Workers in the luxury hospitality industry and motivation – the influence of gender, age and departments¹

1 This paper is informed by research undertaken by Ambra Hekman for her management project submitted in support of her Bachelor of Business Administration (Hotel Management) at Stenden University of Applied Science.

Abstract

This research was conducted to find out whether demographics such as age, gender and working within different departments have an influence on the motivational factors of workers in the luxury hospitality industry. Questionnaires were filled out by 39 employees from the luxury five-star XYZ Hotel situated in an Italian city. In this questionnaire all the participants had to rank the motivational factors on a Likert scale. This study found, by using the ANOVA statistical test, that there was only a relation between age, the opportunity for advancement and sympathetic personal help. This study also found that appreciation for a job well done was the most important motivational factor, whereas the opportunity for advancement was ranked as least important. Moreover, each age group, gender and department is motivated by different factors. It was notable that previous research showed similarities with the current research. However, there were also various differences noticed. XYZ Hotel can use this research to get a better insight into the motivational factors from its workers, and better motivation strategies can be developed. Moreover, this research can be duplicated within other segments of the hospitality industry.

Keywords:

• demographics
• motivation in the hospitality industry
• luxury hotels
• employee motivation

Notes

1 This paper is informed by research undertaken by Ambra Hekman for her management project submitted in support of her Bachelor of Business Administration (Hotel Management) at Stenden University of Applied Science.