Hong Kong is famous for the hotel industry, and many people want to work in this industry. However, what really attract them to work for the hotel? Previous study shows that for the Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Japan the money is their primary goals for working. (Lam 2001 p.157).
In different culture, they have different goal they are aim. As the Asian have a higher expect for the money as their concern, it is normal, because in Asia, their income and their expense are never get balance. The researcher want to find out is the management level feels the same as the normal staff. The reasons are that firstly, the management level gets higher salary then the normal. Secondly, the requirement for the manager already included they have to have the self-motivate skills. In fact, it showed that Hong Kong’s worker do not have the maximum hours for working hours in their law, this is pretty surprise that a highly developed city like this does not have the maximum working hour to protect the employees. This is a very demotivate factor for the workers, cause in the hospitality industry, they already suffering from intense load of works and long shifts.
The researcher wants to find out after all these factors that effect for the employees, what will be the motivator for them to stay in this industry. The morale for Hong Kong’s worker is extremely low, due to low pay and long hour of working. For this research, to find out the real job related motivators, after that the hotel can have better communicate with the staff and prevent the high turn-over rate in this industry. In long term, if the employees are happy, the customer will benefits from it, the satisfaction of the customer can be increase if all of them are motivated. The aim of the research is to explore why Hong Kong people wants to work in the management level hotel industry The objectives are to examine the key elements of the hospitality industry that attract employees. To review the workplace motivation theories applicable to the hotel industry. To identify what attracted middle-level managers to work in the hotel industry in Hong Kong. To examine the factors which create motivation in their current management roles.
Literature Review
(Maslow 1943 cited in Wong 2008) has developed five hierarchies of the human needs, which are psychological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. It is the basic concept of the motivation for the workers. It also related to the workers, especially the hotel employees. It is because after they get the job they have to consider whether they like the job or not
The research is interesting in finding out what are the factors that can be affect the managers to motivate them in the workplace nowadays in Hong Kong. As the previous experience of the researcher, motivation is a very important factor to the employee. “Most of the literature on employee turnover suggests that labour turnover is a `hidden cost for most organizations. Additional recruitment and training costs must be incurred as well as a resulting decrease in productivity.” (Lam 2001p.157) The high turnover rate not only a concern about the employee, it is also affect the company that hired them. If the hotels always losing their staff, they have to spend more time to hire all of them back. Thus, they have to train them all over again, wasting time and manpower on it. At last, the productivity of the company would drop because of this as well as the revenue. It can be preventing if the hotels know what the factors that affect the employee are. Which are the factors that motivate them, to keep them happy in the company, and the productivity can be increase.
The researcher wants to know besides money, what is going to attract people working in hotel industry. According to (Lam 2001 p.158), it shows that the previous study found that for the Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Japan the money is their primary goals for working. However, based on Kovach’s 10 job related factors, the researcher believes that there is going to be something more about to attract people to work.
(Lam 2001 p.159) also mention the morale of the employees in all industries Hong Kong got a lowest rank in the world. However, in the hotel industry many of them will be facing a common problem, can they motivating by themselves? Wong(2008) believes that if the employee are more creative, they can motivate themselves. ”Based on the assumption that motivated staff will provide higher levels of customer care, developing employee creativity is seen as a possible way forward for motivating employees in the industry.” Wong(2008)
The reason that the previous studies found money are more important in the Hong Kong, Lam(2001) found that it is because the living standard in Hong Kong is very high, so that people may look at this factor first before the others factors. Kong(2012) found that there are a framework in the hotel industry.” When the direct effect between the independent variable and the dependent variable is no longer statistically different from zero after controlling for the mediator variable, the effect said to be one of full mediations. However, if the absolute size of the direct effect between the independent variable and the dependent variable is reduced after controlling for the mediator variable but the direct effect is still significant, then the mediation effect is regarded as partial.” Hotels itself always provide many training within their own hotel group. This action will make the employee feels that there will be chance to promote or getting more develop in their future carrier. Wong(2002)“People with different backgrounds or cultures will show differences about the need for and expression of creativity and may be motivated to be creative by different environmental stimulants.”
As we can see that different cultures can be also affect the creativity or the motivation factors, the researcher wants to find out is the background of the Chinese culture, will it affect by it. Moreover, the managers in Hong Kong nowadays have two different kinds of them. The first group of them is with low education level, but got a lot of experience. The second group is the well-educated group, the freshman. From the last decades, more and more employees graduated from the university, they are the new generation that not only aiming for money, and they also looking for challenge and the development potential. In this case, the Chinese culture “Face” can be affecting their choice. In traditional Chinese thinking, people who is getting promote can earn the “Face”, so that the development opportunities are very important in Hong Kong as the main group of employee are Chinese
Will the more experience group people need the job security more than the others will? Will the new freshman concern more about the interesting of the job? The following research undertaken is going to explore and discuss about it.
Methodology
As mentioned above, it aims to look at what motivate the employees to stay or work in the hotel industry in Hong Kong. To do this, a primary data have to be collected within the managers that work in Hong Kong. The researcher refuse to use the quality method for it like interview the managers because it will cost more time and money for the research and the data that collected cannot represent most of the managers that work in Hong Kong. For the research, a survey created to collect the primary data, this is a good way to collect data as it can be analyze a common trend or behavior of a particular group of people. This is an inductive research because the research is aim from the particular group to the whole Hong Kong hotel’s worker mind.
The researcher used quantitative method for the research, because it can get more data for the research. The researcher has friends, who are working, as a manager in mandarin oriental hotel Hong Kong, and in the Hyatt hotel group, so that the methodology of this research used in snowball sampling within the hotel. This kind of method is the cheapest and easiest way to collect the data from a particular group. Non- probability sampling method is being in process.
In the survey, different kinds of the questions used, such as multiple choice, rating and ranking, yes or no questions. Eight questions have asked in the survey, to explore in the area that the researcher wants. For example, question like how much they earned to find out is the money is the most important factor that they are facing in the workplace. To define the age of them can find that is there any difference that the young’s and the elders thinking and expecting .The researcher wants to prevent the target to feel boring or annoying, so that in the survey, too much writing is not necessary. Total 150 copies have sent to the target group and 35 copies have been response. 35% of the response is higher than the expect. As mostly, the target group is Chinese or Hong Kong people, a Chinese version of the survey used for convince. Each of the managers will receive a copy of Chinese version and an English version, to let them chose which one they are more comfortable to answer with that.
Result and analysis
Figure 4.1
GenderAmountPercentage
Male2571%
Female1029%
Figure 4.1 shows that there are 71% are male and 29% are female from the total number of 35 response. It can define that in Hong Kong the unbalance of the hiring rate for the management level is still very bad, but it can also let the research have a chance to look at the different between male and female, are they thinking different.
Figure 4.2
In figure 4.2, it shows that most of the respondents have been work in the industry for 5 to 10 years, 57% of them that is 20 already work for more than 5 years. In this case, it means that in Hong Kong, the turnover rate of the management level was not as bad as before.
Figure 4.3
Figure 4.3 shows that 77% of the respondent are getting paid between 12-15k HKD per month. It explain why the Hong Kong people are always compalining the work load and the pay is not in ratio. 12-15k in Hong Kong is belonging to the mid level although, but the inflation of Hong Kong is very serious problem, so that the wages are not enough for them to do whatever they want.
Figure4.4
Figure 4.4 shows the education level for the employees. It shows that almost 90% of the employee has finished their degree. The study can define that the management level are highly edcuated. They might not only concerning in money, maybe some more factors can affect the motitvaion of them.
Figure 4.5
Figure 4,5 shows the department of the employees that which department they working at. As the figue shows that this survey cover every department of the hotel, it helps to define whether the whole industry are happy with what they have now or not.
Fig 4.6
Have you ever work abroad
Yes11%
No89%
Figure 4.6 is about have the employee working abroad before. It shows that 11% of the respondent have before, the researcher think that there will be different thinking if they have living in a different culture area, it will affect the thinking and aspect for living if they live in oversea. But the result show that 89% did not do that, so this is still in the target Chinese Hong Kong employees group.
Fig 4.7
Do you feel Motivate from your job now?
Yes26%
No.74%
Figure4.7 is about asking the employees are they statisfy their current job status, the result found that 74% of the employee does not feel motivate from the current job, the survey that collected shows that the reasons of it mostly are long working hours. It is a vital reason they are not motivate as they are exhausted, long shift and overtime are not satisfy the employee for sure
Figure 4.8
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, the result shows that the Hong Kong’s employees are focusing in job security and development opportunities and money as their most important motivator. For the hotel, they should consider when future designing a programme for the employees. As the success of the Hong Kong economy, the salary of the employee is relatively low, it may affect the employee’s motivation as it has a direct effect to satisfy the basic need. They can get a new job easily as nowadays there are so many new hotels and the unemployment rate are low. There are few recommendations for the hotels. First, they should give the employee more allowance such as transport allowance, and the hotel should raise the wages to meet the living standard to let the employees motivating.
Second, the hotel should provide some development programme and personal training within the employee to keep their morale superb and make them motivate from the work. Finally yet importantly, the hotel should seriously think about setting up the maximum hours of working every week. Making the employee exhausted will not raising the productivity but it will increase their unsatisfied motion, it can bring the opposite effect to the hotel. Although nowadays the employee working overtime, they do not get extra pay for the over hour, to solve this problem, for example, hotel can offer them some coupon to using the in house facilities. It can make them feels like that the overtime is worth for it and it does not cost much as the facilities are already there.
This study aim at finding the motivation factors that affects the choice of employees. With this study, the hotel can understand the needs of their employees and give them a more clear direction for designing the training programme for the employees
Reference List
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