Employees Motivation and Customers Satisfaction in Luxury Hotels - Essay Example

Research Investigation and Proposal Phase The Business Problem and Research Questions Proposed Title: Critical investigation of employees’ motivation and its impact on customers’ satisfaction in luxury hotels. Background and Problem Area The service industry, which has been evolving over the years and has become much more customer oriented, highly depends on the work force that is employed at all levels of organizations. Employees’ customer orientation and commitment can be regarded as the most important element for achieving customer satisfaction and thus, it could be suggested that highly capable, well trained and motivated employees can actually contribute positively to the business in the long term and allow businesses to generate higher revenues, improved customer relationships, greater customer satisfaction and repeated sales. During and after the recent financial crisis and recessionary periods in countries where tourism constituted a major proportion of the overall economy, the hotel industry has been severely affected due to loss of market confidence and volatility in exchange rates. The outcome of this phenomenon has been low customer turnover and consumer spending, and profits for hotels, which has in turn led to overhead costs reduction by hotels. Employees consider such uncertain situations threatening to their careers and also this has negative impact on their training and development which has lead to lower employees’ motivation. Despite of the uncertainties in the employment market, employees in the hospitality industry are found to display lower level of loyalty to their employers. This could have severe impact on hotels performance and therefore, this problem is therefore at the crux of investigation in the proposed research, which needs to be investigated particularly in the context of luxury hotels that operate at high pricing and operating costs and place greater dependency on their employees for delivering high quality of services to their customers. This study can be achieved by investigation employee motivation in different luxury hotels and comparing them for its effects on customer satisfaction. Research Objective The primary objective of the proposed research is to investigate levels of employee motivation in selected luxury hotels and its impact on customer satisfaction. The secondary objective is to explore the extent of both financial and non-financial factors contributing to employee motivation. Research Questions 1. What are the trends in the hospitality industry related to human resource management and consumer behavior? 2. What types of financial and non-financial factors contributing highest to employee motivation? 3. What are the levels of employee motivation observed in selected luxury hotels? 4. What is the relationship between employee motivation and customer satisfaction? 5. What practical recommendations can be made to hotels for improving employee motivation? Phase 2: Literature Review Motivation has been defined by many in various possible ways. One definition states, “it is the process that arouses, energizes, directs, and sustains behavior and performance” (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). Another way of explaining motivation is put forth by Zaphiris & Ang (2009) as it is an inner willingness or desire of individuals, which is influenced by external factors that exist in the environment, to take actions or decisions to achieve a goal or a reason. Simons & Enz (1995) presented a view of motivation related to the hospitality industry suggesting that it leads employee to work in certain positions, stay committed and perform their duties. There are two types of motivation namely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is related to the behavior which is influenced by activities or reasons providing internal satisfaction whereas extrinsic motivation arises from achieving tangible goals set out by individuals for themselves (Armstrong, 2002). Intrinsic motivation of employees can be achieved at work place by providing them responsibilities, freedom to act and innovate, opportunities to employees to learn and develop skills, and then applying them in the work environment. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation can be achieved by rewarding or punishing employees in monetary terms (Armstrong, 2002). There are several motivation theories that have attempted in one way or another to explain why individuals behave in a particular manner and what motivates them to work for their employers, perform well, develop expectations, and stay with the current employers. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs presented human behavior model as a set of six important needs which are as basic as food and shelter to achievement of self-actualization. Employees seek out fulfillment of their needs and wants while working for their employers (Rivera & Mark, 2006). Tikkanen (2007) in a study of 5 cases of Finnish tourism organizations concluded that organizations can achieve higher levels of employee motivation if employees are able to fulfill their needs indicated in Maslow’s model. There are other theories which provide basis for understanding employee motivation including Adam’s Equity Theory, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, and Theory X and Y are amongst others (Tanke, 2001). There have been several studies encompassing the subject area of employee motivation and how employers can achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction and steady growth in their revenues. Extrinsic factors in the form of financial motivators have positive impact on the employees’ performance and motivation levels which could help organizations to sustain even in times of financial crisis and poor economic conditions (Barkma, 1995). Dewhurst, Guthridge, & Mohr (2009) highlighted three non-financial motivators including interaction with leaders, feedback from managers, and permission to lead work as important factors for motivating employees after times of financial crisis. Sommerville (2007) in this study suggested that employers should take steps to inform their employees regarding rewards and other opportunities that they are receiving so that they can put their efforts to achieve them. (Simons & Enz, 1995). On the basis of the studies and theoretical framework provided the literature review provides basis for the following hypotheses along with their alternatives that will be tested out in this study along with descriptive analysis of findings. H1: Intrinsic factors contribute positively to employee motivation in selected hotels. H2: Extrinsic factors contribute positively to employee motivation in selected hotels. H3: There is a difference between levels of motivation in employees of selected hotels. H4: There is a significant positive relationship employee motivation and customer satisfaction. To conclude, it could be stated that motivation is the key factor which keeps employee stay with their employers and at the same time achieve greater customer satisfaction level. Upon examination of existing literature it could be observed that there have not been studies on the subject matter related in the context of luxury hotels. Therefore, the proposed study will contribute positively to the existing literature by providing up to date information about the trends in human resource management. Phase 3: Research Methodology Since, the objective of the proposed study is to examine the factors contributing to employee motivation which eventually results in higher customer satisfaction in the luxury hotel, therefore for this purpose the study will select two hotels – Hilton and Marriott. The proposed methodology is based on previous studies by Pratheepkanth, (2011) and Nandanwar, Surnis, & Nandanwar (2010) who used a positivistic approach to studying the phenomenon involving collection of data and applying statistical methods such as regression to predict the relationship between motivators and employee motivation. In the same way, the proposed study will make use of a quantitative methodology (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007), which will involves statistical testing of data in three steps and identification of the dependent variable as employee motivation when determining the effects of motivators (independent variables) and in the next step, setting customer satisfaction as the dependent variable and employee motivation as an independent variable. Moreover, the study will also involve t-test to compare means of variables obtained for selected hotels in order to suggest which hotel has higher employee motivation and customer satisfaction. In addition, the study will provide descriptive statistics for summarizing all information and present it in a meaningful manner. Data Collection The study will collect data from primary and secondary sources. Primary research will involved data collection via survey question which will designed in a way that different variables identified will be addressed by a collection of statements based on a Likert Scale model which allows respondents to select from a ranking from 1 to 5 where 1 reflects Strongly Disagree and 5 reflects Strong Agree (Kumar, 2011). The findings will be numerical and subject to statistical testing. In addition, secondary sources will be used to collect information related to the topic including theoretical and conceptual frameworks of the study and also to form basis for the methodology. Sampling For the study, convenient random sampling will be selected (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007). This allows respondents to participate in the survey at their pace in free time. Population of respondents consists of employees working in the selected organization from which a sample of 100 employees from each hotel will be randomly given questionnaires to complete. Although, this sample size may be considered small for the study but the focus of the study is to predict the relationship between employee motivation and customer satisfaction and generalization of results for the entire population may not be possible because of demographics and other factors. Reference List Armstrong. (2002). Employee Reward. Trowbridge, Witshire: CIPD Publishing. Barkma, H. G. (1995). Do Top Managers Work Harder When They Are Monitored? Kyklos , 48 (1), 19–42. Dewhurst, M., Guthridge, M., & Mohr, E. (2009). Motivating people: Getting beyond. McKinsey Quarterly , 2-5. Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology. New Delhi: APH Publishing. Nandanwar, M., Surnis, S. V., & Nandanwar, L. M. (2010). Intervening factors affecting the relationship between incentives and employee motivation: a case study of pharmaceutical manufacturing organisation in Navi Mumbai. Journal of Business Excellence , 1 (2), 6-11. Pratheepkanth, P. (2011). Reward System And Its Impact On Employee Motivation In Commercial Bank Of Sri Lanka Plc, In Jaffna District. Global Journal of Management and Business Research , 11 (4), 85-92. Rivera, K., & Mark, E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslows hierarchy of needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology , 10 (4), 302-17. Sansone, C., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Search for Optimal Motivation and Performance. New York: Academic Press. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research Methods for Business Students. New York: Pearson Education. Simons, T., & Enz, C. (1995). Motivating hotel employees. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly , 36 (1), 20-27. Sommerville, K. (2007). Hospitality Employee Management and Supervision. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Stajkovic, A., & Luthans, F. (1998). Social cognitive theory and self-efficacy: Going beyond traditional motivational and behavioral approaches. Journal of Organizational Dynamics , 26 (4), 62-74. Tanke, M. L. (2001). Human Resources Management for Hospitality. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Tikkanen, I. (2007). Maslows hierarchy and food tourism in Finland: five cases. Emerald 109 , [Online]. Zaphiris, P., & Ang, C. (2009). Human Computer Interaction: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. New York: Idea Group Inc. Read More