Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Gen Y Employees' Engagement: An Indian Perspective Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Gen Y Employees' Engagement: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

The study examines the influence of social media on Gen Y employees' engagement. Hypotheses are developed to explain the influence of social media on Gen Y employees' engagement. A sample of 256 Indian Gen Y employees from IT industry participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research hypotheses. Findings reveal that social media has a significant positive effect on Gen Y employees' engagement. It is revealed that social media moderates the relationship of HR practices (communication, collaboration; knowledge sharing and recognition) and engagement in Gen Y employees. While the scope of this study is limited to IT industry and results may not generalize to different industries in different regions. Hence, future studies should test the given hypotheses in different industries of different regions. The findings suggest that organizations should incorporate social media into their HR strategy. The study is one of the first to date, to empirically test the effect of social media on Gen Y employee engagement.