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The impact of demographic factors on Hong Konghotel employees' choice of job-related motivators

Simon WongDepartment of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong PolytechnicUniversity, Hong KongVickie SiuDepartment of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong PolytechnicUniversity, Hong KongNelson TsangDepartment of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong PolytechnicUniversity, Hong Kong

Introduction

Hong Kong was rated number two in the

world in terms of competitive strengths by

the World Economic Forum (1997). The

service industry continues to be a crucial

revenue generator for the economic develop-

ment of the Special Administrative Region

(SAR). Over recent years, Hong Kong's econ-

omy has successfully restructured itself from

being manufacturing-oriented to service-

oriented.

The hotel industry constitutes a major

segment of this growing service industry in

Hong Kong. The hotel sector has accommo-

dated more than ten million tourist visitors

each year for the past two years. Given its

labor-intensive nature, the hotel industry

places great emphasis on customer service,

which is an important factor in attracting

new customers and retaining repeat guests.

However, employee morale was rated the

lowest in the world in a study conducted by

the International Survey Research (ISR)

(Oriental Daily News, 1996), which surveyed

7,500 employees of 30 sizable companies in

Hong Kong. The ISR results also revealed

that Hong Kong employees' morale has

continued to go downhill for the last 24 years.

According to the Hong Kong Hotels Asso-

ciation annual staff turnover report, the

average employee turnover rate was 41.26 per

cent for 1994/1995, for the 64 hotels that

participated in the survey. It could therefore

be useful for researchers to address the real

job motivators of Hong Kong hotel employ-

ees. If hotel managers can satisfy their

employees by understanding their underly-

ing motivations better, it will help to retain

hotel employees and thus improve customer

satisfaction in the long run.

Literature review

Mullins (1992) defined motivation as `̀ the

direction and persistence of actions''. He

stated that the driving force of motivation is

`̀ towards the satisfaction of certain needs and

expectations''. Maslow (1943), the pioneer of

motivational theories, developed his classical

five hierarchies of human needs:

1 psychological;

2 safety;

3 social;

4 esteem; and

5 self-actualization.

Mayo (1945) supported the idea that employ-

ees want to belong to a social group. Mayo

argued that this need is more important than

monetary compensation in motivating em-

ployees.

Similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs

theory, McClelland (1965) suggested the

acquired-needs theory of motivation. He

proposed that human beings have three types

of needs:

1 need for achievement;

2 need for power; and

3 need for affiliation.

Nevertheless, Taylor (1991) disagreed that the

need for affiliation is more important than

monetary rewards. He believed that econom-

ic gain is the primary motivation for em-

ployees. This was supported by research

done by Graham and Kwok (1987) in Hong

Kong. They concluded that financial reward

is the primary motivator for Hong Kong

people. Another study conducted by Luk and

Arnold (1989) about the motivations and job

satisfaction of women in Hong Kong also

supported this conclusion. Their results

reflected that `̀ good pay'', `̀ chance for pro-

motion and advancement'' and `̀ job that

enables development'', were rated as impor-

tant job motivators.

Another influential motivation theory was

suggested by Frederick Herzberg (Herzberg

and Narnara, 1959). Unlike Maslow's hier-

archy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory

argued that individual needs satisfaction

does not progress in a hierarchy.

Herzberg's model is based on two distinct

sets of factors that influence behaviour:

1 Hygiene factors influencing job dissatis-

faction, which include pay, company po-

licies, working conditions and the nature

of supervision satisfaction.

[ 230 ]

International Journal ofContemporary HospitalityManagement11/5 [1999] 230±241

# MCB University Press[ISSN 0959-6119]

KeywordsDemographic trends, Employees,

Hong Kong, Hotels, Motivation

AbstractHong Kong hotel employees were

surveyed regarding their choices of

job-related motivators, based on

the ten job-related motivational

factors developed by Kovach

(1946). A total of 1,245 useful

questionnaires completed by the

employees working for 64 hotels in

Hong Kong, of the 72 listed in the

Hong Kong Hotels Directory, were

returned and analysed. The top

three motivators identified by

these Hong Kong hotel employees

were: (1) Opportunities for

advancement/development; (2)

Loyalty to employees; and (3) Good

wages. MANOVA analysis revealed

no interaction effect between three

independent variables: gender,

marital status and position level.

ANOVA analysis was then em-

ployed to determine whether any

significant differences existed

between different demographic

variables among the hotel

employees, concerning their moti-

vational choices. Significant differ-

ences were found in three job-

related motivators among most

demographic variables. They were:

(1) Interesting work; (2) Opportu-

nities for advancement and

development; and (3) Feeling of

being involved. We concluded that

different demographic groups look

for different motivational factors in

their jobs. The impacts of the

demographic characteristics are

discussed, and recommendations

are made regarding tailor-made

motivational programmes for dif-

ferent/types of employees.

E-mail addresses:[email protected]@[email protected]

2 Motivating factors influencing job satis-

faction, which include recognition, pro-

motion, achievement, the intrinsic nature

of the work and opportunities for personal

growth.

According to Herzberg, job satisfaction and

dissatisfaction are seen as two distinct and

independent continuums. At one end, it

ranges from satisfaction to no satisfaction

while at the other, it ranges from dissatis-

faction to no dissatisfaction. Job factors such

as pay, status, working conditions, job

security and interpersonal relations are

considered by Herzberg as extrinsic factors.

These factors have a placating effect such

that employees will become dissatisfied with

their job when these needs are not ade-

quately met. However, they may not contri-

bute to job satisfaction even when they are

adequately met. On the contrary, factors such

as the work, recognition, achievement feel-

ing, opportunities for growth and advance-

ment are known as intrinsic factors. They are

the true and forceful motivators that gener-

ate job satisfaction. Balmer and Baum (1993)

applied the Herzberg's theories to the realm

of hotel guest satisfaction in Cyprus. They

argued that Herzberg's theory is more

applicable and relevant than Maslow's, in

view of changes in customer expectations

and the concept of quality.

Holt (1993) developed a similar motiva-

tional theory that classified motivation into

two categories:

1 intrinsic; and

2 extrinsic.

Externally-generated stimuli such as pay,

promotion and disciplinary action, are called

`̀ extrinsic factors'', while self-esteem and self-

actualization are called `̀ intrinsic factors''.

According to Holt (1993), intrinsic motivators

normally carry more weight than the extrin-

sic motivators.

Lawler and Porter's Equity Theory (1967)

suggested that individuals are concerned

about the `̀ fairness'' with which they are

treated in an organization in comparison

with their peers. The theory suggested that

equitable rewards are an important link

between performance and satisfaction.

Adams' study (1963) suggested that indivi-

duals compare their rewards such as pay,

promotion, status and recognition with those

of their peers doing similar tasks. Indivi-

duals will only improve their job perfor-

mance if they feel that equity exists within

the organization's pay system. However,

when individuals feel that they are unequally

paid when compared with their colleagues,

they will be less willing to exert effort at

work. Stuart (1992) indicated that recognition

for a job well done was the top motivator of

employee performance, whereas money was

rated second.

Many studies have been conducted to

determine what employees want from their

jobs. One of the most widely-known surveys

was published in Foreman Facts by the Labor

Relations Institute of New York in 1946. The

study, involving industrial workers in the

USA, identified ten job-related factors (Ko-

vach, 1980, 1987) which are considered as

important to motivate employees on their

jobs. The ten factors were to a great extent

similar to those identified in Herzberg's two-

factor theory (see Table I).

Changes were found by Kovach when he

compared the studies done in 1946 and 1986.

Unexpectedly, `̀ interesting work'' became

more important than wages in the interven-

ing 40 years. Kovach stated that the reason

for this change was probably the general

improvement of Americans' living standard

and hence quality of life after World War II.

Austin (1994) supported this argument by

discussing ways to develop highly-motivated

and creative staff in Silicon Graphics Inc. He

argued that intrinsic factors had a more

influential role in motivating employees.

Thereafter, Kovach's ten factors were

repeatedly adopted by a number of research-

ers, including Charles and Marshall (1992),

Darder (1994), and Simons and Enz (1995) to

study the underlying motivation of employ-

ees in other industries.

Motivation in the hotel industryAs well as its high labour turnover and

labour-intensive nature, the hotel industry is

characterized by low job security, low pay,

shift duties and limited opportunities for

promotion (Byrne, 1986; Knight, 1971). The

studies of Ball (1988) and Lee-Ross (1993)

added that these characteristics seemed to be

Table IHerzberg's and Kovach's job-related factorsfor employee motivation

Herzberg's twofactors Kovach's ten job-related factors

Intrinsic factors Full appreciation of work doneFeeling of being involvedSympathetic help with personal

problemsInteresting workOpportunities for advancement

and developmentLoyalty to employees

Extrinsic factors Good working conditionsTactful discipliningJob securityGood wages

[ 231 ]

Simon Wong, Vickie Siu andNelson TsangThe impact of demographicfactors on Hong Kong hotelemployees' choice of job-related motivators


more extreme in the seasonal sector. Under-

standing hotel workers' attitudes and moti-

vations has therefore become a useful area of

research in the industry.

Hackman and Oldham developed the Job

Characteristics Theory (JCT) and further

developed the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS)

(Hackman and Oldham, 1974, 1980). In line

with this theory, Hackman and Oldham

developed the concept of the growth-need-

strength dimension. This survey was dis-

tributed to 163 hotel employees by Lee-Ross

(1995), in order to understand the attitudes

and motivations of subgroups of seasonal

hotel workers. The results indicated that

hotel workers can be divided into subgroups,

distinguished by residential status and work

preference.

In Charles and Marshall's study (1992),

good wages and good working conditions

were rated as the first and second priorities

of these 255 Caribbean hotel employees. The

results were supported by Simons and Enz

(1995), who conducted a survey of 278 hotel

employees in 12 different hotels located

throughout the USA and Canada. Good

wages, job security and opportunities for

advancement and development were ranked

as the three most important factors by these

hospitality workers.

The above findings seem to be supported by

the concept of Theory M (Money) postulated

by Weaver (1988), who suggested the offering

of direct cash rewards for employees or

workers demonstrating above-average pro-

ductivity. He argued that though this pro-

gramme would increase payroll costs, profits

gained from increased sales or savings by the

company offset the costs. A motivational

programme based on Theory M would elim-

inate the source of worker turnover, because

employees would perceive that they were

paid what they were worth.

Motivation by money was adopted as a

bonus and pension incentive plan by the

Four Seasons Hotels (Johnson, 1986). Differ-

ent categories of employees received differ-

ent ranges of bonuses, making the Four

Seasons Hotel chain a company with a

reputation for offering relatively high wages,

generous benefits and recognition. Another

study done by Shamir (1983) who found out

that 40 per cent of the surveyed 286 employ-

ees in a quality hotel in Jerusalem reported

that tips were part of their pay. Employees'

expectations regarding tipping were investi-

gated, and tip recipients were more likely to

experience general role conflict and job

satisfaction than were non-recipients.

Motivation by travel is another common

incentive in other industries such as the

insurance industry (Neal, 1977). The type of

hotel, duration of stay and the travelling

expenses were all a direct reflection of how

the company rewarded their top performers.

Using recognition as a motivational tool is

well accepted in the service industry. The

Mary Kay Company publicly recognized out-

standing salespersons in their convention

(Schaefer, 1982). Mississippi Management

Inc. believed that sharing information be-

tween executive managers and internal

competition improved employees' motivation

(Richman, 1986). Westin Hotels and Resorts

used an employee-of-the-month incentive

programme to motivate their staff. Whenever

an employee's name appeared on a guest

comment card, a thank-you letter and US$5

were offered to that employee by the man-

agement (Jaquette, 1992). Lee-Ross (1995)

supported the concept of `̀ internal work

motivation'' which had a similar meaning to

intrinsic motivation in that the more effort

expended by workers on their jobs, the more

motivated they would become.

Demographic differencesA study by Simons and Enz (1995) revealed

that employees from different departments

responded to different job rewards, and thus

suggested that individual differences should

be considered when designing motivational

programmes.

Certain demographic variables were also

found to be influential in causing individual

differences in people's perceptions of moti-

vational factors. The study conducted by

Reiger and Rees (1993) reflected that years of

experience significantly affected the motiva-

tional levels of teachers. However, no sig-

nificant differences were found in relation to

gender, age or race. Motivation is not affected

by gender, as shown in the study of Komives

(1991) of gender as it related to leadership and

performance in residence hall assistants.

Younger hotel employees preferred more

recognition, attention, direction and motiva-

tion (Feiertag, 1993). Further, a positive

relationship was found to exist between

income and total business experience (two

demographic variables) and the salesperson's

performance at work. Effort and performance

were positively correlated, and training was

found to contribute to better performance

(Roberts et al., 1994).

Nevertheless, there has been little research

on understanding the job-related motivations

of Hong Kong people, except for the Luk and

Arnold (1989) study on women's motivations

and satisfaction. The authors of this study

have therefore attempted to fill this gap by

researching the impact of demographic fac-

tors on Hong Kong hotel employees' choice of

job-related motivators.

[ 232 ]



Objectives

The objectives of the current study were:

1 to investigate the relationship, if any,

between demographic variables and the

ten job-related motivators among Hong

Kong hotel employees;

2 based on the findings, to suggest strategies

to hoteliers for developing suitable moti-

vational programmes for employees with

different demographic backgrounds.

Methodology

A self-administered questionnaire was de-

veloped, and respondents were asked to rank

the ten job-related factors (Kovach, 1980,

1987). In Section I of the questionnaire,

respondents were asked to choose Kovach's

ten job-related factors on a Likert scale of `̀ 1 =

least important to 5 = most important''. In

Section II, respondents' demographic infor-

mation was collected. Details sought included

gender, position level, department, marital

status, age, education, tenure, years of ser-

vice in the present position and monthly

income.

The targets of the study were employees of

the nine functional departments in the 72

full-member hotels of the Hong Kong Hotels

Association. The nine departments were:

food and beverage, front office, housekeep-

ing, sales and marketing, financial control,

human resources, engineering, public rela-

tions and security.

Five questionnaires were sent to each of

the nine departments. One was to be com-

pleted by a manager of that department, two

by the supervisors and two by the general

staff. This arrangement was made in order to

be in line with the organizational pyramid

concept ± assuming that there are fewer

people at the managerial level and more in

the middle and the bottom.

Profile of respondents

Of the 3,240 mailed-out questionnaires, 1,245

useful responses were returned, representing

a 38.4 per cent response rate. Respondents

represented 64 of the 72 listed in the hotels

directory. Table II illustrates the profile of

respondents.

Of the 1,245 respondents, 59.8 per cent were

male and 40.2 per cent were female, 56.1 per

cent were unmarried while 43.9 per cent were

married. Supervisors and general staff ac-

counted for 74 per cent of respondents, with

managers accounting for 26 per cent. The

front office accounted for the highest re-

sponse rate (20.1 per cent) followed closely by

the housekeeping department (17.3 per cent).

In general, the response was quite evenly

distributed among the nine departments.

Further, 47.8 per cent of respondents were

aged between 26 and 35 (47.8 per cent),

followed by those aged between 21 and 25 (23.7

per cent) and 36 to 40 (12.1 per cent). Most of

the respondents had completed their second-

ary school education (55.5 per cent), with 16

per cent of them finishing vocational train-

ing (technical institute) and 15.4 per cent

university education. Of them 36.3 per cent

had two to five years of tenure, followed by

five to ten years (24.7 per cent). In addition,

44.9 per cent of the respondents had between

one and three years' experience in their

present position. Finally, most of the re-

spondents (65.8 per cent) earned less than

HK$15,000 month, and 17.7 per cent earned

between HK$15,000 and HK$20,000.

Findings and discussion

The top three job-related motivators identi-

fied by the Hong Kong hotel employees were:

1 opportunities for advancement and

development;

2 loyalty to employees; and

3 good wages (see Table III).

Results indicated that hotel employees gen-

erally have a strong concern for career

development. Respect and trust given by

their employers was rated as the second most

important factor. The `̀ Face'' and `̀ Guanxi''

concepts in the Chinese culture may have

contributed to this result. In addition, the

relatively high living standards in Hong

Kong and the weak social welfare system

may be responsible for the high value that

Hong Kong people place on good wages.

The ranking orders of other employees

from previous studies are presented in

Table III. It is interesting to note that the two

intrinsic motivators: `̀ Tactful disciplining''

and `̀ Sympathetic help with personal pro-

blems'' were rated the lowest by both Hong

Kong and American employees, dating back

to 1986.

Though many people assume that Hong

Kong people look first for money, the reality

is that American employees rated `̀ Good

wages'' as the first motivator, while Hong

Kong hotel employees placed it third. In Table

III, we can observe that Hong Kong employees

preferred opportunities and respect (loyalty

to employees) over wages. American hospi-

tality workers preferred `̀ Good wages'', `̀ Job

security'' and `̀ Opportunities for advance-

ment/development''. The ranking order

changed over time in the USA, as we dis-

covered when studying the differences in the

[ 233 ]



ranking by employees in 1995 and 1986. When

we compared the top three job-related moti-

vators in the four different surveys, intrinsic

motivators prevailed for many years until

recently, when `̀ Good wages'' entered the top

ranks. Though intrinsic motivators dominate

the top ranking, the actual top motivator

changed from `̀ Appreciation and praise for

work done'' in 1946 to `̀ Opportunities for

advancement/development'' today. This

shows that the values of people change over

time. It is therefore imperative for hoteliers

to understand this change, so that they can

master it better.

Table IIProfile of respondents

Sex Male : 745 (59.80%)Female : 500 (40.20%)

Position level Manager : 325 (26.00%)Supervisor : 488 (39.00%)General Staff : 438 (35.00%)

Department Food and beverage : 200 (16.20%)Front office : 248 (20.10%)Housekeeping : 214 (17.30%)Sales and marketing : 107 ( 8.70%)Financial control : 145 (11.70%)Human resources : 98 ( 7.90%)Engineering : 102 ( 8.30%)Public relations : 22 ( 1.80%)Security : 92 ( 7.40%)Others (administration) : 7 ( 0.60%)

Marital status Married : 549 (43.90%)Not married (includingsingle, separated, divorced or widowed) : 701 (56.10%)

Age group 16 ± 20 : 32 ( 2.60%)21 ± 25 : 297 (23.70%)26 ± 30 : 330 (26.40%)31 ± 35 : 268 (21.40%)36 ± 40 : 151 (12.10%)41 ± 45 : 101 ( 8.10%)46 ± 50 : 50 ( 4.00%)50 or above : 23 ( 1.80%)

Highest education attainment Primary school : 44 ( 3.50%)Secondary school (Form 5) : 695 (55.50%)Matriculation (Form 7) : 82 ( 6.50%)Technical institute : 200 (16.00%)University : 193 (15.40%)Postgraduate : 38 ( 3.00%)

Length of service in the company 3 months : 47 ( 3.80%)3 months to less than 6 months : 49 ( 3.90%)6 months to less than 1 year : 112 ( 8.90%)1 year to less than 2 years : 172 (13.70%)2 years to less than 5 years : 454 (36.30%)5 years to less than 10 years : 309 (24.70%)10 years or more : 109 ( 8.70%)

Number of years in present position Under 1 year : 260 (20.80%)1 ± 3 years : 561 (44.90%)4 ± 6 years : 272 (21.80%)7 ± 10 years : 97 ( 7.80%)over 10 years : 59 ( 4.70%)

Monthly income (HK$) Under 8,000 : 18 ( 1.40%)8,001 to 10,000 : 248 (19.90%)10,001 to 15,000 : 556 (44.50%)15,001 to 20,000 : 221 (17.70%)20,001 to 25,000 : 90 ( 7.20%)Over 25,000 : 116 ( 9.30%)

[ 234 ]



MANOVA and ANOVA analyses

Three independent variables, gender, marital

status and position level, were suspected to

have an interaction effect. MANOVA analy-

sis was employed to test this assumption. In

Table IV, both multivariate and univariate

analyses of variances were conducted with

the three independent variables in relation to

respondents' perception of ten job-related

motivators. No interaction effect was found

in the three independent variables, since

significant differences of all interaction

combinations were higher than 0.05. There-

fore, ANOVA analysis was employed on

other demographic variables to determine

whether any significant differences existed

between them. An alpha reliability test for

intrinsic and extrinsic motivators was also

conducted. The alpha coefficient of the in-

trinsic factors was 0.86, while it was 0.79 for

extrinsic factors. This further proved that the

clustering into two categories, intrinsic and

extrinsic motivators, was appropriate.

GenderFemale employees collectively had a high

preference for several job-related motivators,

including interesting work, feeling of being

involved, good working conditions and ap-

preciation and praise for work done. This

indicates that gender does have a role in

influencing employees' perceptions of the

motivational factors. The results reflect that

female staff prefer more care and recognition

from employers than their male counter-

parts. A soft-tone approach therefore seems

to be more appropriate for motivating female

employees (see Table V).

Marital statusEmployees who were not married considered

some of the job-related factors as more

important than the married staff. These

factors were: interesting work, feeling of

being involved, opportunities for advance-

ment and development, and appreciation and

praise for work done. It could be speculated

that the non-married staff are willing to

spend more of their time on developing their

career, and in turn demand better treatment

from management. Married employees, how-

ever, are more inclined to strike a balance

between work and family life. Hence, job-

related motivational factors are compara-

tively less important to them (see Table VI).

Position levelOverall, respondents at managerial level

perceived three motivational factors as more

important than did respondents at both

supervisory and general levels.

First, job security was evaluated as sig-

nificantly more important by hotel managers

than by general staff. Managers may perceive

that they have more to lose if they lose their

job, since they are entitled to better benefits

and compensation. Second, the feeling of

being involved was also rated highly by Hong

Kong managers. This indicates a strong

desire for involvement in decision making

and operations among hotel managers, which

Table IIIImportance ranking comparison of various motivators by different employees

Job-related factors

Importance ranking of

HK hotel employees

ranking 1997

N = 1,245

Importance ranking

of US hospitality

workers 1995

N = 278


US industrial

workers 1986

N = 1,000


US industrial workers

1946a

Opportunities for

advancement/development 1 3 6 7

Loyalty to employees 2 7 8 8

Good wages 3 1 5 5

Job security 4 2 4 4

Good working conditions 5 4 7 9

Appreciation and praise for

work done 6 6 2 1

Interesting work 7 5 1 6

Feeling of being involved 8 8 3 2

Tactful disciplining 9 9 9 10

Sympathetic help with

personal problems 10 10 10 3

Notes: aAs noted in Kenneth A. Kovach `̀ What motivates employees? Workers and supervisors give differentanswers'', Business Horizons, Vol. 30 No. 5 (September-October, 1987), pp. 58-65

[ 235 ]



contributes to a sense of job satisfaction.

Third, managerial staff consider opportu-

nities for advancement and development to

be important. It seems that even if they had

reached managerial positions, good career

planning and learning opportunities were

still valid (see Table VII). Hotel companies

can utilize this finding to tailor-make more

appropriate motivational programmes for

managers.

Other demographic variables

DepartmentA summary of other demographic impacts isillustrated in Table VIII. Respondents from

the sales and marketing department gave a

higher rating for the following four job-related factors: interesting work, the feeling

of being involved, help with personal pro-blems and opportunity for advancement and

Table IVSummary of the impact of demographic factors on the perception of the relative importance ofmotivators, by multivariate and univariate analyses of variance

Sources of variation

MultivariateF ratio

(hotellings)Univariate

F ratio Probability

Gender (male and female) 2.62Extrinsic motivatorsa Good wages 0.858 0.35

Tactful discipline 0.006 0.94Job security 0.274 0.60Good working conditions 2.034 0.15

Intrinsic motivatorsa Interesting work 4.088 0.04*Feeling of being involved 4.169 0.04*Opportunities for advancement/development 0.025 0.88Loyalty to employees 3.147 0.76Appreciation and praise for work done 6.581 0.01*Sympathetic help with personal problems 0.630 0.43

Marital status (married and non-married) 3.92Extrinsic motivatorsa Good wages 0.386 0.53


Intrinsic motivatorsa Interesting work 9.229 0.002*Feeling of being involved 9.362 0.002*Opportunities for advancement/development 10.654 0.002*Loyalty to employees 0.540 0.46Appreciation and praise for work done 7.496 0.006*Sympathetic help with personal problems 2.033 0.15

Position (managerial, supervisory and general staff) 0.046Extrinsic motivatorsa Good wages 0.640 0.53


Intrinsic motivatorsa Interesting work 2.185 0.11Feeling of being involved 5.613 0.004*Opportunities for advancement/development 7.612 0.003*Loyalty to employees 1.434 0.24Appreciation and praise for work done 2.813 0.06Sympathetic help with personal problems 0.703 0.50

Interaction effect**Gender X marital status 0.597 0.817Gender X position 0.700 0.828Marital status X position 1.230 0.222Gender X marital status X position level 1.167 0.156

Notes: a alpha reliability coefficients for both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators were 0.86 and 0.79 respectively* Denotes significance level < 0.05

** No interaction effect was found between independent variables: Gender, Marital status and Positionsince all of their significance levels were higher than 0.05

[ 236 ]



Table VIIComparison of users' responses to importance dimensions by position

Dimension

Group 1(managers)(n = 325)

Group 2(supervisors)

(n = 488)

Group 3(general staff)

(n = 438)

ANOVAmain effectprobability

Difference(Duncan)

Extrinsic motivatorsGood wages 4.11 (0.92) 4.15 (0.90) 4.12 (0.93) 0.808 ÐÐÐTactful disciplining 3.78 (0.82) 3.71 (0.86) 3.75 (0.86) 0.571 ÐÐÐJob security 4.22 (0.89) 4.12 (0.95) 4.02 (0.95) 0.014* 3<1Good working conditions 4.02 (0.86) 4.09 (0.90) 4.10 (0.90) 0.394 ÐÐÐ

Intrinsic motivatorsInteresting work 4.04 (0.98) 3.94 (0.95) 3.99 (0.94) 0.295 ÐÐÐFeeling of being involved 4.11 (0.90) 3.95 (0.87) 3.94 (0.86) 0.015* 3,2<1Opportunities for advancement/development 4.34 (0.89) 4.18 (0.92) 4.09 (1.00) 0.001** 3,2<1Loyalty to employees 4.22 (0.88) 4.15 (0.90) 4.10 (0.92) 0.234 ÐÐÐAppreciation and praise for work 4.12 (0.87) 4.04 (0.89) 4.01 (0.88) 0.208 ÐÐÐSympathetic help with personal problems 3.58 (0.93) 3.63 (0.93) 3.62 (0.91) 0.711 ÐÐÐ

Notes: *t-test two-tail probability < 0.05 and **t-test two-tail probability < 0.01Figure in parentheses is the standard deviation value

Table VIComparison of hotel employees' responses to importance dimensions by marital status

DimensionMarried

(n = 549)Not married(n = 701)

MANOVA analysissig. level

Extrinsic motivatorsGood wages 4.17 (0.93) 4.10 (0.90) 0.53Tactful disciplining 3.76 (0.84) 3.72 (0.86) 0.94Job security 4.15 (0.95) 4.07 (0.93) 0.90Good working conditions 4.04 (0.88) 4.11 (0.90) 0.26

Intrinsic motivatorsInteresting work 3.88 (0.95) 4.07 (0.95) 0.002**Feeling of being involved 3.90 (0.87) 4.04 (0.88) 0.002**Opportunities for advancement/development 4.10 (0.94) 4.24 (0.95) 0.002**Loyalty to employees 4.14 (0.88) 4.16 (0.93) 0.46Appreciation and praise for work done 3.98 (0.87) 4.11 (0.88) 0.006**Sympathetic help with personal problems 3.65 (0.93) 3.58 (0.92) 0.15

Notes: ** t-test two-tail probability < 0.01Figure in parentheses is the standard deviation value

Table VComparison of hotel employees' responses to importance dimensions by gender

DimensionMale

mean (n = 745)Female

mean (n = 500)MANOVA analysis

sig. level

Extrinsic motivatorsGood wages 4.10 (0.94) 4.17 (0.88) 0.35Tactful disciplining 3.75 (0.86) 3.73 (0.82) 0.94Job security 4.12 (0.96) 4.08 (0.91) 0.60Good working conditions 4.04 (0.91) 4.15 (0.84) 0.15Intrinsic motivatorsInteresting work 3.93 (0.97) 4.06 (0.93) 0.04*Feeling of being involved 3.93 (0.90) 4.05 (0.85) 0.04*Opportunities for advancement/development 4.18 (0.93) 4.19 (0.97) 0.88Loyalty to employees 4.11 (0.91) 4.21 (0.90) 0.76Appreciation and praise for work done 3.99 (0.88) 4.15 (0.88) 0.01*Sympathetic help with personal problems 3.62 (0.93) 3.60 (0.91) 0.43

Notes: *t-test two-tail probability < 0.05Figure in parentheses is the standard deviation value

[ 237 ]



development. This may be attributed to the

job nature of a sales and marketing position,

which demands a great deal of self-initiated

activity. More freedom and assistance from

the top may motivate sales and marketing

personnel better in the current work context.

Similarly, food and beverage staff also

preferred interesting work, the feeling of

being involved and sympathetic help for

personal problems. This indicates that inter-

esting and meaningful work as well as a

supportive work environment are essential

for staff motivation. It is interesting to note

that respondents of both rooms divisions and

food and beverage departments were ada-

mant that they wanted their employers to

provide sympathetic help with personal pro-

blems. This phenomenon can perhaps be

explained by the stressful work environment

encountered by staff, who have direct contact

with guests. Hence, it may be worthwhile for

hotel employers to consider incorporating

employee assistance or counselling pro-

grammes in their organizations.

AgeHotel employees aged between 16 and 25

considered interesting work to be more

important than did other age groups, while

opportunities for advancement and

development were considered to be essential

by employees aged 16 to 35. Generally speak-

ing, younger employees tend to be more

ambitious and career-oriented. Hence, they

prefer challenging jobs, facilitated by ample

training opportunities that enhance their

career development.

EducationRespondents with higher education levels

perceived various job-related factors to be

more important than did their counterparts

with comparatively lower education levels.

While there were no significant differences

between their perceptions in relation to two

extrinsic factors, namely good wages and job

security, respondents with university educa-

tion or above perceived all the other eight

factors to be more important. In general,

employees tend to become more demanding if

Table VIIISummary of other demographic impacts on degree of importance of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators by ANOVA analysis

Job-related factor

Department

Grp 1: Rooms division,

Grp 2: F and B,

Grp 3: Finance,

Grp 4: Sales and

marketing,

Grp 5: Human

resources

Age

Grp 1: 16 - 25

Grp 2: 26 - 35

Grp 3: 36 - 45

Grp 4: 46 or above

Education

Grp 1: Primary and

secondary school

2: Matriculation

and T.I.

Grp 3: University and

postgraduates

Tenure

Grp 1: < 6 months

Grp 2: 6 months -

< 2 years

Grp 3: 2 - < 5 years

Grp 4: 5 - < 10 years

Grp 5: 10 or

more years

Years in present

position

Grp 1: < 1 year

Grp 2: 1 - 3 years

Grp 3: 4 - 6 years

Grp 4: 7 - 10 years

Grp 5: > 10 years

Monthly income

(HK$)

Grp 1: 10,000 or <

Grp 2: 10,001 ±

15,000

Grp 3: 15,001 ±

20,000

Grp 4: over 20,000

Good wages Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð

Tactful discipline Ð Ð Grp 2<3 Ð Ð Ð

Job security Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð Grp 1, 3, 2<4

Good working

conditions Ð Ð Grp 1, 2<3 Grp 3<4 Ð Ð

Overall extrinsic

factors Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð

Feeling of being

involved Grp 3<2, 4, 5 Ð Grp 1<2,3 Ð Ð Grp 1,3,2<4

Help with personal

problems Grp 5<1, 2 and Grp 4, 2 Ð Grp 3, 2<1 Ð Ð Ð

Opportunity for

advancement and

development Grp 1 , 4 Grp 4<1, 2 and Grp 3<2

Grp 1<2 and

Grp 1, 2<3 Ð Grp 3<2, 1

Grp 1<2, 3, 4

and Grp 2<4

Interesting work

Grp 1<2, 4 and Grp 3, 4 Grp 4, 3<1 Grp 2<3

Grp 3, 4<2 and

Grp 5, 3, 4<1

Grp 4<2,1 and

Grp 3<1 Ð

Loyalty to employees Ð Ð Grp 2,1<3 Ð Ð Grp 1<4

Appreciation and

praise for work done Ð Ð Grp 1<3 Ð Ð Ð

Overall intrinsic

factors Ð Ð Grp 1,2<3 Ð Ð Grp 1<4

Remarks: 1. Grp = group2. Ð indicates no significant difference between groups

[ 238 ]



they are more literate and better informed.

As higher education opportunities are in-

creasingly accessible in Hong Kong, employ-

ers should be aware that a better-educated

workforce is more likely to demand better

treatment, be it in intrinsic or extrinsic

terms, from their prospective employers.

Tenure (years of service in the hotel)Interesting work was rated as significantly

more important than by employees who had

worked for the same hotel for a shorter

period of time (less than two years of tenure)

than those with long service. Possibly, people

with less experience with a particular com-

pany are still in the settling-in period, and

would rather explore and learn something

different from their employers. As such,

challenging and interesting work are the

primary motives for them to exert a higher

level of effort at work. People with longer

tenure preferred `̀ Good working conditions'',

in contrast with employees with fewer years

of service. This may be because long-term

staff, having cultivated a higher sense of

belonging to the company, preferred a better

working environment to which they had

contributed.

Years of service in present positionPeople with comparatively less experience in

the same position (less than three years)

rated overall higher than people with longer

service in two job-related factors: interesting

work and the opportunities for career ad-

vancement and development. The result was

the same as the findings discussed in the

tenure section. In general, employees who

had worked for a comparatively shorter

period of time with the same employer or in

the same position tended to prefer a variety

of work and learning opportunities. In other

words, they prefer jobs that offer a clearer

career path ahead of them.

Monthly incomeStaff with different levels of monthly income

may have different perceptions of some of the

job-related factors. Specifically, staff who

earned more (monthly income exceeding

HK$20,000) considered factors such as job

security, a feeling of being involved, career

advancement and development and employ-

ers displaying respect and trust as more

important than did their counterparts earn-

ing lower income. Essentially, respondents

who earned more were usually the managers.

Hence, they perceived that they had more to

lose if they lose their jobs. At the same time,

they were also concerned about the degree of

involvement with company's decision

making and whether they were trusted and

respected by their employers.

Conclusions

In Table VIII, the ten job-related factors are

grouped to show the overall intrinsic and

overall extrinsic factors.

Overall, there were no significant differ-

ences among respondents with different

demographic characteristics in their percep-

tions of the overall extrinsic factors. How-

ever, respondents with the following

demographic background perceived the in-

trinsic factors quite differently than did their

opposite groups. They were:

1 Female hotel employees.

2 Non-married hotel employees.

3 Hotel employees with higher educational

levels.

4 Hotel employees earning a monthly in-

come higher than HK$20,000.

Three intrinsic factors were commonly con-

sidered to be essential by respondents with

different demographic characteristics. Hotel

employers are advised to take this into

consideration when designing motivational

programmes for their employees:

1 Interesting work.

2 Opportunities for advancement and

development.

3 Feeling of being involved.

The phenomenon that all three factors being

perceived as important were intrinsic factors,

echoes Herzberg et al.'s (1959) argument: that

the provision of hygiene factors (extrinsic)

merely prevents employees from being dis-

satisfied with their job but does not guaran-

tee actual satisfaction. To really motivate

Hong Kong hotel employees, intrinsic factors

must be satisfied.

Recommendations

In view of the findings of the current study,

three initial recommendations are made:

1 Provide quality training and development

programmes.

2 Consider employee participation pro-

grammes.

3 Redesign existing jobs.

As hotel employees in Hong Kong considered

opportunities for advancement and develop-

ment to be important, hotel employers should

consider the use of training and development

programmes to motivate good performance.

It is suggested that hoteliers should place

more emphasis on both internal and external

training opportunities for their staff. For

[ 239 ]



example, arranging ongoing quality in-house

training programmes, soliciting external

training opportunities for employees and

providing more generous education subsi-

dies or allowances could work to satisfy this

need. Eventually, hotel employers must place

more emphasis on career planning for hotel

employees. This has traditionally been a

weak area of human resource management in

the hotel industry in Hong Kong.

Most employees who participated in this

survey considered that it was important to

feel involved in the company. With the trend

towards better-educated employees, it makes

sense for hotel employers to involve and

communicate clearly with their employees in

various aspects that affect their destinies. It

is suggested that employee participation

programmes, such as involving staff in

defining the company's mission, developing

action plans and formulating strategies,

should be established to cater to this need.

The findings also indicate that Hong Kong

hotel employees come to work not only for

monetary rewards, but also for confirmation

that their jobs were interesting or that there

were job varieties and learning opportu-

nities. Hence, hotel employers should review

existing jobs and consider redesigning them

when appropriate. With the help of the

human resources department, a series of

planned job redesign efforts can be put into

place, including job enlargement, job enrich-

ment and job rotation.

Job enlargement refers to increasing an

employee's workload horizontally by allow-

ing him or her to be exposed to more varied

tasks, with a similar level of difficulty. Job

enrichment, on the other hand, is the vertical

expansion of workload by letting staff learn

more about the pre- and post-stages of a job.

Finally, job rotation allows employees to go

through cross-training in different sections

within the same department, or to learn jobs

in other departments that have a relationship

with their existing job. Overall, these

planned efforts can benefit employees by

increasing their well-roundedness and hence

their mobility within the organization.

Motivating employees is not an easy task.

With the success of the Hong Kong economy,

employees have been blessed with a consis-

tently low unemployment rate in recent

years, whereby there have been plenty of

employment alternatives in the job market. It

is common for an employee to quit his or her

job before securing another one, if he or she

feels dissatisfied with the employer or the

job. Hong Kong hotel employees, being the

major service deliverers in the service in-

dustry, are the key personnel to impress our

tourists and hotel guests. Before we can

impress our tourists and customers, it is

therefore important to know what really

motivates our invaluable asset ± our em-

ployees. This study aims to assist hotel

managers to understand the needs of their

employees. In addition, the findings should

present a clearer direction for hoteliers in

their design of motivational programmes for

staff with varying demographic back-

grounds.

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