Focus on Measures Job Satisfaction

Introduction

Employee retention is always an expensive challenge for different hospitality setups and this comes about mostly whenever employees feel isolated. According to Yang (2010), those employees who do not feel connected in any way tend to exhibit dissatisfaction and this is normally through withdrawal behaviours like absenteeism, reduction in productivity, high turnover rates and lowered morale of the employees. From a financial perspective, even though turnover costs are often hidden from managers, they are important (Guilding, Lamminmaki and McMaus, 2014)). This report looks into measures that can be undertaken to deal with the issue of employee turnover in The Imperial Hotel, London.

There are no profit and loss statements that can capture the cost of turnover specifically. These costs are instead buried in line items like temporary staffing, selection, recruitment and staffing (White, 2017). Even worse still, the real unmeasured costs from loss of customer service continuity and critical implicit knowledge are never measured. Employee withdrawal behaviours have the potential of hindering the productivity and profits of an organisation. Blomme, Van Rheede and Tromp (2010) hold the view that the measurement and monitoring of turnover is important as through this, the appropriate attention is given to the issue and constructive action also taken. Gaining an understanding of the employment climate is important in the development of an understanding of retention. Having targets that are acceptable and that are based on definitions of turnover that are precise, helps bring the process into clearer focus.

Job satisfaction is described as the level of contentment employees feel about their work, which has the potential of affecting performance as defined by Boundless Journals on Management. Different factors like poor perception of the work, poor perception of the work culture within hotels with sometimes aggressive management and styles of supervision, lack of proper and regular training, the unsociable working hours, poor levels of pay and little opportunities from bonuses and promotion are all factors that lead to job dissatisfaction (Clegg, Kornberger and Pitsis. 2016). It`s the level of commitment in a person regarding their work. The level of communication within an organisation, an individual’s ability to complete required tasks and the way the individuals are treated by the management has the potential of influencing job satisfaction. According to (Body. 2014), job satisfaction falls into two levels: cognitive job satisfaction and affective job satisfaction.

An individual`s emotional feeling about a job as a whole is known as affective job satisfaction while the level of satisfaction employees have towards different aspects of their job like benefits and even pay hours is known as cognitive job satisfaction. Gaining an understanding of the role played by job satisfaction for employees, it`s predictors and how it can translate to better or lower qualities of work and even whether it is able to relate to increased productivity and profitability for companies or not, is very important (McPhail et al., 2015). There are different cognitive factors which have the potential of affecting job satisfaction and this include;

Compensation and rewards

Employees tend to rely heavily on salaries, wages and so forth to pay for their health security and also to provide a large share of their income (Aslam et al., 2015). It is necessary to value and perceive rewards either financial or otherwise based on performance. Recognition and rewards also play an important role in hospitality setups and also play an important role in the attraction and retaining of workers. A good pay is the most important influencer of the satisfaction of employees. Employees who receive good salaries are usually more satisfied with their jobs and never have intentions of leaving their jobs. Good salaries enable employees to achieve satisfaction from the work they do and as such to stay longer in their current employments. So as to deal with this, Imperial Hotel should work on reducing the wide disparities that exist in the salary scales of different employees. It has been observed that in some hotels the Top level managers, and assistant managers receive salaries that are up to ten times higher than normal employees like stewards.

Job security

Job security is defined by the business dictionary as the likelihood that an employee would keep their job for a long time or until retirement and an employee`s feeling that they have a right to keep, or that they will never be made redundant (Business Dictionary, 2018). Job security could also be defined as the feelings in an employee of staying in a job as long as they want. Changes in the structure of organisations and the turn down in job security have an effect on the psychological contract that links employees and employers.

Working conditions

Employees spend a lot of time in their places of work every week. It is common practise in most hotels across the UK to provide their employees with only a single off day every week (Armstrong and Matters, 2017), as such, basically, a huge percentage of the employee`s time is spent within the buildings of the hotel. Factors like work areas that are uncomfortable, lack of spacious working areas, and lack of productivity tools with the potential of helping employees in the efficient accomplishment of tasks all have the potential of tempering with the satisfaction of employees. Imperial Hotel should work on providing better working conditions for its employees.

Individuals working in the hotel industry deal with, catering to their needs. Only an employee who is satisfied can be capable of making quality products and further rendering quality services. A better understanding of job satisfaction and the perception that a focus on satisfaction is equal to better organisational and individual health. This implies that employees who are more committed and satisfied.

Employee relations

The lack of recognition and praise for the tasks accomplished by employees by the management could also lower the morale of the employees leading to high turnover rates. Minimal opportunities for advancement of employees up the ranks and inadequate responsibilities are also detrimental (Lu et al., 2016). Some hotels do not even provide insurance policies for their staff to cater for injuries that are inflicted on the employees in the course of duty tend to erode the employees satisfaction in the job. Hospitality jobs come with a lot of risks which have the potential of getting employees hurt while in the course of their duties. The management at Imperial Hotel needs to look into its policies, amend them and make them more favourable for employees. Imperial Hotel should work on providing continuous feedback accompanied with tools of improvement which will help guide employees towards desired outcomes and set a path for success that is clearer. This will help improve the working environments as managers will become even more aware of their teams performance, their motivational and developmental needs and even help to prevent burnouts.

All employees should be given equal levels of advancement and promotions should be based on the academic qualifications of an individual and their hard work. Even though, it might not be possible to promote each and every person into positions of management, Hotels Imperial could introduce Job groups whereby the employees advance to the next job group with better remuneration and more responsibilities whenever they have fulfilled all the criteria for promotion. The management must also do it`s best to recognise the efforts of employees and all their positive attributes like honesty.

The dissatisfaction and satisfaction with the assigned job affects the employees in every walk of employees (Lee, Back and Chan, 2015). Employees who are satisfied enjoy better mental and physical wellbeing and as such employee job satisfaction is more productive. The top priority for the service industry and especially the hotels industry which is a production cum service industry is quality of service.

How managers can improve the working conditions

Creation of an environment with the potential of bringing out the best of employees is imperative to the success of the hotel. Here are tips on what the management at Imperial Hotel can do to improve the working environment for the different employees.

Showing a vulnerable side

Often, people perceive managers and other leadership roles as invincible, resilient and powerful. The management’s image of strength tends to be misinterpreted as being unapproachable or having some magical armour capable of protecting them from hurdles faced by those they supervise. Whether, it be the inability of managers to demonstrate a more humane side which is more humane or the misconception of employees towards their managers, showing some form of vulnerability can be very encouraging to employees. This lets employees know that the management too is subject to make mistakes, frustration and regrets and that rejection and criticism can also have some form of impact on the management’s state of mind.

Instead of being inspiring, displaying an image of flawlessness can be intimidating and tends to leave employees feeling pretty intimidated by their own shortcomings (Bailey et al., 2018). The management should work on showing the rest of the employees that they are also human as them and this will definitely improve the working conditions because it makes the managers more relatable to the employees. From this, there will be a high probability that instead of feeling threatened, the employees will be more likely to follow what is said by the management. Demonstration and embracement of vulnerability has the potential of being empowering to others and there is a high possibility that it would have a positive impact on the success and performance of any establishment. The management at the Imperial Hotel should definitely try this.

Knowing the strengths of the different employees and using them

Managers should have a good knowledge of their employees, that is, how they handle stress, what motivates them, what support they require so as to give their best and even how they learn. Uncovering the employee’s innate strengths is important as it helps in delegation of responsibilities and tasks. In knowing that the management took its time to get to know them and their best attributes employees feel important and also feel understood (Lu et al., 2016). Employees also feel more at ease in a position in which their talents can be able to shine through. This has the potential of reducing conflicts and frustrations and also improve the working environment because employees who are happy equates to better productivity.

Managers at Imperial Hotel should take their time to discover different aspects of their employees that may not be apparent on the surface so as to discover the amazing strengths they possess.

Making time for group activities

Planning for group activities and team-building helps improve working conditions as it creates awareness among peers. This awareness brings with it a sense of appreciation, ease and bonding for employees, which works in increasing the motivation of employees of getting up each morning to go to work. Viewing your employees more of people who just provide you with weekly report is helpful and can go a long way in increasing understanding and respect among workmates. Creation of synergy can be as simple as an after-work outing at a local restaurant and even a group lunch. It is not necessary that the group activities be formal or fancy, the activities should only be capable of allowing employees to participate and take something positive from the experience (Clegg, Kornberger and Pitsis. 2016).
A better understanding of job satisfaction, as well as the perception that a focus on satisfaction is equal to better organisational and individual health, implying individuals who are more committed and satisfied, provides managers of hotel properties with an opportunity to create a set of actions capable of triggering their satisfaction. Condensing of this information and further pinpointing of those factors capable promoting and predicting job dissatisfaction and job satisfaction too may prove useful to managers through clarifying the role played by job satisfaction and indicating the most efficient and effective way of managing human resources, taking into account the healthy balance between the managers, the employees and the outcome of the operation of the hotel itself.

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References

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