Employees Issues of Hotel and Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

EMPLOYEES ISSUES OF HOTEL AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY By and submission Employees Issues of hotel and hospitality industry Introduction The hotel and hospitality industry has grown over the years and presented several issues for the workers. For instance, the workers could work for more hours in order to meet high demands for their services. In addition, the workers would lack adequate leisure systems. These issues influence their social lives, views on the work and decisions to find better jobs. There are several studies done on the issues of employees in the hotel industry to help improve their experiences. The present paper explores the three earlier literature on the perceptions of work-life balance issues, leisure benefit systems related to conflicts of between leisure and work, and work-family conflicts that would influence turnover intentions. Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees’ perception on work–life balance issues (Wong & Ko, 2009) This study explored the perceptions of employees in the hotel industry on issues of balancing work and life activities. In particular, the study sought to assess hotel workers for their views on issues of work-life balance as well as uncovering attributes brought dilemma for the work-life balance. In addition, factors affective general perceptions over balance of work and life were studied and suggestions for improving policies developed. These objectives are of great relevance to the hotel industry and led to an experimental study. The study identified the methodology applied in collecting information as the questionnaire survey method developed through literature review and pilot qualitative research (Wong & Ko, 2009 p197). This was desirable to ensure the research instrument was consistent with the existing literature as well as with the current situation in tourism hotel sector. The pilot research involved 24 detailed interviews classified into three categories: HR managers working in hotels, hotel workers from different levels, and professionals in the industry and government bodies. These interviews would gather rich information for the study and involved throbbing open ended, semi structured questions formulated in Chinese and English languages to cater for the diversity of the sample used (Wong & Ko, 2009 p197). The questions were translated from either English or Chinese and back to ensure no cultural or workplace bias was present. 24 individuals consisting of academia, HR professionals, master students in universities pursuing hospitality management, management staffs in hotels and hotel workers participated in the pilot study conducted in two phases. The diverse sample increased the reliability and appropriateness of the data. The data collected was analyzed using the dendrogram method in order to develop a cluster of six dimensions for use in the main study. The analysis was necessary in order to shape and define the final research instruments such that it would generate data aligned to the objectives of the study. The final research instrument developed was in Chinese and English languages suitable for targeted participants who were employees in Hong Kong hotels. The questionnaire comprised of two sections for open and closed responses. The first section tested on the perceptions of the hotel workers on issues of work-life balance and involved 31 statements (Wong & Ko, 2009 p197). The participants would respond by showing degree of agreement or disagreement in a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for every statement. The use of scale rankings for this study would enable quantification of qualities that would not be otherwise measured by magnitude for purposes of analyses and hence was very necessary. The last statements would gather the overall perception of the employees on work-life balance and hence was the main variable in this section. This statement read “I feel my work – life is balanced in this job” and was considered as a dependent variable that would be analyzed using multiple regression method to reveal underlying predictors of the balance of work and life. The second section of the questionnaire sought to gather demographic data and tested on variables such as age, gender, educational level, marital status, income level, number of children, department position, and the years served in respective hotels as well as the hotel industry. The participants were hotel workers in Hong Kong and were appropriate for the study that focused on the hotel industry. A total of 320 hotel workers participated in the study and this is relatively small sample of the whole population (Wong & Ko, 2009 p198). Hence the sample had limited representation. In addition, the study was conducted during high season and missed sampling for the workers in low season. These limitations in sampling would lead to low reliability inappropriateness in generalization for the global hotel industry. The statistical methods of mean, standard deviation and regression were used in analyzing the data. This was appropriate because the data involved scale ratings for the perceptions of the participants that could be computed to determine average results as well as magnitude of deviations among the employees. The study collected responses from 230 participants ,which represented 72 percent of whole sample used gave significance and reliability for analyses made. The data findings and analyses are presented in tables. This was desirable to give a good presentation and easy understanding of the results. The study revealed that employees would be happy when they had quality time with family (4.30) and while had low discretion for the time to start or the end their work (2.06) (Wong & Ko, 2009 p197). In general, the majority disagreed with work-life balance (2.86). The ratings ranked from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree. Majority employees, thus felt there was no balance of work and life matters due to little discretion for hours of work and lack of adequate quality time with their families which strongly links with the main argument for the study. The study shows strength in the analysis of wide data collected in order to derive general findings for the population assessed. The study had 31 data items and managed to derive conclusive findings aligned with the objectives using statistical methods for analyses. However, the study has weaknesses of omitting some variables since only 20 items were used for analyses (Wong & Ko, 2009 p198). This implies the items were unnecessary for the study showing weakness in methodology. Other robustness is prevalent in the study. The study used data for the high season in the hotel industry and hence findings would not present all time perceptions of the employees. For instance, the employees would have more family time during low seasons and hence impacting work-life balance. In addition, the study narrowed findings to seven factors influencing work-life perceptions that could be misleading. Nevertheless, the study succeeded in its objectives and the initiatives adopted were desirable. Work-family conflict as a cause for turnover intentions in the hospitality industry (Blomme, 2010) This study investigated the link between workplace flexibility, work-family conflict, and organizational support with turnover intentions for educated workers of both genders in the hospitality industry. Some hypotheses were developed to define the objectives of the paper. For instance, work-family conflict has a positive relation to turnover intentions, unlike workplace flexibility and organizational support that have negative effects. The study tested these claims through experimental research. The study identified the methodology involving participants alongside the procedures used in gathering data for analysis. The study used an online questionnaire distributed through emails to sample selected and responses submitted for analysis (Blomme, 2010 p274). The online questionnaire would enable the collection of data from people scattered all over the world and overcame the limitations of administering te questionnaire physically. However, the contents of the questionnaire are not outlined or how they were developed. The sample used involved registered alumni from Hotelschool The Hague, who took a bachelor degree in business management specializing in hotel management since 1930. The participants were selected since were scattered all over the world. 4192 alumni were invited to participate in the questionnaire though only 578 completed questionnaires were obtained constituting 32.8 percent response rate (Blomme, 2010 p274). The study selected the responses for only the people who still worked in the industry, leaving out all others and 247 responses were used for analyses. This refined selection ensured that the responses considered were relevant and strictly for the present hotel industry situation. Further analyses of the sample used showed demographics such as varied age; both genders; and persons in different departments, management positions, education levels, and work levels. Wide groups of hotel employees were used and hence the sample was representative. However, the sample had inequalities such as more men (64 percent) and less women (36 percent) (Blomme, 2010 p274). In addition, participants came from one institution which is not representative all others in the Netherlands or Europe and findings would be less reliable in generalizing the situation in Europe. The study used four variables: workplace flexibility, organizational support, work-family conflict, and turnover intention. The variables were measured using scale ratings ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree) to gather responses of the participants (Blomme, 2010 p275). The ratings were appropriate and valid to enable quantification of the variables that do not have discrete value or magnitude. In addition, ratings enable use of statistical methods of analyses and hence are reliable. Statistical methods were used in analyses by applying the SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) software for windows 14.0. The software enabled the computations for averages, Pearson correlations, T-tests, and regression analyses of the variables (Blomme, 2010 p275). The statistical measures were applied in hierarchical steps in order test the hypotheses of the study. The control factors were entered first into the software followed by the variables. This was necessary to show the effects of a specific variable entered. The findings of the study are presented in the form of tables showing the effects measured. The tables give results at a glance for readers and are desirable. The study established that the hospitality employees had, on average, a high workplace flexibility (3.26) and low work-family conflict (1.96). In addition, there were no gender variances in the variables measured. In relation to the turnover intentions, work-family conflict had a positive effect (0.45), while organizational support and workplace flexibility had negative relation with turnover intentions of –0.42 and –0.20 respectively (Blomme, 2010 p276). Moreover, satisfaction of workplace flexibility had a negative relationship to work-family conflict. These findings are consistent with the hypotheses developed in this study. The study demonstrates strengths in the analyses of data collected by showing accurate figures obtained through the use of SPSS. In addition, it has linked all the variables used to provide conclusive information that were consistent with the objectives and hypotheses. The use of regression analyses played a major role in the development of conclusions. The analyses are, however, limited by mixed comparisons and findings that a confusing to the readers (Blomme, 2010 p278). For instance, the analyses for the gender disparities in the variables are mixed with analyses for people in different levels of gender which is confusing. Other robustness of the study involve the measure of the variables during the same time which does not account changes in the effects of variables that could otherwise give varied results. This limits the reliability of the findings that would be high if the variables were measured over an extended period. The study was also limited by use of small sample for the analyses, especially for separate analyses of the men and females. However, this was logical since shows enabled study of gender disparities that are significant in many workplaces. Promoting frontline employees’ quality of life: Leisure benefit systems and work-to-leisure conflicts (Lin, Wong & Ho, 2013) This study sought to find out how the leisure benefit system influence quality of life for frontline workers as they face conflicts between leisure and work. It hypothesized that work-to-leisure conflict for frontline workers has a significant negative relationship with job satisfaction as well as leisure satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction of leisure benefits for the frontline workers is significantly linked with job satisfaction and leisure satisfaction. Satisfaction with the leisure benefit system significantly moderates the undesired impact of work-to-leisure conflicts on the job and leisure satisfaction to for the frontline workers. These claims were tested through experimental study. The methodology used in sampling and gathering data was the Questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were distributed to the participants who would fill and submit for analyses. In total, 900 questionnaires were dispersed and 672 of these collected back, though only 587 were valid (Lin, Wong & Ho, 2013 p182). This shows the high response rate of 74.7 percent with effectiveness of 65.2 percent, which proves the good administration of the questionnaires. The questionnaire method was selected since could enable collection of wide data more efficiently. The study identified the sample as the frontline workers in the industries of airlines, hotels/resorts and tourist attraction that showed a wide representation of hospitality firms. Out of this sample group, only the employees who held their positions for over a year participated in the study. This shows the sample was clearly defined to give rich and valid data. The demographics of the participants were analyzed that revealed a diverse composition based on gender, industry, age, level of education, marital status, number of children and years worked. However, there were significant disparities such as in gender, where 76 percent were females and the rest men. In general the sample was relatively large with high representation of population assessed. The study identified the different sets of variables: independent, dependent, moderator and control factors used and how were measured. Independent variables had 5 items scale developed by Anderson et al (2002). The items were rated in the range of scores from 1 to 5 marked “never” and “very often” respectively for perceived work-to-leisure conflict (Lin, Wong & Ho, 2013 p182). Dependent variables involved job satisfaction and leisure satisfaction, each with 4 items rated using Likert scale, that is, 1 to 5 for “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree” respectively. The moderator variables had 4 items for benefits of leisure satisfaction rated in as 1 to5 as very dissatisfied and very satisfied respectively. The control variables were demographics including age, gender, position, education and marital status to cater for differences in job or leisure satisfaction that vary with demographics. From this information, the variables used were diverse and valid for the study. In addition, the variables would be quantified using a scale that eases analysis. Use of control variables was suitable to cater for disparities among participants. Statistical methods such as mean, correlations and standard deviation as well as factor analyses were used in analyses of data. These methods are suitable to enhance the description of statistics, reliability, validity and relationships that are desirable in research work. The application of these methods is shown in the tables that are easily understood by the readers. The results of the study are presented in tables that show summary of the data collected at a glance. The tables are suitable for presenting statistical data in a more comprehensive manner and create a good impression for the study. Regression analyses were used to for dependent variables and were followed by addition of moderating factors in steps leading to generation of results tabulated. These practices were desirable to attain close monitoring for the variables measured. A major finding of the study was that the satisfaction of leisure benefits had a stronger relationship with job satisfaction (+0.33) than with leisure satisfaction (+0.13) as hypothesized in the study (Lin, Wong & Ho, 2013 p185). In addition, the attributes of workplace environment for frontline workers would lower time used for leisure events or need for the holidays. Further, the system of leisure benefits had a moderating effect on the conflicts raised frontline workers. These findings support the objectives of the study and affirm that the benefits of the leisure systems have positive effects for use in helping frontline workers attain a work-leisure balanced life. The analyses of the study show strength through the use of the regression and factor analyses to develop results that support argument of the works. However, the study gave emphasis on the direct and moderating effects and other factors were not adequately considered. Other robustness include the huge disparities among the samples used such as huge gender imbalances that would have significant implications on the results compared to use fairly gender balanced sample. However, this is logical since more females would be involved in hospitality activities than men. References Blomme, R. J. (2010). Work-family conflict as a cause for turnover intentions in the hospitality industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 10 No. 4, p: 269–285 Lin, J.-H., Wong, J.-Y. & Ho, C.-H. (2013). Promoting frontline employees’ quality of life: Leisure benefit systems and work-to-leisure conflicts. Tourism Management, vol. 36 (2013), p: 178-187. Wong, S. C. & Ko, A. (2009). Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees’ perception on work–life balance issues. International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 28 (2009), p: 195–203. Read More