Abstract: HM is a high-tech private firm that specialises in membrane separation and its applications. The firm’s middle management and its shopfloor workers belong to different generations, and it is increasingly apparent that these managers have troubles managing their subordinates. Younger generation workers are rather unhappy with the ways that they are bossed round at the shopfloor. For instance, they complain that their work is meaningless, that work regulations are too strict, that their initiatives are being suffocated, that their participation in management is extremely limited, and that their reasonable suggestions are constantly ignored. In short, what worries Fan, VP and the HR director of the firm, is that these younger generation workers do not see their job as ‘worthy of efforts’, to quote their own sayings. How would Fan come out with a solution to motivate his none-so-motivated employees?

Keywords: psychological empowerment; work motivation; leadership behaviour; younger generation workers