Employee Engagement in the Hotel Industry

This report discusses the importance of employee engagement in the hotel industry and its impact on organizational success. It explores the current issues related to employee engagement and the development of a talented workforce. The report also provides examples of poor or good practices in employee engagement from other organizations in the hospitality industry. Additionally, it discusses the corporate ethics strategy of Hilton Hotels and Resorts and its sustainability for lifelong employment. The report concludes with suggestions for the organization to develop the attitudes and skills of its workforce for lifelong employment.

Employee Engagement in the
hotel industry
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Discussion of the organisation and the current issue related to employee engagement
and development of talented workforce......................................................................................3
Task 2: Issue from selected organisation and examples of other organisations depicting their
poor or good practice...................................................................................................................4
Task 3: Corporate ethic strategy of company and its sustainability for lifelong employment....6
Task 4: Conclusion and suggestion that help organisation to develop workforce with attitudes
and skills for lifelong employment..............................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Employee engagement is a crucial aspect of an organisation which is critical to retain
valuable talent in the workplace. It is the degree to which workforce feel passionate regarding
their jobs as well as committed to the company and put discretionary effort while performing
their work. Engaged employees are the key to success for a company as they lead it towards
success and growth (Aktar and Pangil, 2018). In this report, the chosen organisation is Hilton
Hotels and Resorts which is a well-known hotel group founded in year 1919. Its headquarter is
located in Virginia, United States and offer high quality hospitality services to customers.
This is a proposal project based on the topic "employee engagement in hotel industry". It
covers discussion about the organisation and the current issue it faces along with the examples
from other organisations in hospitality industry. Apart from this, the report also includes
corporate ethics strategy of company as well as its sustainability for lifelong employment (Kang
and Jang, 2019). At last, brief conclusion and suggestions are provided to the company to
develop skills of workforce for lifelong employment.
MAIN BODY
Task 1: Discussion of the organisation and the current issue related to employee engagement and
development of talented workforce
Employee engagement is referred as the emotional connection that workers feel towards
organisation. This tends to impact their level of efforts and behaviour towards work related
activities. It is about understanding the role of an individual in organisation and being energized
and sighed on where it fit the objectives and purpose of organisation (Ayub and Islam, 2018).
Engaged companies have authentic and strong values along with clear evidence of fairness and
trust on the basis of mutual respect where the commitments and promises are two ways -
between the employees and employers and are understood as well as fulfilled appropriately. The
organisation where employees are engaged properly gets various benefits in terms of increase
productivity, maximize profitability, reduce absenteeism, higher retention of employees and
customer satisfaction. This makes it essential for the organisation to keep its employees satisfied
and motivated so that they remain engaged in the company and work effectively towards
accomplishment of goals and objectives of company (Cain Tanford and Shulga, 2018).
Hilton Hotels and Resorts is one of the leading global brand that provides its services
worldwide. The company was originally founded by Conrad Nicholson Hilton in year 1919,
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around 101 years ago. The group has its hotels in around 586 locations in around 85 Nations and
territories all across six continents. As Hilton deals in service-oriented industry, employees are
the key assets for organisation who helps in providing high quality services to customers and
leads it towards success and growth. So, it is very crucial for the hotel to keep its employees
satisfied so that they remain engaged in the working activities of organisation. However, there
are several issues associated with employee engagement including toxic workplace culture,
unethical leadership, unrealistic and conflicting goals, discrimination and harassment etc. which
adversely impacts on engagement and retention of employees in hotel (Chug, 2017).
The main issue which is faced by Hilton Hotel is associated with discrimination due to
which a healthy environment takes place in the organisation and it adversely impact on
engagement of employees. The activities on an ethical practices associated with discrimination
and harassment leads to decline the satisfaction level of employees which resulted into
demotivated employees in workplace that ultimately harms the productivity of company and its
position in the market.
Task 2: Issue from selected organisation and examples of other organisations depicting their poor
or good practice
In current competitive business environment, the organisation needs to ensure that it keeps
its employees motivated and satisfied so that a healthy workplace culture can be maintained in
the company and all the employees are able to work productively towards accomplishing
organisational goals. Engaged employees provides various benefits to organisation in terms of
reduced employee turnover, healthy workplace culture, improve productivity and performance of
employees and organisation, developing good brand image etc. (Claxton Ferreira and Oliveira,
2014). However, some of the organisations failed to adopt good practices in the company which
leads to dissatisfied employees in the organisation that adversely impact on their engagement in
working activities of company.
As per the news published in The Telegram, one of the chain of Hilton Hotel avoided to
recruit black staff in the job positions where they would visible to guests or public (Hilton hotel
'avoided employing black staff where they would be visible to public', 2020). This adversely
impact on the motivation level of employees and they get dissatisfied after seeing such kind of
discrimination that Hotel do with its employees. This highly impacts on the engagement level in
company which in turn impacts on its productivity.
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As per the view point of Judy Greenwald, (2020), one of the employee of Marriott Hotel
was physically threatened and discriminated due to his Coptic Christian religion by organisation
and some of its employees. When the employee who faced discrimination in the organisation
complaint about unlawful discrimination, he was fired by his management (Hostile work
environment claims against Marriott reinstated, 2020). This adversely impacts on the motivation
and engagement level of other employees in the activities of company. Apart from this, the hotel
also discriminates against the workers who are blind by needing its managers to utilise
inaccessible computer software as well as rejecting accessible alternatives. An employee of the
hotel, Ali Faraj has been excluded from management position on the basis of requirement of
Hotel that managers utilise sales force automation program named as Siebel customer
relationship management (Lawsuit Claims Marriott Discriminates Against Blind Employees,
2020). Despite of the requests, the hotel had refused to configure its sales force automation
software so that individuals who are blind can service managers. Through this discriminatory
practice, the hotel violates the Disabilities Act.
The above examples depicted about how organisation discriminated against its employees
on the basis of their race, religion, gender, colour, religion, nationality etc. Each individual has
the right to get safe workplace environment which is discrimination free. Discrimination on the
basis of several attributes violates the rights of someone to be treated with fairness, dignity and
respect. It can damage the wellbeing of affected person, their job security and work performance
and can be destructive for a business like Hilton Hotel by developing negative culture of
workplace (Guillet, 2020). It can expose the organisation to direct liability, where the
organisation engaged in discriminatory practices for discrimination engage in employees of hotel
where it cannot show that it took any reasonable step in order to prevent occurrence of
discrimination in workplace. These discriminatory practices adversely influence the engagement
and motivation level of employees in the company which harms their productivity along with the
organisational productivity. So, it is necessary for Hilton Hotel to foster positive workplace
culture and provide employees with discrimination and harassment free workplace so that they
are able to perform their roles and responsibilities effectively and are more engaged in activities
and operations of company (Gürlek and Tuna, 2019).
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Task 3: Corporate ethic strategy of company and its sustainability for lifelong employment
Hilton is a leading hospitality organisation with a portfolio of 18 leading brands
comprising over 6100 properties in 118 Nations. The company is dedicated to provide high
quality services to its guests and becoming the leading company of the world. There are various
corporate ethics strategies which are adopted by company to work ethically. Hilton hotel is
committed to its values and work ethically to sustain its lifelong position in the market. While
performing its operations, the hotel acts with high standard of integrity. Its decisions are
consistent with its values and adopt ethical practices to perform its business operations (Hansen
and Kiersch, 2014). Some of the corporate ethical strategies adopted by Hilton Hotel are as
follows:
 Fair dealing: the hotel strives to deal fairly with its employees, guests, competitors and
business partners. The company is not taking unfair advantage or benefit of anyone and
committed to perform its operations and activities ethically.
 Culture of integrity: the hotel is responsible for act with integrity to enhance reputation
of Hotel as well as maintain healthy workplace culture. The code of conduct of the hotel
provides it with guidance or direction about the way organisation work to maintain
highest ethical standards. Integrity culture governs the interaction of company with its
business partners, employees, guests and community.
 Competition and antitrust: the hotel is committed to comply with all the applicable
laws and regulations related to antitrust involving federal and state antitrust laws and
competition laws. These laws are developed in order to promote competition as well as
protect consumers (Jung and Yoon, 2018).
Task 4: Conclusion and suggestion that help organisation to develop workforce with attitudes
and skills for lifelong employment
According to the above discussion, it can be concluded that it is very crucial for the
organisation to ensure that its employees remain engaged in the hotel so that they can work
productively and put their efforts towards the accomplishment of organizational goals and
objectives. Discrimination and harassment as one of the issue due to which the engagement level
of employees in the organisation is affected (Kang and Busser, 2018). In order to overcome the
issue and increase employee engagement in the hotel along with development of skills and
competencies of employees, it is recommended to the Hilton hotels and resorts that:
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 It should provide training to its employees about how to work collectively and interact
with others effectively in the workplace. It must aware its employees about the ill effects
of discrimination on workplace environment and the staff members and encourage them
to treat each employee of the company with equal dignity and respect.
 It is also recommended to the hotel that it should formulate effective anti-discrimination
policy and communicate it appropriately in the organisation so that all the employees are
aware of the policy and are familiar about the actions that are against that will take
against the person who treat unfairly any individual in the organisation.
 Apart from this, it is suggested to the manager of Hotel that they must provide healthy
workplace culture to the employees so that they are able to work effectively and
accomplish organizational goals. The managers are required to review the issues arise in
the workplace and interact with each member of team effectively so that all the issues can
be resolved appropriately and a healthy workplace culture can be maintained in the
organisation where all the employees work collectively to accomplish organizational
goals.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report it has been concluded that, employees are the main part
of organisation and are highly contribute towards leading the organisation to growth and success.
It is necessary for the hotel to ensure that all the employees I am motivated and satisfied with the
organisation in order to ensure their engagement in the activities of company. Motivated
employees stay engaged in the company and contribute in its growth and success. So, the
organisation must put its effort towards keeping its employees satisfied and remain engaged in
the company.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Aktar, A. and Pangil, F., 2018. Mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship
between human resource management practices and employee engagement. International
Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
Ayub, N. B. and Islam, M. K., 2018. The Effects of Employee Engagement on Employee
Performance in the Hotel Industry in Kelantan. Global Business & Management
Research. 10(3).
Cain, L., Tanford, S. and Shulga, L., 2018. Customers’ perceptions of employee engagement:
Fortifying the service–profit chain. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism
Administration. 19(1). pp.52-77.
Chug, P. K., 2017. Enhancing Employee Engagement Through a Novel Mathematical Model in
the Hospitality Sector of India. Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management. 10(8). pp.7-
24.
Claxton, J., Ferreira, P. and de Oliveira, E.R., 2014. Does corporate social responsibility impact
on employee engagement?. Journal of Workplace Learning.
Guillet, B. D., 2020. Online upselling: moving beyond offline upselling in the hotel industry.
International Journal of Hospitality Management. 84. p.102322.
Gürlek, M. and Tuna, M., 2019. Corporate social responsibility and work engagement: Evidence
from the hotel industry. Tourism Management Perspectives. 31. pp.195-208.
Hansen, A., Byrne, Z. and Kiersch, C., 2014. How interpersonal leadership relates to employee
engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology.
Jung, H. S. and Yoon, H. H., 2018. Improving frontline service employees' innovative behavior
using conflict management in the hospitality industry: The mediating role of engagement.
Tourism Management. 69. pp.498-507.
Kang, H. J. A. and Busser, J.A., 2018. Impact of service climate and psychological capital on
employee engagement: The role of organizational hierarchy. International Journal of
Hospitality Management. 75. pp.1-9.
Kang, J. and Jang, J., 2019. What do employees perceive as hindrance or challenge stressors in
the hotel industry? The role that hope plays. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality
& Tourism. 18(3). pp.299-322.
Karumuri, V., 2016. Employee engagement: Hotel industry. SCMS Journal of Indian
management. 13(3). pp.120-128.
Kim, M. S. and Koo, D. W., 2017. Linking LMX, engagement, innovative behavior, and job
performance in hotel employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management.
Lee, J. and Ok, C. M., 2016. Hotel employee work engagement and its consequences. Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management. 25(2). pp.133-166.
Popli, S. and Rizvi, I. A., 2017. Leadership style and service orientation: the catalytic role of
employee engagement. Journal of Service Theory and Practice.
Presbitero, A., 2017. How do changes in human resource management practices influence
employee engagement? A longitudinal study in a hotel chain in the Philippines. Journal
of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism. 16(1). pp.56-70.
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Singh, J., 2019. Study of relation between CSR and employee engagement in hotel industry. In
Corporate Social Responsibility: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp.
1243-1249). IGI Global.
Yadav, S. and Morya, K. K., 2019. A study of employee engagement and its impact on
organizational citizenship behavior in the hotel industry. IUP Journal of Organizational
Behavior. 18(1). pp.7-31.
Zameer, H. and et. al., 2018. Corporate image and customer satisfaction by virtue of employee
engagement. Human Systems Management. 37(2). pp.233-248.
Zientara, P. and Zamojska, A., 2018. Green organizational climates and employee pro-
environmental behaviour in the hotel industry. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 26(7).
pp.1142-1159.
Online
Hilton hotel 'avoided employing black staff where they would be visible to public', 2020.
[Online]. Available through: < https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-
order/8118382/Hilton-hotel-avoided-employing-black-staff-where-they-would-be-
visible-to-public.html>
Hostile work environment claims against Marriott reinstated, 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/00010101/NEWS06/912333427/Hostile-
work-environment-claims-against-Marriott-reinstated#>
Lawsuit Claims Marriott Discriminates Against Blind Employees, 2020. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.levelaccess.com/lawsuit-claims-marriott-discriminates-against-
blind-employees/>
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