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VIII
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Top 3 Rankings...
..19
Table 2. Research Questions and Hypothesis...38
Table 3. Independent Variables...44
Table 4. Ranking of Satisfaction Levels of the Five Dependent Variables...
.48
LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 1. Motivational Preferences versus Actual Satisfaction...
..48
Chart 2. Salary Scores...50
Chart 3. Working Condition Scores...
.50
IX
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
GEN Y
Generation Y
JHTA
Jamaica Hotel and Tourism Association
SME
Small and Medium Enterprises
11
1
Introduction
1.1 Overview
This study is based on Crawford's findings about Jamaican hospitality worker's
motivational preferences
1
. The aim of the study is to find whether or not these
motivators are satisfied and if these findings stand in any relation with demographic
variables of the participants of the study, such as age and gender. A survey was
conducted in the area of Kingston, distributing questionnaires to 90 employees of
small hotels. In addition to this interviews with managers of these hotels were
conducted.
1.2 Problem Statement
Small and medium sized companies dominate the tourism and hospitality
industry worldwide. In fact, ninety percent of hospitality businesses worldwide are
small enterprises. It is suggested that small hotels lack the capability and resources to
enable human resource development for their establishments.
2
This has several
implications: for one, competing with larger hotels for guests as well as talented staff
can be hindered. Secondly, training for existing staff may not be as extensive or as
required to enhance employees' job role. Thirdly, a lack of financial resources,
business skills and professional approach to same can hamper the success of the
1
Damion Crawford, An Analysis of Hospitality Workers Motivational Preferences. University of
Technology/University of Delaware International Conference on Business, Hospitality & Tourism
Management, Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
October 8-11, 2008.
2
Salih Kusluvan, Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviors in the Tourism and Hospitality
Industry (New York: Nova Publishers, 2003), 10.
12
business overall. Besides the business perspective, there is also the perspective of the
employees. They have a clear idea of what motivates them and what does not. Based
on Kovach's ten variables used in Crawford's study
3
, it is known what Jamaican
hospitality workers look for in terms of their jobs. However, it is unknown whether or
not these motivators are satisfied. If these motivators are not satisfied and the
hospitality workers of small hotels are generally dissatisfied, then this would have
serious implications for the overall hospitality industry based on the fact that SME's
dominate the tourism sector.
Therefore, it is necessary to ask whether or not Jamaican hotel workers are
satisfied with their jobs. Or more specifically, if the factors that motivate them are
fulfilled to their satisfaction. In addition to this, knowing how these questions relate
to demographic variables, such as age and gender, will help to draw conclusions more
accurately.
1.3 Rationale and Significance of the Study
Many studies have investigated on the motivational preferences of hotel workers
(Charles and Marshall, 1992; Simons and Enz, 1995; Crawford, 2008, Kovach,
1987). But only few studies have explored whether or not these motivators are
satisfied. It is good to know what workers need but it is better to know if they get
what they need to be satisfied. After all, the hospitality industry is a service industry
and therefore labour intensive. The staff is the heart of operations. If the heart is ill
and it does not get the nutrients it needs to work, then the entire body is deemed to
3
Crawford, 2008.
13
collapse. Same applies to a hospitality enterprise. Additionally to this, small hotels
often do not have the financial resources to investigate on the state of their personnel,
which makes it harder to intervene on time and on the correct issue. Therefore, this
study contributes to uncovering improvement needs in human resource management
and general hotel operations for small hotels in Jamaica. It also unravels how
demographic variables affect the satisfaction of motivational preferences.
14
2
Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
According to Heskett et al (1994)
4
and Kotler et al (1999)
5
service quality is
driven by the productivity of employees, which is crucially dependent on the
employees' motivation and satisfaction.
In the Caribbean one in seven jobs is found in the tourism industry, which is a
higher rate than anywhere else in the world. The tourism and hospitality employment
contribution is predicted to rise to 3.2 million indirect and direct jobs by 2014
6
. As
Jamaica's economy is more diversified than economies of other islands (such as
Barbados), Jamaica depends on tourism and tourism employment to a lesser degree
than other islands
7
.
A study done by Dunn and Dunn in 2001 revealed that there were more men than
women employed in Jamaica's tourism industry. In 1994, just over 25% of tourism
workers had high school education. Furthermore, the study showed that women
receive lower wages than men employed in the industry. Tourism is said to be a
"stepping stone to other careers" in other industries. Overall, the study also revealed
that there was a high turnover in the tourism industry
8
.
4
J.L. Heskett, et al., "Putting the service profit chain to work", Harvard Business Review, March-
April, (1994): 164-174.
5
P.
Kotler,
et al.,
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism
,
2nd
Edition.
(Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1999).
6
P. Pattullo, Last Resorts The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean. 2nd Edition. (London: Latin
America Bureau, 2005), 66.
7
Pattullo, 67.
8
Pattullo, 67.
15
Jobs offered in the hotel industry are often "low grade"
9
and targeted at
unskilled workers. Typical jobs associated with these attributes are barmen, bellboys,
room attendants and waitresses. Furthermore, the workers remain unskilled
throughout their employment, especially in small hotels, because they cannot offer
professional training for their employees
10
.
Pattullo (2005) describes hotel work, especially in small establishments, to be
paid badly, to be of low security and high seasonality. However, compared to other
job opportunities, there are benefits, which are facilitated by, for example, women
who used to work as domestic private helpers. They switch to hotel work because it
offers regular pay and hours
11
.
2.2 Job Satisfaction
Tremendous problems/issues in the industry arise from worker attitudes and their
behaviour towards tourists, who for the most part have different cultural
backgrounds. As described by Pattullo (2005), many times, Caribbean tourism
workers fail to deliver pleasant and efficient service. Also Carter (1997) had similar
findings in his study done on Jamaican workers, including tourism workers.
Apparently, workers are releasing their aggressions with their job and management
by being rude to guests
12
. Whether or not this is somehow related to job satisfaction
especially in small hotels where workers complain about lacking benefits is the
9
Pattullo, 68.
10
Pattullo, 68.
11
Pattullo, 69.
12
K.L. Carter,
Why Workers Won't Work The Worker in a Developing Economy A Case
Study of Jamaica.
(London:
MacM
illan Education Ltd., 1997),121.
16
question of another study. Either way, the issue of worker attitudes has impacts on
productivity and profitability of a hotel establishment
13
. However, a relationship
between poor worker attitudes and job motivation can be found using Carter's study
(1997) which found that generally 76 percent of the Jamaican workforce can be
described as demotivated. This survey was done on 1800 Jamaican workers across
several industries, including Tourism, Utilities and Finance
14
. Possibly, the low
motivational level of the Jamaican workforce could be manifested in poor worker
attitudes. The study also found that Jamaican employees find themselves to be
working in a "hostile and reductive work environment"
15
. These poor job attitudes are
a response to these hostile environments; hence the worker will not change his
attitude unless the workplace conditions change
16
. Not surprisingly Carter (1997)
found that Jamaican workers suffer from low job satisfaction caused by underutilized
worker skills and education, perceived boring jobs, demotivated supervisors and
workers' perception that their jobs are irrelevant to organizational objectives
17
. In the
Jamaican tourism industry, 38 percent of workers and 50 percent of supervisors were
found to be unhappy with their jobs
18
.
As expected, the solution to this problem is more complex than it seems. In
terms of job satisfaction Herzberg's Two-Factor theory differs between hygiene
factors, such as pay, working conditions and vacation leave, and motivational factors,
13
Pattullo, 80.
14
Carter, 38.
15
Carter, 39.
16
Carter, 73.
17
Carter, 64.
18
Carter, 122.
17
such as appreciation, participation and challenging work. Carter (1997) found that
Jamaican workers are dissatisfied with hygiene factors. Especially tourism workers
are unhappy about pay
19
. According to Herzberg's theory, it is not sufficient to
remove dissatisfaction with hygiene factors in order to create employee satisfaction.
Additionally to hygiene factors, also motivational elements need to be fulfilled.
However, compared to the Jamaican workforce on a whole, Carter (1997)
discovered that the tourism sector shows more job satisfaction (approximately 60
percent). In comparison, only 17 percent of utility workers stated that they were
satisfied with their jobs. Even better results for the tourism industry were found in
Carl Stone's survey, attempting to shed light on hotel workers' attitudes. The survey
showed that there was high employee satisfaction among hotel workers in large all-
inclusive properties in Jamaica
20
. However, this study was done in resort areas, such
as Montego Bay, and may or may not be valid for urban areas, such as Kingston.
Furthermore, the study was done in 1990, which might affect its validity almost 20
years later. Another study done by Carl Stone in 2002, this time for Sandals Resorts,
confirmed the findings from the study done in 1990. But it also found that 21 percent
of non all-inclusive hotel workers felt that they did not benefit a fair share from
tourist profits
21
.
19
Carter, 65, 126.
20
Pattullo, 69.
21
Pattullo, 70.
18
2.3 Job Motivation
In order to find out what it is that drives employee's to excel in their jobs and to
be truly satisfied, managers must find out what it is that motivates employees to
perform. After all, motivation and satisfaction are closely related. As explained by
Crawford (2008), once a need is satisfied, it loses its ability to serve as a motivator
22
.
This idea originates in Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, in which we strive to
achieve the next highest need once a lower need is satisfied. In other words, it is the
aim to reach satisfaction of the next highest need that drives motivation. But what are
employees' needs? Which motivational factors do employees prefer over others?
Assuming, that each worker has his/her own personal `pyramid of needs', how would
they rank these needs or motivational factors?
Kovach's research on motivational preferences of industrial workers showed that
interesting work was rated higher than good wages or job security
23
. However, this
study was carried out between 1946 and 1986, which might limit the validity of those
findings for modern generations. Kovach's variables influencing employee
motivation are the following: (1) good wages, (2) tactful discipline, (3) job security,
(4) interesting work, (5) empowerment, (6) sympathetic help with personal problems,
(7) opportunities for involvement and development, (8) good working conditions, (9)
supervisors loyalty to employees and (10) appreciation for accomplishments
24
. These
22
Crawford, 12.
23
Crawford, 2.
24
Crawford, 2.
19
variables have been used repeatedly by several researchers, such as Simons and Enz
(1995), Charles et. al (1992) and Crawford (2008).
Contrary to Kovach's findings, Simons and Enz (1995) found that high wages
were preferred over interesting work, using Kovach's variables. According to this
study, employees want good wages, followed by job security and opportunities for
development
25
. This study also indicated age differences in terms of employee needs
and wants, as shown in the table on the next page.
Table 1. Top 3 rankings.
American
Caribbean
Industrial
Workers
Hotel Workers
Researcher
Kovach
(1987)
Simons and Enz (1995)
Charles and
Marshall
(1992)
Crawford
(2008)
Type of
surveyed
employees
American
industrial
workers
Young hotel
employees
from USA and
Canada
Older hotel
employees
from USA and
Canada
Bahamian
hotel
employees
Jamaican
hotel
employees
#1
Interesting
work
Good wages
Good wages Good wages
Good wages
#2
Appreciation
and praise
Opportunities
for
development
Job Security
Working
conditions
Appreciation
and praise
#3
Involvement in
decision
making
Interesting
work
Working
conditions
Appreciation
and praise
Working
conditions
25
T.
Simons
and C.A. Enz, C.A.,
"
Motivating Hotel Employees
"
. Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36, 1
(1995):
20 27.
20
The research done by Charles and Marshall
26
(1992) on hotel employees in
the Bahamas supported Simons' findings, as their results also showed differences of
motivational preferences between employees of various ages, educational levels and
gender. As shown in the table above, hotel workers seem to be more money oriented
than industrial workers, as they all rank good wages as their number one motivator,
despite the fact that these studies were done in different countries. Furthermore, it
becomes apparent that Caribbean workers have similar opinions in terms of
motivational preferences. Both Bahamians and Jamaicans rank good wages as their
number one motivator. The other top motivators are working conditions and
appreciation for work done, even though the second and third rankings are turned
around. Nevertheless, the similarities of results increase among hotel workers and
especially among hotel workers of the same cultural background. According to
Crawford (2008) cultural differences play a major role in an individual's motivational
preferences as found in studies done by Silverthorne (1992) and Fisher (1998). This is
confirmed by Kotler (1999) who argues that needs may be homogenous among
cultures, but that wants are different as they are a product of socialization
27
. Crawford
found that work preferences of Bahamian and Jamaican workers are very similar,
indicating a common Caribbean culture. However, he also indicated that Bahamians
might be influenced by American culture as their motivational rankings were closer
26
K.R. Charles and Marshall, L.H., "Motivational Preferences of Caribbean Hotel Workers: An
Exploratoy Study". International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 4, 3 (1992): 25
29.
27
Crawford, 9.
21
to each other than Jamaican and American rankings
28
. Also industrial differences are
visible in the studies summarized in the table above. Crawford (2008) found that
interesting work is less important to hotel employees than it is to manufacturing
workers and suggested that customer contact and a multi-cultural working climate in
the hospitality industry are reasons for this.
2.4 Job Factors
2.4.1 Pay
According to Pattullo (2005), it is mostly small, locally-owned, hotels that pay
low wages (p. 70). However, satisfactory pay might not be the only factor that
contributes to high job satisfaction and job performance. The contrary, Carter (1997)
claims that monetary pay has different influences on job satisfaction than it does on
performance motivation
29
. Therefore, a worker who is hardly motivated might have a
higher job satisfaction than those who are more motivated doing the same job. To
complicate this matter, satisfactory pay is highly subjective and depends on the
perceptions of the worker, as he compares his perceived performance level and
income with that of others. As proposed by Elliott Jaques, people have the capability
of comparing and realizing differences between their actual payment and the payment
that would seem appropriate for the work done
30
. Hence, we can conclude that
workers are capable of stating whether or not they are satisfied with their pay. Only 6
percent of Jamaican tourism workers are satisfied with their pay, compared to 24%
28
Crawford, 12.
29
Carter, 29.
30
Carter, 31.
22
percent satisfied supervisors in the same industry
31
. According to Carter, such pay
dissatisfaction is depending on the utilization of worker education and knowledge, the
cost of living of the worker, the development and training opportunities and the value
of the work done
32
. For example, 76 percent of tourism employees feel that in terms
of their education and performance, their pay is unjust
33
.
Furthermore, there is a great percentage of workers with a neutral opinion (49
percent) in regards to pay satisfaction. This may result from their opportunity to earn
some extra dollars from tips and "hustling behaviour"
34
.
Trying to find out what it is that tourism workers want, Carter asked the question
what workers would want if they had the choice. He found that the higher the level of
demotivation, the more employees demanded increased pay. 79 percent of critically
withdrawn tourism workers demanded more pay, compared to 22.9 percent of highly
motivated employees. In general, Carter found that the more motivated tourism
workers are, the more often they have non-wage demands, such as training,
appreciation and better supervision
35
. However, compared to other industries, tourism
workers are generally more money oriented than others
36
.
On the whole, Jamaican tourism workers would want more pay (54 percent),
followed by more training (20 percent) and more appreciation (16 percent) in order to
31
Carter, 114.
32
Carter, 114-117.
33
Carter, 118.
34
Carter, 115.
35
Carter, 71.
36
Carter, 119.
23
be more motivated and satisfied with their jobs
37
. Other researchers, such as Kovach
(1987), Wiley (1995) and Crawford (2008), have not considered training as a
motivational factor. Nonetheless, as stated earlier, training and development
opportunities influence job satisfaction and should therefore be of greater importance
in human resource management.
However, Carter found that an increase in pay usually does not necessarily affect
the effort of a Jamaican worker
38
. This finding is contrary to Crawford's study done
on Jamaican hotel employees. He found that payment is the number one motivational
factor for hotel workers
39
. Hence, there might be crucial differences in motivational
preferences between tourism workers and workers from other industries. Even though
Crawford found that pay is the most important motivational factor, Carter discovered
that Jamaican workers do not believe they are capable of influencing this factor. They
believe that pay is dependant on other factors than production and worker
productivity
40
. For example, Jamaican workers believe that things such as how the
worker is liked by the supervisor are more influential on pay and pay increases as
well job promotions
41
. Moreover, Crawford found that the importance of pay
increases with age. Furthermore, despite the fact that both males and females ranked
pay first, women ranked good wages by 1.81 average points higher
42
. However, in
terms of educational level, its importance is the same it is ranked as the first
37
Carter, 119.
38
Carter, 103.
39
Crawford, 4.
40
Carter, 105.
41
Carter, 112-113.
42
Crawford, 5.
24
motivational preference among high school non-graduates right through university
graduates
43
.
2.4.2 Appreciation
Beyond pay, appreciation and recognition for the work done is the second area of
most job dissatisfaction among tourism workers
44
. Interestingly, it is also the second
most important motivational preference of Jamaican workers
45
. Moreover, Crawford
(2008) found that the importance of appreciation and praise for work done increases
with age. Young persons (16 to 25 years) ranked appreciation forth, whereas 35 to 45
year olds ranked it second. Also in terms of educational level, there are great
differences. College graduates do not find this factor very important at all as they
ranked it ninth. However, high school non-graduates ranked it as their second most
important motivator
46
. The reason for this may be that high school non-graduates
have a greater need for appreciation because they are more insecure about their tasks
and responsibilities than persons who have graduated from a tertiary institution and
who have received recognition for this. In regards to gender, there are no
motivational differences, both rank appreciation second
47
.
43
Crawford, 6.
44
Carter, 126.
45
Crawford, 5.
46
Crawford, 6.
47
Crawford, 4.
25
2.4.3 Working Conditions
Carter (1997) found that most job dissatisfaction is a result of poor fringe
benefits and working conditions
48
. Especially in terms of benefits, workers are
dissatisfied because they simply do not know which benefits are available to them.
Carter identified this as a problem of poor organizational communication
49
. When
asked about their physical working conditions, only 4.6 percent of Jamaican workers
and 14.2 percent of supervisors stated that they were satisfied.
50
The main reason for
this great amount of dissatisfaction is found in workers having to work in extreme
heat, in inadequate canteen facilities and toilet facilities in poor condition
51
. Not
surprisingly, Crawford found that all age groups young and older rank working
conditions as the third most important motivator
52
. Clearly, all workers, independent
of age, are affected by poor working conditions and therefore, see improvement in
this area as a motivator.
2.4.4 Interesting Job
The perception of having an interesting job contributes to job satisfaction. Carter
(1997) found that there are immense differences in how Jamaican supervisors and
line staff feel about their jobs. 74 percent of supervisors regard their jobs as being
interesting, whereas 60 percent of workers stated that they feel their jobs are boring
48
Carter, 74, 125.
49
Carter, 76.
50
Carter, 77.
51
Carter, 77.
52
Crawford, 6,
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