Employee Motivation in Hilton Hotel - Research Paper Example

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN HILTON HOTEL by + Table of Contents Tableof Contents 2 EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN HILTON HOTEL 3 Chapter One: Introduction 3 Research Background 3 1.1 Aims of this Study 5 Objectives of this Study 5 Research Question 6 1.2 Rationale for this Study 6 1.5 Specification Plan and Procedures 7 The Gantt chart above shows that the introduction chapter requires two weeks for its completion. It comprises the research question as well as the objectives of the research. The literature review chapter is estimated be covered under week three to six. Chapter three on research methodology needs a maximum of a week for its completion. The chapter discusses the data analysis and techniques used for the methodology. It equally encompasses the qualitative as well as the quantitative tools. Chapter four on the research findings will take two weeks. The chapter will focus on the information collected from the participants in the focus group discussion and the questionnaires. The last chapter on conclusion and recommendations takes a week. The chapter outlines the summary conclusion and recommendation for future research on this field. 8 Reasoning Methods 8 Conclusion 8 Chapter two 9 1.3 Literature Review 9 1.4 Research Project Specification 12 Chapter three 13 3.1 Research Methodology 13 Chapter four 14 2.1 Implementation of the Research Study 14 2.2 Data Collection 15 2.3 Data Analysis 16 4.Are you happy with the responses that the Hilton hotel makes as regards to the concerns of the employees on employee motivation? 18 Chapter five: Conclusions and Recommendations 20 3.2 Summary Conclusions 20 3.3 Recommendations 21 4.1 Research Outcomes 21 22 References and Bibliography 22 EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN HILTON HOTEL Chapter One: Introduction This research paper explores employee motivation in the hospital industry and more specifically in Hilton hotel. The competitiveness and success of hospitality organizations is largely dependent on the motivation that the employees receive. This is more significant during the contemporary challenging economic conditions. An organization improves its profitability immensely once the employees have the required motivation to work towards its success. It is however notable that most managers find it extremely challenging to motivate their employees. This is especially due to the fact that most managers may not be aware of the proper mechanisms to employ in the motivation of their employees. This notwithstanding, various hospitality organizations would be having their own motivation policies. The difference comes in in the levels of satisfaction that the employees get. Financial related rewards and professional human resource management systems have been found to be the most reliable means of motivating the employees. The ensuing study therefore aims to investigate employee motivation in the Hilton hotel in the UK. The main purpose of this chapter is therefore to give information on the aims of this research as well as the background of the research. The chapter will also give us a rationale for carrying out this research study. Research Background There are numerous hospitality organizations in the UK encompassing of small, medium sized and large companies. Research indicates that the large hospitality organizations employ the use of a professional human resource management system in a bid to retaining or motivating their employees to do their best in the workplace (Gill & Mathur, 2007). This is unlike the small and medium sized hospitality organizations who employee the use of financial related awards in motivating their employees. The large hospitality firms like the Hilton hotel also have more resources that they can use to attract employees who have outstanding skills as well as the relevant experience. These resources are for example eye-catching packages for payment and flexible working hours. These large firms also have properly designed career progression and development programs for their employees which serve as a motivation. Research studies in the past indicate that the hospitality industry firms in the UK prefer to primarily offer their employees minimum wages based on their number of working hours (Lewis et al., 2003). The employee would only be granted additional benefits in accordance with the relevant employment law. Recent studies however indicate that the use of franchises also attracts the employees and serves as a motivation to them (Aksu, 2005). The Hilton hotel has franchises across the world and it can therefore fall under this category. This motivation arises due to the fact that these franchises have appropriate hotel and accommodation experience and hence enables them to adapt effectively. A franchise firm also has a small number of employees which enables it to have a close working relationship with its employees. This close relationship is important for the management of the firm as they can easily identify the factors that can boost the morale of the workers to do their best and improve the profitability of the firm (Green et al., 2000). This enables them to retain their competitiveness in the hospitality industry. Nonetheless, research indicates that this close relationship with the employees is only possible if the management of the hospitality firm has an appreciation for human capital (Torrington et al., 2007). It is easy to identify that some of the management systems in the hospitality industry only care about the maximum returns that they will be able to obtain with the use of minimum investment. As such, they may not care about the motivation of their employees. They also tend to give little or no consideration to the satisfaction that its employees get from the performance of their work duties. This notwithstanding, franchise firms appreciate their human labor and are always willing to offer them extra benefits apart from the ones laid down in the employment laws. This is done so as to motivate their workers. Research indicates that financial related awards alone are not enough to motivate the employees in the hospitality industry. Some critics contend that this has to be done in combination with other factors such as career progression and development opportunities as well as job satisfaction for the employees (Desmette & Gaillard, 2008). 1.1 Aims of this Study The purpose of this study is to analyze the motivation levels and the factors that can be employed by the management of the Hilton Hotel in order to motivate its employees. Motivation of employees is significant as it directly affects the outcomes of the hospitality firm. The study of these factors will equally help the Hilton hotel to put in place appropriate strategies that will decrease the employee turnover rates. Objectives of this Study 1. To analyze employee motivation in the hospitality industry with a focus on the Hilton hotel. 2. To analyze the motivation factors for employees in the hospitality industry, specifically in the Hilton hotel. 3. To analyze the significance of employee motivation in the hospitality industry. Research Question The main research question to this study is: what is the significance of employee motivation in the Hilton hotel. The subsidiary research question is: what are the factors that can be used to motivate employees in the hospitality industry. 1.2 Rationale for this Study This study aims to analyze the motivation levels and the factors that can be employed by the management of the Hilton Hotel in order to motivate its employees. I have chosen this study because with the demanding economic conditions, many hospitality companies may tend to reduce the working hours of their employees and hence their wages. This would be due to the ever declining numbers of customers in the hospitality industry when the economic conditions are difficult. The hospitality industries will therefore require their employees to work harder so as to minimize the costs of operation of a firm. Employees will therefore need to be motivated if they have to work hard for the benefit of the hospitality firm. Tomlinson (2007) also indicates that the prevalence of swine flu has also led to a decline in the number of customers in the hospitality industry. This is because swine flu is prevalent in overcrowded places and the hotel industry is a perfect place for overcrowding of people. Therefore, motivation of employees can make the employees to feel obliged to help the management of the hospitality firm to come up with appropriate mechanisms of dealing with this issue and hence increase the number of the firm’s customers. It is also noteworthy to indicate that most of the studies on the motivation of employees in the hospitality industry were conducted many years ago. There are no up to date studies on the same taking into account the current trends in the hospitality industry. It is for these reasons that I particularly want to conduct this study so as to enable the managers realize the motivational factors that they can employ in the modern world. A firm’s profitability will only increase if the management uses appropriate strategies in the motivation of their employees. These appropriate strategies will only be obtained if the management has an insight on the changing trends in the hospitality industry. 1.5 Specification Plan and Procedures 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DATA COLLECTION CONCLUSION The Gantt chart above shows that the introduction chapter requires two weeks for its completion. It comprises the research question as well as the objectives of the research. The literature review chapter is estimated be covered under week three to six. Chapter three on research methodology needs a maximum of a week for its completion. The chapter discusses the data analysis and techniques used for the methodology. It equally encompasses the qualitative as well as the quantitative tools. Chapter four on the research findings will take two weeks. The chapter will focus on the information collected from the participants in the focus group discussion and the questionnaires. The last chapter on conclusion and recommendations takes a week. The chapter outlines the summary conclusion and recommendation for future research on this field. Reasoning Methods There are two types of reasoning methods. These are deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning employs the top-down approach. Its steps are: the theory of research topic; hypothesis; observations addressing the hypothesis so as to test the hypothesis with the data collected and confirm the research theory used. The inductive reasoning employs a bottom-up approach. The steps are theories; observations to theories; hypothesis and the conclusions for the research. The deductive reasoning methodology is more specific unlike the inductive reasoning. Conclusion From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that employee motivation is very significant for the profitability of the hospitality industry. In order for the management of the hospitality industry to motivate their factors effectively, it is important that they know the factors that contribute to the employee motivation. Chapter two 1.3 Literature Review This chapter shall give a brief overview of the literature review. It can consider various studies by other scholars on the topic of employee motivation in the hospitality industry. This literature review shall help us to understand the various factors that affect the motivation of employees. The chapter shall also give a critical analysis and arguments by various scholars and employee motivation. This will help to give a justification to my study. Bratton and Gold (2007) state that motivation is the cause or causes that make an employee to engage in a particular manner. It is therefore clear that the motivation that employees receive in their workplace is responsible for either the negative or positive outcomes of an organization. Adair (2009) also indicates that motivation can be referred to as the inherent and extrinsic factors that make a person to engage in a particular manner. This gives as a clear insight on the behavior of individuals in various workplaces. I can therefore define motivation as the external and internal forces in an organization that affects the outcomes of the inputs and outputs of employees. Bjerke (2007) believes that it is not possible to directly motivate employees in the workplace. He however indicates that it is possible to influence the manner in which the employees behave in order to boost their workplace outcomes. This shows that motivation can be done indirectly through the influence of the employees’ behaviors. The management of a hospitality organization must therefore be in a position to identify the specific interests of the employees as regards to the firm (Goncharuk & Monat, 2009). Once the management identifies these interests, it can then be able to come up with specific strategies that to ensure that their employees are fully motivated. This will help to enhance the outcome of the organization and therefore improve its profitability (Antikainen et al., 2010). Claydon and Beardwell (2007) identify four motivation models. These are complex, social, self-actualizing and rational-economic theories. The rational-economic, social and self-actualizing models explain the particular internal drives and forces that motivate employees. Various organizations therefore aim to motivate their employees because of the external competition that they face. Motivating employees also helps the management to cut down on operational costs while enhancing the firm’s profitability. This is because the employees will find the urge to work harder. The self-actualizing model is in internode with Abraham Maslow theory of the hierarchy of needs. These models show that employees always have a desire to placate and fulfill their personal needs. This therefore shows that once employees are motivated, they can be able to fulfill their personal needs and have the desire to move up the ladder. This will see them taking part in various activities that will not only enhance the profitability of the organization but also to help them progress in their careers. The two-factor theory of motivation developed by Herzberg can also be used to explain the effects of motivation of employees in the workplace. This model explains how employees can be motivated by being satisfied in their workplace. This would be for example through the use of a proper working environment as well as good packages for their payments. The two-factor theory of motivation emphasizes the fact that employees need to be given appropriate working environment for them to perform their duties effectively. In the hospitality industry, the employees need to be motivated as that determines how they treat customers. If the employees are efficiently motivated, then they will offer high class services to their employees. This will in turn reflect in the customer loyalty and increase in the profitability of the firm. Watson (2008) indicates that the level of motivation that the employees get in the hospitality industry directly affects the returns of that industry. From this, we can conclude that employees form the backbone of the hospitality industry. The management therefore needs to put in place the appropriate motivation mechanisms. Pegg (2009) says that the motivation of employees in the hospitality industry is a very challenging task. This is because most management systems in the hospitality industry only pay their employees the minimum wages required by the employment laws. The hospitality industries also treat their employees differently depending on their age bracket. This means that some employees may not do their work efficiently as they will feel that they are discriminated against (Schyns et al., 2009). This only helps the firm in making losses. The motivation of employees in the hospitality industry is also an appropriate mechanism to motivate the employees in the hospitality industry. This is because the employees in the hospitality industry influence the performance of the industry directly. This is due to the fact that they often have a close contact with the customers. Empowering the workers will put them in appropriate positions to be able to effectively deal with the specific needs of their customers (Boudrias et al., 2009). From the foregoing literature review, it is clear that employees in the hospitality industry need to be motivated in order for an organization to improve its profitability. Lack of motivation will be reflected in the losses that an organization is likely to make and loss of customer loyalty. 1.4 Research Project Specification As earlier mentioned, the purpose of this research study is to analyze the motivation levels and the factors that can be employed by the management of the Hilton Hotel in order to motivate its employees. Motivation of employees is significant as it directly affects the outcomes of the hospitality firm. The study of these factors will equally help the Hilton hotel to put in place appropriate strategies that will decrease the employee turnover rates. The outcomes of this study are to analyze employee motivation in the hospitality industry with a focus on the Hilton hotel; to analyze the motivation factors for employees in the hospitality industry, specifically in the Hilton hotel and to analyze the significance of employee motivation in the hospitality industry. These are all helpful for the management of the Hilton hotel to improve its profitability by establishing appropriate mechanisms of motivation its employees to do their best in the workplace. The statement of the research question is the significance of employee motivation in the Hilton hotel. A further statement on the subsidiary research question is a study on the factors that can be used to motivate employees in the hospitality industry. This research study is organized into five chapters and this shall form the scope of the research. The first chapter is the proposal which gives a background to this study, the aims as well as the rationale for this study. The proposal has also given the research question for this study and the objectives of the study. The second chapter is the literature review. The literature review will explore previous studies as regards to employee motivation in the hospitality industry. The third chapter is the research methodology. The study intends to use a qualitative analysis to find out the employee motivation in the tourism industry. Hilton hotel will be used as the case study. Chapter four will give the findings of this study. Lastly, chapter five is on the recommendations and conclusion of the study. It shall also give the limitations of this study for future research. Chapter three 3.1 Research Methodology This chapter shall give an outline of the research methodology to be employed in this research. The research methodology to be employed in this research is the use descriptive as well as exploratory research. Under the exploratory research, a focus group discussion shall be used. Six employees of Hilton hotel attended the focus group discussion. The main aim of this focus group discussion was to gain an insight into the motivation of employees in the hospitality industry. The questions to be used in the focus group discussion have been developed based on the literature review that I carried in chapter two. The focus group discussion makes the respondents to provide information on the motivation of employees in an informal setting. The focus group discussion will form the basis of a questionnaire that will be used as the primary method of research. The questionnaire is designed to be quantitative. The descriptive research analyses the information that is obtained from the fieldwork. The primary information obtained from the focus group discussion and the questionnaire shall be subjected to a quantitative analysis. The descriptive research analysis will also be subjective to a deductive reasoning. A deductive reasoning is explained as logical squabble founded on hard substantiation. This means that I shall refer to the literature review in the second chapter every now and then in this discussion before reaching a conclusion. Both primary and secondary data shall be employed to support the examination of this research study. As I mentioned earlier, the primary research shall be obtained from the focus group discussion and the use of the questionnaire. These research tools were selected putting in place a number of factors such as the finances and the time required for the research. The focus group interview will only use six participants while the questionnaire shall use a larger group of respondents. This will ensure that we gather a lot of information from different people. This will also enable us to know the perspectives of various employees as regards to employee motivation. The questionnaire is therefore the main primary research tool. The secondary data shall be collected from a variety of relevant sources such as journal articles, newspapers and books. This will only support the study analysis and they will only be used as and when the need arises for the use of the same. Chapter four 2.1 Implementation of the Research Study Given the time allocation and resources for this research study, the research employed the use of a focus group discussion and the use of questionnaires. All these were in accordance with the research question as well as the objectives of the study. The questionnaires were issued to the employees of the Hilton hotel. The focus group discussion was equally centered on the employees of Hilton hotel. This is efficient so as to get proper information on employee motivation in Hilton hotel. The research study was closely monitored so as to capture all this information. 2.2 Data Collection The data was collected using the focus group discussion and the use of questionnaires. Both the qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The data collected has been analyzed below. It is important to note that the information collected is very reliable as only the employees of Hilton hotel participated in the focus group discussions and the filling of the questionnaires. From the focus group discussion, I was able to find out that there are various means of motivating employees. The Hilton Hotel uses both financial related awards as well as professional human resource management systems to motivate its employees. Under the financial related awards, those employees who give excellent services to the customers are given awards. This would be in the form of salary increments or even financial tokens. This means that the employees will be motivated to work even harder as they will have the desire to receive extra financial tokens. From the literature review, we were able to realize that the human beings have various needs that they desire to be fulfilled. Financial rewards and tokens from their workplace play a major role in addressing some of these needs. If the employees are able to effectively address their needs, they then stand a better position in being satisfied in their job. This will be reflected in the outcomes of the workplace. Most of our interviewers in the focus group discussion indicated that the Hilton hotel has been able to expand rapidly and even have international outlets because of the motivation that its employees are constantly given. This has equally made the Hilton hotel to attract a wide base of customers and develop customer loyalty. This has especially been attributed to the high levels of customer satisfaction that are a direct consequence of high levels of employee motivation. Professional human resource management systems are appropriate especially for the large hospitality industries. Under this system, the human resource of an organization is able to identify the unique needs of its employees and address them appropriately. The Hilton hotel has done particularly well in its local as well as international chains. From the questionnaires that I distributed, responses from various participants showed that Hilton hotel has put in place appropriate mechanisms for motivating its employees. The employees of Hilton hotel also take an active role in its day to day running. The hotel has been able to expand and improve its profitability because of the active role that it employees take part in. our secondary sources of information also provided us with useful articles indicating that the employees are adequately motivated by the management of the Hilton hotel. 2.3 Data Analysis Relevant data of 10 participants 1. Are you happy with the employee motivation in Hilton hotel? FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVELY Strongly Agree. 1 10% 10% Agree. 8 80% 90% Neutral. 1 10% 100% Disagree. 0 0% Strongly Disagree. 0 0% 10 100% 2. Is the employee motivation in Hilton hotel satisfactory? FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVELY Strongly Agree. 7 70% 70% Agree. 3 30% 100% Neutral. 0 0% Disagree. 0 0% Strongly Disagree. 0 0% 3. Is the employee motivation in Hilton hotel individualized? FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE. Strongly Agree. 3 30% 30% Agree. 4 40% 70% Neutral. 3 30% 100% Disagree. 0 0% Strongly Disagree. 0 0% 4. Are you happy with the responses that the Hilton hotel makes as regards to the concerns of the employees on employee motivation? FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE. Strongly Agree. 1 10% 10% Agree. 0 0% 10% Neutral. 8 80% 90% Disagree. 1 10% 100% Strongly Disagree. 0 0% 5. Is the employee motivation in Hilton hotel significant? FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVELY Strongly Agree 9 90% 90% Agree 1 10% 100% Neutral 0 0% Disagree 0 0% Stongly Disagree 0 0% Chapter five: Conclusions and Recommendations 3.2 Summary Conclusions From the forgoing analysis, it is clear that employee motivation largely affects the working of the hospitality industry. This therefore means that employee is a significant factor in the hospitality industry. The management of any hospitality industry must put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the employees are properly motivated. These mechanisms can only be put in place if the management knows the exact needs of its employees. A good examination of these needs will put the management at a good position to address them effectively. The motivation of employees directly influences the outcome of a hospitality organization. If the employees are motivated, there will be positive outcomes and an increased profitability of the organization. On the other hand, if the employees are not motivated, there will be negative outcomes and the organization will experience losses. As we have seen earlier, the employees in the hospitality industry that works in the frontline offices deal with the customers directly. The manner in which they relate to the customers will affect whether or not customer loyalty will be retained. We have however noticed that it is very difficult for the management to motivate the employees. The management in a hospitality industry has to conduct a vast research in order to know the appropriate mechanisms of motivating the employees. The Hilton hotel for example has come up with extra motivation mechanisms apart from financial related awards. These are like career progression for its employees. 3.3 Recommendations This study identifies three recommendations. First and foremost, Hilton hotel should have a close relationship with its employees. This will help the management to realize the specific needs of their employees. Once they know their specific needs, then they will be able to identify appropriate mechanisms for motivating the employees. Secondly, the management of Hilton hotel should offer its employees appropriate opportunities to advance in their careers. This will adequately motivate the employees to work harder in their workplace as they will desire to progress. Lastly, the management of Hilton hotel should involve its employees in the decision making. This will make the employee to feel that they are part of the organization. They will therefore be motivated to work harder for their benefit as well as for the benefit of the organization. 4.1 Research Outcomes The outcomes of this study are to analyze employee motivation in the hospitality industry with a focus on the Hilton hotel; to analyze the motivation factors for employees in the hospitality industry, specifically in the Hilton hotel and to analyze the significance of employee motivation in the hospitality industry. These are all helpful for the management of the Hilton hotel to improve its profitability by establishing appropriate mechanisms of motivation its employees to do their best in the workplace. The limitations that this type of study will face in the future are the financial constraints to acquire the primary data. This is because a lot of money is required to conduct a focus group discussion. Finances will also be required to facilitate the same. References and Bibliography Adair, J. (2009). 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