic leadership: A literature review,” International Journal of Leadership Studies: Theory and Practice, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 99–109, 2020.
A. Tabak, M. Polat, S. Coşar, and T. Türköz, “Authentic leadership scale,” ISGUC Journal of Industrial Relations and Human Resources, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 89–106, 2012.
C. Korku and A. Yıldız, “Authentic leadership and contextual performance,” Hacettepe Health Administration Journal, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 85–98, 2023.
M. Şimşek and M. A. Şen, “A study on work motivation and hygiene behaviour of kitchen workers,” Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 3039–3051, 2020, doi: 10.21325/jotags.2020.750.
B. Doymuş, M. Akdeniz, N. O. Akdenizli, and C. Urat, “The relationship between work motivation and job performance: A study on industrial workers,” Eurasia Social and Economic Research Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 227–237, 2023.
M. Fiľa, M. Levický, L. Mura, M. Maros, and M. Korenkova, “Innovation for business management: Motivation and barriers,” Marketing and Management of Innovations, no. 2, pp. 266–278, 2020, doi: 10.21325/mmi.2020.2-19.
J. Heath, “Business ethics and moral motivation,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 83, no. 4, pp. 595–614, 2008, doi: 10.1007/s10551-008-9631-1.
H. Y. Taş, M. Demirdöğmez, and M. Küçükoğlu, “The effects of Generation Z on working life,” International Journal of Social Research, vol. 7, no. 13, pp. 1031–1048, 2017.
G. T. Alp, A. D. Tuncer, S. A. B. Sulaiman, and A. Güngör, “Motivational differences between Generation Y and Generation Z in working life,” in Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Technology and Science, vol. 803, pp. 810–818, Nov. 2019.
B. Pekel, T. Kaya, F. Çalışkan, M. Doğan, S. Öner, and E. Erbay, “Job expectations of Generation Z students,” Journal of Theory and Practice in Healthcare Services, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1–9, 2020.
H. Y. Taş and S. Kaçar, “Management styles for Generation X, Y and Z employees,” OPUS International Journal of Social Research, vol. 11, no. 18, pp. 643–675, 2019.
A. Karaman and M. S. Efeoğlu, “Generation Z and career planning,” Pamukkale University Business Research Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 465–487, 2022.
N. Gümüş, “Examination of Generation Z consumer purchasing decision styles,” Yaşar University Electronic Journal, vol. 15, no. 58, pp. 381–396, 2020.
F. S. Ekiz and B. Zabun, “Intergenerational changes in gender roles: Baby Boomers and Generation Z,” Kastamonu Journal of Human and Society, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 293–304, 2024.
E. Durahim, “The preferred leadership types of Generation Y and Generation Z in the workplace according to their personality traits,” Doctoral dissertation, 2025.
M. H. Mücevher, “Strengths and developmental aspects of Generation Z in working life,” Journal of the Vocational School of Social Sciences of Selçuk University, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 452–471, 2025.
T. Yıldırım and S. Demir, “Psychological flexibility in Generation Z students,” Eurasian Journal of Health Sciences, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 56–67, 2025.
C. Yakışır, “Visionary leadership,” Socrates Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Research, vol. 10, no. 48, pp. 252–267, 2024.
O. H. Öztay, “Siyasal iletişim aracı olarak yeni medya ve siyasal katılımdaki rolü,” Communicata, no. 29, pp. 12–24, 2025.
B. M. Demir and E. Özdemir, “Political participation, voting behavior and leadership: An evaluation of voting and leadership studies,” Journal of Social Sciences of Istanbul Gelisim University, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 493–506, 2024.
M. Ayparçaşı, “A study on the political leadership tendencies of university students in the context of their capital levels,” Journal of the Institute of Social Sciences of Selçuk University, no. 56, pp. 310–326, 2025.
E. Çikmaz, “Motivational factors affecting the success of female entrepreneurs: An application in Gaziantep province,” Journal of Business Research, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 358–367, 2024.
Ö. Rengi and B. Bozkurt, “Okul yöneticilerinin motivasyonunu etkileyen faktörler,” Kocaeli Üniversitesi Eğitim Dergisi, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 249–272, 2024.
S. Rani and A. Suneja, “Attracting talent: Understanding generation Z's expectations of technology-driven workplaces,” Vilakshan – XIMB Journal of Management, advance online publication, 2025, doi: 10.1108/XJM-08-2024-0129.
E. İş and G. Bulut, “Okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin kesintisiz çalışma deneyimleri: Tükenmişlik, motivasyon ve eğitim kalitesi üzerine bir değerlendirme,” Bayterek Uluslararası Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 73–100, 2025.
G. Hatipoğlu Özcan, D. F. Özer, and S. Pınar, “Effects of motor intervention program on academic skills, motor skills and social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder,” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 2628–2642, 2025.
O. Çevik and V. Deniz, “A study on the work motivation and career perceptions of Generation Z,” Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences of Bartın University, vol. 12, no. 24, pp. 287–312, 2021.
B. Alay and S. Y. Bağdoğan, “Generations and motivational differences in working life,” Journal of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Bursa Uludag University, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 129–141, 2023.
F. O. Walumbwa, B. J. Avolio, W. L. Gardner, T. S. Wernsing, and S. J. Peterson, “Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure,” Journal of Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 89–126, 2008, doi: 10.1177/0149206307308913
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Abdullah Haidar, Maura Najwa Maitsa (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
