Hotel X Case Study
Executive Summary
In the discipline of human resource management, motivation is a process of activating the internal motives or utilizing the external incentives to stimulate the effective work of employees. The goal of motivation is to establish the favorable conditions that stimulate the employees to achieve the goal with maximum returns.
The factors, which may decrease the employee motivation, include the following. First, the failure of developing the employee’s skills and potential affects the quality of work. Second, the failure to recognize the employees’ ideas and initiatives aimed to increase the efficiency of the performance results in lower HR contribution. Third, the inefficient teambuilding strategy diminishes employees’ implication on the company’s performance. Four, the employer fails to appreciate the personal and professional growth of the employees. Five, management and colleagues do not recognize the achievements and results of an individual worker. Finally, the stagnant position of an employee in the organization leads to decreased morale.
The paper analyzes the framework to create better working conditions for the hotel employees, and provides strategies to motivate the staff beyond salaries. The manual discusses the possible methods to increase employee motivation and strengthen communication across different levels. Lastly, the project defines strategies to stimulate the personnel to attract the returning customers.
Introduction
The modern management recognizes motivational aspects as paramount for HR success. Staff motivation is the key tool to ensure the optimal disposal of the available human resources. The objective of motivation application is to increase human talent in the available human resources, which improves performance of the company. Human resource management implies increasing the role of an individual employee in the organization. In order to achieve the efficient performance of the personnel, the HR management employs remuneration method and non-financial strategies. However, the available literature does not present the certain picture on the influence of the specific motivational aspects on the employees and their performance.
The following paper aims to provide the research based on the Hotel X case study. The paper provides the framework to create better working conditions, and motivate the employees beyond salaries. The research discusses the possible methods to increase employee motivation and improve communication across different organizational levels as well as stimulate the personnel to attract the returning customers.
Motivation Theories and Strategies Overview
The contemporary research devoted to the analysis of personnel motivation provides the classical theories, which can be divided into two schools of thought. The first one is the substantial theories of motivation, i.e. the Maslow pyramid theory, the theory of McClelland and the theory of Herzberg. The second one is remedial theories of motivation, i.e. the theory of expectations, theory of justice, etc.
Lido Anthony Iacocca singled out motivation as the prime and one of the most important functions in the modern management, as it is the key stumbling block, but at the same time the major driving force in the theory and practice. Therefore, the long-term problems of the management theory are becoming particularly important in the modern science and management practice.
Jutson (2012) claims that most of the modern organizations have the unique motivational models, the practical usage of which allows the businesses to survive in the market and improve the performance. The motivational models are usually based on the satisfaction of the primary and secondary needs, expectations of employees and the social justice. The key task of human resource managers implies the application of the most effective motivational tools to receive the best return on HR investment. However, the decisions of the managers can only be measured through the success of their implementation onto the employees. The HR effectiveness can be achieved if the employees are interested in the results of their labor.
An employee at the beginning of the career aims at the best possible performance results based on the interest in the working activities. The company’s management sees the utility in the creative and enthusiastic attitude of the staff towards their duties. However, some factors, including the low level of personal responsibility and conflicting relationship between the team members, may negatively affect the work motivation. The most widespread factors to decrease the employees’ interest in the quality of the work performance include excessive control and constant interference of the immediate supervisor into the working process. Also, the lack of psychological and organizational support and absence of the necessary information and expertise decreases the personnel performance. Inattentiveness to the requests and needs of the employees affects the personal interest in job performance. Finally, the inefficient feedback, low remuneration and the ignorance of the employees’ results decreases the HR morale and contribution.
Client says about us
The abovementioned factors can cause the sense of humiliation and mistrust in the average worker, undermine the sense of pride, confidence in the stability of his official position, safety as well as the possibility of further promotion.
Ulrich (2014) confirms the listed factors to decrease the employee motivation. The author suggests that development of employee skills and potential, acknowledgement of their ideas and initiatives, the possibility of personal and professional growth, and the recognition from management improve the workers’ productivity. Moreover, teambuilding strategies and performance-based remuneration increase employees’ content with the job and effectiveness.
Basic Recommendations to Employees’ Performance Improvement
Employee Potential Development
The failure to develop the employee’s skills and potential implies the absence of on-the-job training programs for the hotel employees. The issue can hinder the employees’ understanding of their key duties and responsibilities, which leads to significant decrease of the quality of their performance.
The solution to the challenge is introduction of on-the-job training and the regular evaluation of their results.
Management Ignoring of the Employees’ Ideas and Initiatives
While performing the working activities, the employees may implement the new ideas. Management should evaluate the suggestions, as workers have immediate knowledge of issues and solutions, starting from improving the working methods to rearrangement of furniture in order to provide the most favorable impression to the customer. The dismissal of initiative can be caused by either the distrust to the employees’ ideas or by the reluctance to modify the usual working routine, despite its ineffectiveness.
In order to prevent the destructive factor, Conaty and Ram (2011) recommend listening to ideas and suggestions of the employees. Some ideas may need modifications to be implemented practice, but the propositions can provide the fresh look onto the company’s operation. Also, employees’ feedback can become the basis for new strategies to attract customers (Conaty & Ram, 2011). The employees should have explanation to why the proposed idea is not suitable for the implementation in the specific company or market environment.
Employees’ Implication on the Company’s Performance
The staff can have the impression that the managers of the company do not value their contribution to the company’s prosperity. Therefore, in order to overcome the destructive attitudes, it is recommended to develop the sense of belonging among the employees. In fact, the team spirit is one of the strongest incentives for the better performance. It stimulates the employees to allocate their time and desire to work in order to achieve the goals of the company. Therefore, the recommendation for the Hotel is to introduce the regular corporate activities aimed to update the personnel about the company.
The corporate events are an effective tool of the team building process. The friendly atmosphere and the ability to communicate on the personal level can create the open-minded atmosphere of the company, which will have the positive effect on the work performance.
Personal and Professional Growth
The problem with dissatisfaction with personal and professional growth implies the impossibility to develop and achieve results. Some of the hospitality industry responsibilities operate on the routine and monotonous work, which eventually neutralizes the intrinsic motivation of the majority of the employees. The employee realizes that he/ she receives nothing except the regular salary. In addition to the abovementioned, the result-based work that is completed after a long period of time can also require reconsideration. In some industries, it may take several years before the employees will see the results. In the non-creative and long-term work, the financial motivation is an important factor, but the variety of the researches proved that the non-financial methods should also be used in order to avoid the plateau effect.
In order to avoid the routines of the work, Collins and Wood (2014) recommend creating the specific time projects with the detailed short-term goals related to the employee’s specialization areas. The strategy will dilute the routine and allow them to learn new skills. For the long-term projects, the division of the tasks to small steps with the active articulation of the interim results is a plateau solution. The non-financial methods of the evaluation and employee motivation also encourage the performance efficiency (Collins & Wood, 2014).
The Status and Promotion of an Employee
The structural constraints are one of the common causes of slowing down or stopping the career development in hotel industry. The problem implies the absence of the changes in the status of an employee in the organization, and the crisis in authority, power and growth. The situation is typical for large companies with a hierarchical structure. Even though the Hotel X offers above average compensation package and a variety of other opportunities, the management cannot guarantee a high level of motivation and loyalty of their employees. The absence of opportunities to improve their status results in decreased interest in corporate success. Also, it may lead to the movement of employees to the competitors that offer better positions.
The solution includes application of a variety of techniques aimed to satisfy the self-actualization needs of the employees. Thus, Hotel X needs to develop strategies for status recognition and promotion without the factual changes in the positions, such as delegation of the specific responsibilities, the management of the specific short-time projects, etc.
Strategy for Hotel X
Based on the literature review, the process of motivation can be divided into the four steps. The first one is the identification of needs. The second step is the formation and development of motives. Third is the management of changes in the people’s behavior needed to the achievement of the set goals.
The final step is the adjustment of the motivational process, based on the degree of achievement.
Therefore, Hotel X has the great variety of ways and methods to increase employee motivation in order to create better working conditions, stimulate their employees beyond salaries, and increase customer return rate. For example, Hotel X management can introduce the system of corporate rates for employees aimed to provide the opportunity to relax in the hotels network at the minimum rate. In addition, the price discounts may be presented in a number of other services, so that workers can be the clients.
In addition to the promoting of the employee loyalty, the corporate rates have a significant qualitative effect. A person may not understand how to sell a service or a hotel room, if he or she does not use it. Therefore, the experience of all the benefits of the service can increase employee’s interest in sales.
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Conclusions
In the framework of human resource management, motivation is the process of activating the drives of employees and employing the external incentives to increase their desire to work effectively. The corporate motivation strategy forms the complex conditions that stimulate the employees to implement actions to achieve the goal with maximum effect.
The employees’ behavior, mediated by their needs, should serve as the starting point for the selection of the priority motivational strategies in the company. Based on the personality of the staff, the specific tools of the personnel motivation should be introduced.