Improving Front Office Employees Motivation in a Luxury Hotel in Beijing

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review
Research Question
Research Design
Participant observer journal data and analysis
Conclusion and Recommendations
References

Introduction

The service industry is the leading sector in globalisation and international hotels. Other industries are going global. According to Li-Qun (2013), the service sector currently accounts for more than a third of the trade in global services provision (p. 74).

Researchers have embarked on a study of service provision in the hotel industry, as it is the most dynamic and popular for their studies. Customers in this industry are more demanding than in most other industries, and thus a combination of these factors makes the empowerment of employees a very important exercise (De Zilva, & Wong, 2012, p. 9).

The contact between customers and employees is very important in the hotel industry as it determines the effectiveness of services at any hotel. The aim of front office employees is to guarantee the satisfaction of their customers. These employees are trained to handle the customers’ requests in the hotel industry by taking into account the hotel’s goals and objectives (Bardi, 2007, p. 88).

For any hotel that aims to be a leader in its respective country and across the world by being renowned for its excellent services, it is paramount to maintain the front office department. The motivation of these employees determines the performance of this department like any other department in an organisation (Doughty, 2004, p. 19).

According to He, Murrmann, and Perdue (2010, p. 41), “Empowering the front office employees can increase and enhance their job satisfaction and thus boost their productivity and efficiency at their respective desks”. Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006) posit that the responsibility of motivating employees and equipping them with the necessary tools for their work lies with the organisation’s management (p. 45).

In the hospitality industry, the front office is mainly the first place that customers meet the organisation and often the last before they leave. According to Foong-Ming (2008), the customers’ experiences in the hands of these employees determine their perception of the organisation and the attitude that they develop on the organisation and its services (p.19). The front office employees have a job description that requires them to work in shifts and their desks should be manned for 24 hours and even over the weekends.

These employees welcome guests as they check into their rooms and provide them with the variety of services that the hotel offers. Therefore, front office employees should be in touch with the organisation’s services and charges (Tu & Lu, 2013, p. 457). In most hotels, the front office employees have tough jobs with long shifts and some are required to work during weekends. It is important to motivate these employees in a bid to ensure that they discharge their duties in line with the hotel’s mission and goals.

China is an emerging global power with researchers predicting that the Chinese economy may be the global leader by the year 2025. Multi-national companies, among them hotels, have set up bases in China and particularly in Beijing. The slow growth that has occasioned the European and the American service sector has led to massive investments in the Asian hotel and catering industry, and Beijing and China in general are some of the beneficiaries of this shift.

According to Baum and Odgers (2001), international hotel chains are currently targeting China as the next global centre and leader in the hotel and catering industry (p. 98).

Some of the luxury hotels in Beijing include the Grand Hyatt, the Marriott, and the Park Hyatt. This paper examines the methods used in the motivation of front office employees in the luxury hotels in Beijing such as the Grand Hyatt, the Marriott, and the Park Hyatt. It also proposes some of the recommendations that the hotels should put in place to ensure that employees are motivated.

Literature Review

Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation model

Borgida and Mobilio (2000) posit that motivation “can be defined as the energising force that steers people toward desired ends” (p. 347). Some of the researchers who have conducted credible work on the motivation of employees have demonstrated the existence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation involves the influence of external factors on the performance of a tax by individuals, while intrinsic motivation is innate and within an individual. Pink (2009) suggests that the traditional notion of carrot and stick motivation may not work in the current organisational dispensation (p. 52).

When organisations provide essential motivators at the workplace, such elements underscore considers extrinsic motivators and they can influence the intrinsic motivation of individuals based on their culture. Some of the extrinsic motivators in any organisation include remuneration, reward systems, and a food-working environment (Kilkon & Han, 2013, p. 199).

In the front office work, the remuneration at the workplace is a big influence on the motivation that employees have in their work. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is greatly affected by the culture in societies and the organisational cultures that are promoted in any organisation (Graves, Sarkis, & Zhu, 2013, p. 86; Noe, 2012, p. 66). Therefore, it is important to learn the existing culture in any society to establish the underlying intrinsic motivators.

Motivation in the Chinese Culture

Chen and Lee (2008) posit, “The Chinese culture is a very complicated one and it has had thousands of years to develop” (p. 18). One of the greatest cultural influences in the Chinese society is the teachings by Confucius, which dictate that human beings in the society practice virtue in any engagement with each other including at the workplace (Leung, 2008, p.186).

Confucius teachings hold that the virtues that society keeps are far more important than material possessions. He further states, “The gentleman seeks neither a full belly, nor a comfortable home…He is quick in action, but cautious in speech…He goes to men possessed of the Way to have himself put right…Such a man can be described as eager to learn” (Leung, 2008, p. 186).

This culture has contributed significantly to the motivation of employees at the workplace and most of those believing in it are less concerned of the extrinsic motivators such as pay and profit. However, the current culture in China has greatly been a subject to modernisation and immigrants setting up businesses in the country. Leung (2008) states that the current employees in China have started to embrace materialism with most of them being motivated by the Westernised ideals such as remuneration at the workplace (p. 185).

Front office motivation in China

A number of challenges face human resources management in the Chinese hospitality industry. The front office workers in this sector are some of the employees that are facing challenges in the industry, which is a negative influence on their motivation and in effect their performance at the workplace. Ferreira and Alon (2008) posit that one of the factors affecting the performance of employees in the hospitality industry is the lack of qualified managers in these organisations (p. 3).

The poor training of the managers has allowed them to formulate poor policies such as shifts for the front office employees. Zhang and Wu (2004) state that the hospitality industry is short of gradates in this region (p. 424). This scenario plays out due to focusing on education theory as opposed to the actual practices. Mostly, the education system in China is highly theoretical; unfortunately, what students learn in class might be different what is being applied in the work places.

The hospitality industry in China is characterised by high turnover rates and front office employees constitute a large proportion of the employees who depart their work citing poor working conditions (Clouse, 2006, p. 38). The main contributing factor to the high turnover rate is the search for a better pay with most front office employees in the Chinese hospitality industry expressing dissatisfaction with their pay (Mohapatra, Goodhue, & Rozelle, 2008, p. 76).

Most front office workers in China also leave their work places as they feel that working in this department is involving with long shifts. Most of them state that they join the department after completion of their studies and they think that it should be a simple job executable without qualification (Lam & Qiu, 2004, p. 50). This mindset affects the front office management department as people view it as a job that should be taken as the last resort after one lacks something else to do.

The Chinese culture has affected the motivation of employees at the workplace in the hospitality industry and serving people has been associated with losing face (Ferreira & Alon, 2008, p. 4). The international companies employing workers in their hotels are not aware of this culture, and thus they have not put in place appropriate measures to ensure that their employees do not face the issue in their line of work.

The front office employees are also faced with the relatively new work of service, and this aspect works against their motivation to work (Ford & Magnini, 2004, p. 281). This assertion holds as the service industry is relatively new to mainland China for it only came into existence after the open-door policy of 1978 and after the first rating of Chinese hotels that took place in 1988 (Ngo, Lau, & Foley, 2008, p. 81).

Jensen and Szulanski (2004) posit that the hospitality industry in China will continue to experience poor employee motivation if employers do not change their culture and accept the westernised ideals of service delivery (p. 510).

The central factor affecting the motivation of employees in the hotel and catering industry in China, as cited in the majority of the available literature, is the poor pay that is common in the industry (Mallak & Kurstedt, 1996, p. 38). According to Hon and Leung (2011), employees in this industry earn far less as compared to other industries in China (p. 126).

This little pay is mainly evident in the publicly run hotels where the government pays these employees a significantly lower amount as compared to the government workers in other sectors. The front office employees are among the lowest paid workers in the hotel and catering industry in the public sector due to the perception that the workload that they have is lesser as compared to that of other class of workers (Stride, Wall, & Catley, 2007, p. 128).

Remuneration is one of the greatest influences of the motivation of employees, and thus poor pay means that the front office workers are poorly motivated (Bangcheng et al., 2012, p. 1411). In the private sector, employees are better paid with multinational companies offering better terms according to Mok and Yeung (2005, p. 175).

On the other hand, multinational hotels have some factors that de-motivate their workers including front office employees. According to Ferreira and Alon (2008), these multinational hotels maximise on their returns by having employees work on long shifts with some of them being on call for 24 hours a day (p. 4).

Perri and Chustate (2012, p. 111) posit that working at the front office in the hotels in this area is also de-motivating for some of the employees, as they execute the same task throughout their time in the hotels. The monotony in this place of work creates a routine, which some employees describe as being physically demanding. Employees at the front office line of work in the Chinese hotels also face the problem of employer demands.

This assertion means that employees are required to go beyond the call of duty to ensure that the customers’ needs are satisfied (Ferreira & Alon, 2008, p. 4). However, such employees are not expected to demand extra pay for offering services beyond what they are expected to provide in these organisations, and this aspect may be a cause of poor motivation in their line of work.

Employees working in the front office department in China mostly learn their practice and line of work from learning institutions and organisations that they work for play little part in training them (Huang & Sun, 2013, p.83; Chun, Wong, & Tjosvold, 2007, p. 745). This aspect may be a contributor in the negative motivation that front office employees in the hotel and catering industry in China experience.

Studies suggest that organisations that train their employees in relation to their line of work report better performance in the respective departments and across the entire organisation. Training workers in the front office department in Chinese hotels is rarely done, hence the reduced self-esteem at the workplace, which contributes poor motivation (Bhati & Qurashi, 2007, p. 56).

Another factor that leads to increased motivation for employees at the workplace is the development of policies that contribute to the development of a positive organisational culture. Ferreira and Alon (2008) posit, “The best hotel employers attempt to provide programmes including communal sports, family days, and lots of social activities at the workplace” (p. 4).

Organisations working in the hotel and catering industry in China have displayed poor motivation of employees including the front office employees, since most of them have no regular programmes to make these employees feel values in the organisations (King & Bu, 2005, p. 47).

Research Question

In every research, the researcher develops a guiding principle in a bid to remain focused. This aspect allows the research to specialise on the field in which he or she is interested in finding answers. A research question is the driving force in any research, with the researcher aiming to answer the question and ultimately provide appropriate solutions. This research question mainly develops from existing gaps in literature of observed trends and developments in a particular field. This research also has a research question as the guiding principle.

This paper aims at improving the motivation of the front office employees in a luxury hotel in Beijing. The literature review and the information gathered indicate a gap in research on the motivation of front office employees the hotel industry in China. Therefore, the paper attempts to establish the practice of motivation in the Beijing luxury hotel industry.

The provision of the appropriate recommendations to the problem of motivation observed in the luxury hotels will also take place in the paper. The research question develops from the combination of the objectives of this study as stated above. Therefore, the research question of this research is – how is the motivation of front office employees in luxury hotels in Beijing, China?

Research Design

Procedure

The research was carried out in the city of Beijing in accordance with the requirements of any research in any field. A review of literature on the motivation of front office employees in hotels in Beijing was carried out. A search of this literature was conducted in the relevant databases with the key words used being front office, motivation, Beijing, and luxury hotels. The results of the search were refined with the references of these results also being scrutinised for useful information on the motivation of employees in the city of Beijing.

Some of the luxury hotels in Beijing such as the Grand Hyatt, the Marriott, and the Park Hyatt were considered for the study. The managers of these hotels and the human resources departments were contacted in a bid to let their employees participate in the study.

The human resources departments in the hotels that participated were required to appoint some employees at the front office department that would answer the questionnaires, which were anonymous. Nineteen (19) hotels participated and these included eleven 3-strar hotels, six 4-star hotels, and three 5-star hotels. Two hundred (200) surveys were distributed in these hotels with 164 of them being returned for analysis (a response rate of 82%).

Respondents

The demographic information of the participants is represented and its shows a skewed distribution with most respondents being female. The respondents were between the ages of 24 to 58 years with the most of them being between 30 and 40 years. The average age for the respondents was 34 years with that of the male respondents being 32 years and the female average age was 36 years.

The average number of years that the employees had worked in their respective institutions as front office employees was three years and the average age of experience was 7 years. The bulk of the front office employees who responded to the survey were Chinese residents, with only a small proportion being foreigners. The number of foreign respondents was 24 and the rest 140 were residents of Beijing and China. Twenty-four (24) of the respondents had not been trained on front office management.

Measures

The literature review provided some important motivators in the front office management and these included remuneration, length of the shifts, familiarity with the local culture for the foreign workers, and existing organisational culture. These findings were later analysed to evaluate the degree of satisfaction of employees in the respective areas. The respondents filled the questionnaires answering the closed ended questions that assessed their satisfaction at the work place and this exercise utilised the appropriate theories.

Participant observer journal data and analysis

Results

The results of the research review indicated that the motivation of employees at the front office desks, in luxury hotels in the city of Beijing in China, is very low. Some of the factors identified as contributors of the low motivation of employees in the institutions included poor pay that most researchers pointed out in their studies (Shipper & Manz, 1992, p. 48).

According to Yidong and Xinxin (2013, p. 442), front office employees have a considerably poor pay as compared to their colleagues in other industries and sectors in the same country. An average pay of 2,000 Chinese Yuan was reported in one of the studies, and this amount is considerably lower than most other sectors.

Another factor that was reported as contributing to the poor motivation of these front office employees is their daily routine (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008, p. 149). Employees stated that the daily routine that they go through at the work place is monotonous and that they are required to give more than they are required by the organisation in the provision of their services (Shipper & Manz, 1992, p. 48).

This observation means that the organisations often require these employees to go the extra mile in the provision of services, but there exists no plan to compensate them for the same.

Another problem that was established in the review was the overworking of the front office employees at the work place. As stated earlier, front office work requires someone on duty at any time of day or night (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008, p. 150).

The luxury hotels in Beijing have relied on the few available employees to provide their services at these odd times including working on weekends. Some of the employees work for over 50 hours a week, which is well above the recommended 40 hours a week (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008, p. 152). These employees are also not compensated for their sacrifice.

Analysis

The analysis of the results from the survey indicates that there is low motivation of employees working in hotels in Beijing. The average pay of employees that participated in the survey was 2370 Chinese Yuan a month. The best paid of these participants were those from private hotels, with the average pay being 2500 Chinese Yuan.

This amount was still considerably lower than the payments in other industries and economic sectors in the country. The use of remuneration as an indicator of motivation of employees in any industry is one of the most recognised method, with better-paid employees being highly motivated (Dembe et al., 2005, p. 560).

The hours that the surveyed individuals worked in their respective workstations were above those recommended in the sector. The average number of hours worked were 56 with these mainly being in the weekends and at night. Less than half of the respondents (76) indicated that they were compensated for working the extra hours. The rest did not have an idea of the maximum hours they had worked and others could not remember how long they worked.

The other issue that came up in the survey was the treatment of the foreign workers at the work place at the front office departments in the Beijing hotels surveyed. Most of these employees reported that the Chinese culture at the workplace was new to them and they had the challenge of communicating with the management and their colleagues. The challenges in communication for the foreign workers at the Beijing luxury hotels were compounded by the difference in culture that they had with their fellow workers and with the management.

Limitations

Some of the limitations of the study in the motivation of front office employees at the luxury hotels in Beijing included the absence of many researches done on the topic. Few researches were available on the motivation of employees in the hotel industry in Beijing, and thus little literature was available to compare the findings of the research.

The other limitation of the study included the little time available to conduct the research. The survey conducted also involved self-reports, and thus the possibility of development of common method variance tendency and the development of response set tendency (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008, p. 152).

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion

The front office department is very important in the hotel and catering sector. This area is the first contact between customers in this industry and the organisation and it marks the last point of contact. The attitude displayed by employees at the front office department in any organisation is crucial as it determines the overall organisational overview.

Therefore, customers will develop attitudes on the organisations in the service industry based on their experiences at the front office. The motivation of employees working at the front office is thus an important factor in the organisation.

The research above examines the motivation of the front office employees at the Beijing luxury hotels. A review of the literature showed that culture is an important determinant of motivation at the work place in China and that the motivation of the employees has changed from the traditional outlook that was based on virtual to the current financial motivation (Lee & Feng, 2011, p. 277).

A number of issues in the motivation of employees in the front office at the luxury hotels in Beijing have been identified. Some of the factors stated to inhibit positive motivation of employees in the industry include remuneration, workload, and monotony of work.

Recommendations

For the luxury hotels in Beijing to ensure that their front office employees are motivated, a number of recommendations should be adopted. One is that these organisations should invest in the training of their employees on the performance at their work place and adapt them in their operations. The organisations should also consider increasing the number of employees at the front office, since the workload per employee appears to be currently very large.

Employment of more employees will also contribute to the reduction of the number of hours that each employee should work in a week. However, the most important factor is that the managers in these hotels should consider improving remuneration of their front office employees. This move will increase their performance at the work place and result in better motivation, hence better organisational performance.

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