The meaning of cultural diversity among staff as it pertains to employee motivation¹

1 This paper is based on the Management Project undertaken by Laura Velten in support of her studies toward a Bachelor of Business Administration (Hotel Management) at Stenden University of Applied Science.

Abstract

Recent trends in increasing ethnic diversity in Park Hyatt Hamburg brought up the question on how cultural diversity is linked to employees’ motivation. The study focuses on the relationship between cultural diversity and employees’ motivation. The research is based on twelve, forty-five-minute, semi-structured interviews with front office and housekeeping employees of Park Hyatt Hamburg. It reveals that cultural diversity plays an important role in the motivation of employees as most employees mention atmosphere and teamwork including cultural diversity as the most motivating factors. Most of the employees responded positively to cultural diversity. However, deep level dissimilarities including different standards and values can lead to negative outcomes. These findings are consistent with published research and literature on the subject. An important factor with regard to the perception of cultural diversity is the cultural competence of the employees. Therefore, it is recommended that the employment of culturally diverse employees is favourable, though attention has to be paid when employees have a very different culture from other employees, as it can lead to conflict.

Keywords:

• cultural diversity
• motivation
• cultural competency
• team work

Notes

1 This paper is based on the Management Project undertaken by Laura Velten in support of her studies toward a Bachelor of Business Administration (Hotel Management) at Stenden University of Applied Science.