Relevance: China’s rapid economic development in the 1990s, national policy adjustment, China’s official accession to the WTO in 2001 and other historical events have led to the unique growth prerequisites and unique character traits of ‘Generation Z’. With the development of time, ‘Generation Z’ has gradually become the main labour force in society. Employees are always the main element of enterprise development, and only by applying scientific methods of employee motivation can improve the basic competitiveness of enterprises, so issues such as employee motivation have always been the focus of researchers in economics and sociology. The motivation of ‘Generation Z’ in modern China has become a hot topic at present. Purpose: This article examines the problems that may exist in the motivation of employees in contemporary Chinese ‘Generation Z’ and how to adapt to the problems that arise. Methodology: This paper uses literature review, historical comparisons and a general logical approach to bring classical theories of motivation (A. Maslow, F. Herzberg) into reality for analysis. Results: The rationale that the following challenges may currently arise in China regarding the motivation of ‘Generation Z” employees. Conclusion: Due to the fact that ‘Generation Z’ employees have strong self-awareness, quickly accept everything new, make good use of information technology, have a strong sense of self-expression and self-actualisation, strive for justice, believe that all people are born equal, and other characteristics. Thus, employees of ‘Generation Z’ in modern China should be motivated differently from those of ‘Generations X and Y’. Managers should proceed from the needs of the employees themselves, combined with the actual situation of the team, combined with tangible incentives and intangible incentives, and constantly improve hygiene factors, strengthen motivation and adopt differentiated incentives, truly ‘People-oriented’ to achieve the role of real incentives for employees.
Keywords: Generation Z, human resources management, China, employee motivation, Chinese enterprises
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