EG706 – AU MSc International Hospitality Management
EG706 – AU MSc International Hospitality Management
Introduction
The report will concentrate on critically examining incentive management and employee motivation in order to successfully shape organisational behaviour in the hospitality sector. As a result, it will include measures done by worldwide hospitality organisations to improve employee performance and meet organisational goals more effectively through the use of more effective, incentive management systems for greater employee engagement. Aside from that, the study will critically evaluate the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in relation to ethical employment practices in the hotel sector. As a result, it will include various variables or activities undertaken by multinational brands in the hospitality sector in relation to CSR techniques.
Reward management and staff motivation ability to shape organisational behaviour in hospitality organisations
Reward management is noted to be an initiative or approach implemented by an organisational management that focuses on compensating employees effectively, increasing employee benefits and better staff recognition within the workplace (Amjad et al. 2021). Apparently, the major motive behind the implementation of reward management is to enhance staff motivation within the workplace for better performance that could help in better retention rate and performance-oriented staff. On the other hand, staff motivation is noted to be the effect that helps in maintaining a positive workplace environment for the employees in order to achieve their best performance (Basalamah and As’ad, 2021). The factor of staff motivation involves understanding individuals by offering a positive workplace environment and incentives aligned with personal and organisational goals. In context to the hospitality industry, staff motivation as well as reward management is noted to play an important role in terms of enhancing the overall organisational performance in the competitive market by the help of performance oriented employees (Pham et al. 2023). Thereby, it can be evident that successful reward management is noted to enhance job satisfaction and productivity, which contributes to the overall motivation and engagement of the workers.
Marriott International can be considered as one of the most reputable global brands within the hospitality sector, which focuses on implementing a comprehensive reward management approach to motivate its employees (Marriott, 2023). Marriott has been found to offer employees from different parts of the world to join a collaborative team of creative and dynamic individuals, setting peace in the industry from different parts of the globe (Marriott, 2023). As for the distinctive core values of Marriott, the management focuses on maintaining their focus on people as their first and the most important priority within the workplace (Marriott, 2023). Marriott International has been found to focus on providing a range of generous benefits as well as opportunities designed to take care of the employees and stakeholders connected with the operational activities (Marriott, 2023). In context to reward management and staff motivation, Marriott international has been found to focus on providing health and medical benefits to the employees for better engagement and motivation towards achieving organisational goals more effectively. For instance, Marriott international focuses on offering plans in contrast to the needs of the employees regarding their health and medical benefits (Marriott, 2023). Health Savings Account (HSA) has been one of the most prominent plans offered by the management of Marriott international to the employees in order to enhance the overall benefits provided by the organisational management (Marriott, 2023). In contrast, the employee benefit plan includes initiatives regarding medical, dental and vision plans for the employees within the workplace. As a result, it helps the organisational management to develop a sense of responsibility and engagement for the benefits of the employees.
Apart from that, in contrast to reward management and staff motivation, Marriott international is also noted to offer exclusive plans for employees in regards to work life and wellness benefits (Marriott, 2023). The initiative of providing paid leave to the employees has been highly effective in terms of increasing the motivation level among the staff as well as a reward for better work engagement (Baqir et al. 2020). Thereby, Marriott international has been found to offer the associates to receive paid leave to use for vacations, sick time, holidays and more (Marriott, 2023). Competitively, Marriott’s Associate Resource Groups (ARGs) has also been denoted as a prominent approach that focuses on providing the ability to the employees to strengthen their networks and develop their skills in terms of their professional development (Marriott, 2023). Apparently, it has been highly effective for the management of Marriott international to develop their brand as a positive employer in the market. Assistance & Resources for Life (ARL) has also been highly effective in terms of a rewarding system for the employees to increase their overall motivation towards achieving the targeted organisational goals for better performance (Marriott, 2023).
In order to increase the overall level of employment within the workplace, Marriott has been found to develop a rewarding system that focuses on providing alliance to the employees of Marriott to achieve family discounts at more than 2200 child care centres (Marriott, 2023). It also enables the employees of Marriott to effectively save their financial funds in a Dependent Care Spending Account by utilising pre-tax dollars to help with childcare expenses (Marriott, 2023). Comparatively, in order to enhance employee motivation within the workplace, Marriott has been found to offer employees with 20% food and beverage discount, 20% spa treatment discount, 30% retail discount at Marriott stores as well as 30% discount for equipment and other facilities for the employees (Marriott, 2023). The management of Marriott international has also been focused on providing financial benefits to the employees for better reward management as well as increased employee motivation (Cwibi, 2022). For example, the competitive compensation strategy of Marriott of providing base pay, merit, bonus payouts and retirement savings in comparison with the competitive market offerings has been highly effective in terms of providing financial benefits to the employees (Marriott, 2023). Regarding the Retirement Savings Plan, Marriott gives its workers the option to save pre-tax, post-tax, or a mix of all three ways towards their retirement (Marriott, 2023). Marriott helps employees to save more for the future by matching 100% of their 401(k) contributions up to 5% of their monthly earnings (Marriott, 2023). All of these approaches implemented by Marriott international in order to enhance reward management and employee motivation have been highly effective in terms of improving the overall financial performance as well as the employee retention rate.
As referred to in the above figure, it can be identified that Marriott international has found a successful increase of 214.17% in their overall employee numbers from 2021 with 120,000 employees to 2022 with 377,000 employees (Macrotrends, 2023). It has been evident that the initiatives and approaches implemented by the management of Marriott in order to provide a beneficial employee reward system have been highly effective in terms of increasing the motivation level of the employees for a better retention rate. Thereby, the increasing number of employees of Marriott is noted to offer the management with their ability to enhance their overall performance in the global market. The increasing employee numbers of Marriott is also noted to highlight a positive reputation of Marriott as an employer, which helps in shaping a positive organisational behaviour of Marriott within the hospitality industry.
Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ethical employment practices within the hospitality
Corporate social responsibility in the hospitality industry works significantly in terms of uplifting the lives and working environment of employees and internal stakeholders involved in the company’s operations. However, there are various segments and aspects that continue to be affected due to the nature of the hospitality industry to put customers first (Torquati et al. 2019). These aspects generally include shift work, modern-day slavery unsociable working hours and various other employment concepts.
Shift work
While shift work is necessary for the hospitality industry to continue operating, it frequently has a significant negative impact on workers. Workers have sleep disruptions and elevated stress levels as a result of unpredictable schedules, which interfere with their natural cycles. Persistent disruption has a negative impact on psychological well-being and also raises the likelihood of long-term illnesses; moreover, this is frequently found to impair general health (Schattenberg and Schneider, 2022). In addition, the unpredictability of work hours causes a strain on social and personal connections, which further adds to the general discontent caused by the absence of work-life balance. Therefore, this not only leads to the development of discontent and dissatisfaction among employees but also leads to a lack of motivation which is a major reason for employee turnover in the hospitality industry (Yu et al. 2020). One of the major reasons due to which shift work is quite prevalent in the hospitality industry is due to the lack of minimal growth opportunities. Apart from that, it can also be stated that due to the nature of various hotels working 24-hour shift work is quite essential, especially in high-end hotels like Hyatt, JW Marriott and others. It has been seen that compared to other industries the hospitality industry has an average employee turnover rate of 70-80% annually (Roostedhr, 2023). This indicates the high level of dissatisfaction with the working environment and the tendency of employees to leave work and join another organisation for better opportunities.
Based on the above negative impacts on employee wellbeing can be stated that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the hotel sector are essential to reducing these negative impacts. Businesses may take steps like establishing wellness programs, creating flexible scheduling, and setting up sufficient support networks. Efforts that prioritize mental health support, counselling, and tools for improving sleep hygiene can greatly mitigate the challenges experienced by workers who are assigned to shift work (Martins et al. 2021). CSR strategies employed by hotels need to focus much more on compensation packages for employees who work on frequently changing shifts in order to keep them with their work. In this regard, the Two-factor theory can be taken into consideration where motivators and hygiene factors can be taken into consideration which significantly indicate the requirement of offering compensation for employees who work significantly harder.
Modern-day slavery
It is an unfortunate reality that forced labour, human trafficking and unfair labour practices are all part of modern-day slavery in the hospitality sector. There are several reasons for this severe problem (Lashley, 2020). Primarily, the industry’s need for inexpensive labour creates an atmosphere that is favourable to exploitation, especially in areas with loose rules. This desire frequently results in unethical hiring practices, wherein susceptible people are tricked by deceptive job or opportunity claims and become victims of human trafficking or unfair employers. It can be stated that hotels on a global scale are driven by profit-oriented strategies and as a result utilising such unethical measures is often overlooked (Wang, 2020). Apart from that since such modern-day slavery has become a common practice among various hotel chains, this has failed to attract critical acclimation which can help in reducing such practices
Additionally, it is difficult to monitor and ensure ethical procedures across the board due to the complexity of global supply chains in the hotel industry, which involve several suppliers and subcontractors (Stickle et al. 2019). Hotels running on a global scale employ thousands of individuals who work on multiple shapes and as a result, an administrative body that can help to overlook their working conditions requires much more resources than the companies can offer to operate profitability. This has led to a lack of transparency which further leads to the prevalence of unethical measures and operations adopted by hotel change across the world. Due to this lack of transparency, unethical companies can take advantage of monitoring weaknesses and continue modern slavery in many parts of the sector (Carrington et al. 2021).
In the hotel industry, corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is an effective instrument against modern-day slavery. In this regard businesses can impose strict codes of behaviour on their suppliers, requiring adherence to moral principles and labour regulations all the way through the supply chain. Apart from that, frequent audits and transparency initiatives can assist in locating and resolving cases of forced labour or exploitation among suppliers or subcontractors. Adopting such practices can significantly help organisations operating in the hospitality industry to reduce the number of individuals suffering from forced labour and modern-day slavery practices (Vaughan, 2023). Not only that but such practices can also set examples across the industry which can be adopted by different companies as a part of these is strategy and improve their overall reputation in the community. Furthermore, CSR programs that empower and educate populations who are susceptible to human trafficking can act as preventative measures. At-risk communities’ vulnerability to exploitation can be decreased by collaborating with local organizations and funding initiatives that provide training, employment, and skill development opportunities (Jones and Comfort, 2021). With the help of such CSR programs, companies cannot only help maximise the overall skill sets of their employees but may also lead to an increased employee detention rate where employees can feel much more inclusive in their working environment.
Pay parity
Inequalities in compensation across groups are sustained by the hospitality industry’s lack of pay equity, which leaves some groups with large salary gaps. There are several variables that lead to this problem. Firstly, one major contributing factor is still gender inequality, which sees women being paid less than men for equivalent work (Kumar, 2023). Pay disparities based on race or nationality are also a result of racial and ethnic prejudices. Even though such issues have been highlighted on a global scale not much has been done in order to resolve such issues (Tuli, 2023). Since tipped workers, who are primarily women and minorities, frequently experience uncertain earnings and lower base salaries, the industry’s reliance on tipping methods exacerbates the wage gap. Furthermore, despite their vital contributions, entry-level jobs and specific hospitality jobs like cleaning or food service are underappreciated, which results in lower pay. As a result, it becomes essential for the hotels to take care of these employees as a part of the CSR strategy to increase their human resources (Mariño-Romero et al. 2020).
Conclusion
Based on the above study it has been seen that the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the hotel sector, employee motivation, and incentive management is quite essential. Moreover, organizational behaviour is greatly influenced by reward management and employee motivation. Furthermore, CSR turns out to be a crucial instrument for tackling significant issues including the detrimental effects of shift work, modern-day slavery, and industry wage impartiality. Thus, employing CSR practices allows businesses to reduce negative impacts, empower marginalized groups, and work toward creating more equitable and inclusive work environments.
References
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