Motivation
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There are three “facts of life” about employee motivation in the hospitality
industry: Money, monotony, and “meanies.”
Money
It is no secret that wages for line employees are generally low. Many positions
begin at minimum wage and provide only a limited degree of monetary
advancement. Non-monetary rewards will motivate a good worker for only
so long.
Monotony
The work that many hospitality employees do is routine and repetitive.
Creative employees or those who want more variety in their jobs often become
bored and unmotivated in this type of environment.
Meanies
Most people who are attracted to the hospitality industry enjoy meeting people
and providing good service. But a high degree of interaction with guests has its
downside. Some guests are demanding, unreasonable, disagreeable, or just
plain mean. Good employees will remain outwardly calm and pleasant with
these guests. But inside, these encounters erode motivation, cause stress, and
can lead to high turnover.
Leaders help motivate employees and recognize their employees.
As the range of statements on the previous page shows, advice about motivating
employees is plentiful – but often conflicting. Motivational experts also have
differing theories about what motivates people and why. But you can say two
things for sure about motivation:
1. Employees really motivate themselves; you can only create the environment
that helps promote that motivation.
2. A motivational technique will work only to the extent that employees respect
you as a leader and sense that the property cares about them. That is,
employees must believe that you trust and respect them.
Recognize your role in employee motivation.
Although employees really motivate themselves, don’t underestimate your power
to influence that motivation by the things you do and say.
Three-Step Employee Motivation Strategy
1. Read the list below and put a check mark next to items your property would
allow you to use as motivators that are not being used now:
- Job security
- Profit-sharing plans
- Stock options
- Promotion
- Training duties
- More job responsibility
- Safe, pleasant, and friendly surroundings
- Interesting or challenging work
- Being included in decision-making
- Flexible scheduling
- Cross-training
2. Now make up a survey listing the motivators you checked above and give a
form to each of your employees. Ask employees to indicate the three items
they would like to see implemented. You may want to leave a space at the
bottom of the sheet for them to write additional ideas.
3. Implement one or two of the motivators that most employees indicated on the
survey. If productivity and morale in your department improve because of the
changes, consider implementing more changes.
Note: If appropriate, discuss the increases in productivity and morale at a
managers’ meeting. If some of the motivators you’d like to use are not now
available to employees at your property, ask whether it would be feasible to
consider offering them.
Opportunities to grow help motivate employees.
It’s unfortunate but true: Many employees stay on the job just long enough to
learn a new skill. Then they quit and find a job that pays more somewhere else.
How does an effective leader keep employees from leaving? Providing
opportunities for employee growth is a key factor in improving employee
motivation – and keeping employees on the job.
Do the exercise at right to find out how well your property provides opportunities
for employee growth. After doing the exercise, think about ways to increase these
opportunities, and discuss them with your boss or the human resources
department.
Leading and Motivating After Layoffs
When layoffs occur at a property, managers face special motivational
challenges. Employees who “survived” the layoffs usually feel unprotected
and nervous about how their work will change now. They may even feel
guilty because they weren't laid off. To help employees get back on track,
lead them through the following three stages:
1. Reconciliation to change
Managers must not pretend that the layoff hasn't changed anything.
Get things out in the open. Empathize with employees’ fears and let
them discuss those fears.
2. Reorientation to the new situation
Redraft the organization’s mission statement and set new goals and
priorities to fit the new statement. This helps employees and managers
focus on the future instead of the past.
3. Re commitment to the company
Keep employees focused on the future and their place in it. Show
enthusiasm for new goals and challenges yourself and your employees
Personal Skills Affect Motivation
Your employees will be motivated – or unmotivated – by your own attitude
toward them and your job. Hospitality managers offer this list of ways to affect
employee motivation:
• Show you trust employees.
When you show trust in employees or empower them to think for
themselves, you show them that you respect them, and that goes a long
way toward helping employees become motivated.
• Remember that people aren't perfect.
Employees who live in constant fear that their managers will call them to
task for every little thing are not very motivated. In fact, they’ll spend
most of their creativity covering up mistakes instead of thinking of ways
to improve their performance.
• Be predictable.
There are few things more detrimental than working for a moody boss,
who’ll laugh off major problems one day and become angry over simple
mistakes the next.
• Know what your employees’ talents are and do something about it.
Move people into their areas of expertise – even if it means promoting
them out of your area.
• Promote from within as often as possible.
• Give employees credit for their ideas.
There’s nothing worse for employees than to hear their bosses take credit
for an idea.
• Ask employees what they think.
When you invite employees’ input, you show you respect them – and you
often get some great ideas for improving things!
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