A New Model To Explain Engagement, Retention Intentions, and Well-Being Among Generation Z Sales Professionals

Abstract

Organizations face persistent challenges in sustaining engagement, reducing turnover intentions, and protecting well-being among Generation Z sales professionals working in fast-paced, feedback-intensive settings. This theoretical article proposes the need-supportive exchange coupling model, which integrates self-determination theory's concept of psychological need satisfaction with leader-member exchange as a relational amplifier at the moment of coaching reception. The model explains why identical coaching scripts produce divergent motivational outcomes by specifying how employees interpret the intent of feedback as either informational support or control, contingent on exchange quality and unit communication climate. The framework predicts that need-supportive coaching will enhance autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn will increase engagement, strengthen intentions to remain, and improve well-being, with stronger effects under high-quality leader-member relationships and symmetrical internal communication. The article articulates testable propositions, offers a textual figure of the conceptual model, and presents a propositions table to guide empirical scrutiny. The practical implications of the research are that informational framing, non-punitive debriefs, and communication clarity can be used as levers to convert routine coaching into sustained vitality for Generation Z sales teams. Keywords: Employee Engagement, Generation Z, Leader-Member Exchange, Retention Intentions, Self-Determination Theory, Well-Being