Motivating Employees at Five Star Hotels - Dissertation Example

Globalization has brought about a boom in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Corporate travel is on the rise, five-star hotels are an important aspect of the hospitality business and the future potential for these hotels is enormous. However, the major part of the employee base at these hotels is comprised of part-time and casual labor and this is impacting upon the productivity of these hotels since the costs involved in recruiting and management of these employees is considerable. Moreover, this industry shows a high staff turnover because full-time employees are also not inclined to remain in this industry and do not have the necessary motivation to continue.

The hospitality industry is perceived as one where the wages are low, career prospects are dim and being a service-based business, it often places an employee in an uncomfortable servile position, at the mercy of the whims of the guests. Although travel and tourism is a booming business, increasing competition in the global marketplace has necessitated improvements in employee satisfaction to enhance the performance of five-star hotels to contribute to their productivity. Several theories of motivation have been advanced by experts which are also relevant when applied to employees in five-star hotels.

However, the question of low motivation which pervades the hospitality industry may be more pronounced in five-star hotels where employees may be exposed to more humiliation by rich guests and temptations such as employees stealing from free supplies to guests.Employee empowerment and incentives have been recommended especially to motivate the managerial cadre of hotel employees, however, there may be cultural differences that need to be taken into consideration in the context of employee motivation programs.