Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION......................................................................................................1
2. THE PROCESS OF MOTIVATION............................................................................................2
3. MOTIVATION THEORIES........................................................................................................3
4. HILTON HOTELS.......................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCE..................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The hospitality industry is under strong impact of the quality employees. The hotels basically
offer the same service accommodation and the opportunities to diversify the offers are rather
small, especially within the same category of the hotel facilities. For example, all luxury hotels
offer a range of amenities and additional services. Therefore, the hotel staff is the only source of
differentiation and the competitive advantage in the hotel industry.
Human resource management is therefore very important in the hospitality industry, and the
major issues are keeping the employees motivated and engaged, thus managing more efficiently
the seasonality of the demand, and retaining the quality employees, creating their loyalty and
commitment. Motivating staff is the key function of the human resources managers, since the
hotel employees have to do more than simply do their jobs they need to show compassion
and understanding, to be welcoming yet unobtrusive, helpful and sensible. Job description cannot
cover all the features of the service that includes constant communication with people. That is
why motivated employees make difference in the hotels and are considered very valuable
resource of the hotels.

1. EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION
According to Armstrong (2012, p. 182), a motive is a reason for doing something. Motivation
is related to the individual goals, the way they choose them and achieve them, and how they
moderate their behavior in order to reach their goals.
There are two types of motivation - extrinsic and intrinsic (Armstrong, 2012, p. 182). Extrinsic
motivation involves providing rewards to people to motivate them. These rewards can be
incentives, increased pay, praise, or promotion, and punishments, such as disciplinary action,
withholding pay, or criticism (Armstrong, 2012, p. 182). Intrinsic motivation, on the contrary,
comes from the work itself and is related closely to the concept of employee engagement.
Since less than one-third of Americans are engaged in their jobs, it is clearly important for the
managers to understand the motivation process and to find the ways of motivating their
employees (Harter & Adkins, 2015).

2. THE PROCESS OF MOTIVATION

There are several models of the process of motivation and some of the best known are content or
needs theory and expectancy theory. Content or needs theory focuses on the needs that shape the
motivation. The basic idea is that the needs which are not satisfied create the state of imbalance
and for the person to restore the balance it is necessary to act and satisfy the need. In the process,
the person changes his or her behavior in the direction needed to achieve the satisfaction. Thus,
certain behavior is motivated by unsatisfied needs. A content theory model starts with the
unsatisfied need, the establishment of the goal, taking actions to achieve the goals, and attaining
the goals. The main critique of the content theory is that it defines the components of motivation
but it does not explain how motivation affects performance which is necessary in practice of the
human resource managers.
Expectancy theory states that motivation to perform will be high when people know what they
have to do to get a reward, expect that they will be able to get the reward and expect that the
reward will be worthwhile (Armstrong, 2012, p. 182). Therefore, motivation will appear when
there is a clear relationship between the performance and the expected outcome, as well as
between the outcome and employees needs. Therefore, employees may value the efforts in terms
of rewards and decide whether if it is worth or not. Also, the employees may judge the
probability of receiving the reward or their own capability of achieving the demanded
performance.
Therefore, there are two factors affecting performance that need to be taken into account
(Armstrong, 2012, p. 182):
1) ability individual characteristics such as intelligence, knowledge, skills; and
2) role perceptions what individuals want to do or think they are required to do.

3. MOTIVATION THEORIES
The traditional model of motivation is based on the theory of Frederick Taylor, and it is based on
the idea that workers earn more when they work more. Taylor was the first to introduce the
criteria of effectiveness of work, measuring performance at work and remuneration according to
performance. The result of this approach was the increasing tendency of workers to worry about
job safety due to the high probability of job loss.

One of the most widely cited theories about human needs is the one by A. Maslow, who
suggested that there are five main categories of needs, ranging from basic physiological needs,
security, social needs and self-esteem to self-fulfillment. When lower needs are met, individuals
tend to move in direction of meeting higher needs (Armstrong, 2012, p. 183).
ERG theory is also based on satisfying three primary categories of need (Armstrong, 2012, p.
183):
1. The existence of needs such as hunger and thirst, which are satisfied by wages, benefits
and working conditions.
2. The need for social connections - people need to engage in their social environment and
have need for acceptance, understanding, and acknowledgment of others.
3. The need to develop, motivate people to exercise their abilities.
Two-factor model states that there are two groups of factors that affect the appearance of
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the job. The motivators are related to job content and consist
of the need for achievement, job design, responsibilities and opportunities for advancement.
These needs are related to intrinsic motivation. Hygiene factors are linked to the context of
work, including wages and working conditions. These factors are primarily designed to prevent
job dissatisfaction, and have little impact on positive attitude of employees toward job or their
satisfaction. Pay, for example, does not cause pleasure, but if it is inappropriate or unjust may
cause dissatisfaction (Armstrong, 2012, p. 183).
The expectation theory states that high motivation appears when people know what they should
do in order to get the reward, and expect to be able to get it and that the effort will be worth the
reward. The expectations are subjective and can be based on the past experience of employees,
which means that they can be obstacles in estimating the capabilities or rewards. The intrinsic
motivation that comes from the work itself is more powerful than extrinsic motivation. This
means that intrinsic motivation relies less on past experience so the expectations are more likely
to be favorable to their behavior (Armstrong, 2012, p. 183).
Equity theory is based on the perception of individuals about whether the rewards that they will
receive are the same in comparison to others. If an individual finds the rewards as unjust, he will

be dissatisfied with the job. On the other hand if people are treated equally, they will be better
motivated (Armstrong, 2012, p. 183).

4. HILTON HOTELS
Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. The global company
operates thirteen hospitality brands, in more than 4,660 properties, and employs more than 155,000 team
members across the world (hiltonworldwide.com).

Hilton Worldwide was selected as one of the 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.
The focus of the company is to create a rewarding experience for the guests so the employees or
team members are regularly consulted when the benefits and programs are created. For example,
in the United States, the company has introduced parental leave policies that provide ten weeks
of fully paid leave for mothers, as well as paid time off for fathers and adoptive parents. GED
Assistance program helps employees in the U.S. to earn their high school equivalency diploma.
The company also provides 10-day advanced scheduling for hourly Team Members and expands
remote working opportunities (hiltonworldwide.com).
Perks that the Company offers are:

Offers health insurance to part-timers

Offers telecommuting
Offers job sharing
Offers compressed work weeks
Onsite fitness center
Offers college tuition reimbursement (Max tuition is$1,200)

Employees at Hilton hotels receive competitive starting salary, benefits which are in compliance
with the local or national laws, including vacation and paid time off, employee assistance and
educational assistance programs, health and welfare benefit plans and retirement savings
program. Besides, the hotel managers are focused on career development of each team member
and there are many dynamic learning and leadership development opportunities. Through Hilton
Worldwide University and Leadership Development initiatives, team members have access to
learning which enables their career growth (hiltonworldwide.com).

Achieving and maintaining exceptional service is particularly important for the luxury hotels
such as Hilton, and it has become especially difficult in the globalized and increasingly
competitive environment. The hotel industry has high turnover rates, so motivation and retention
of employees are crucial for creating loyal guests.
Everything that one hotel offers, other hotels can imitate, except the hospitality and the
welcoming attitude of the staff. Genuine and warm personal service cannot be copied and is one
of the major sources of content or discontent of guests at specialized websites on which travelers
rely when making decisions on where to stay during their travels.
Hilton Hotels seeks to offer superior customer service, and to maintain high value of its brand. In
the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index survey, Hilton brands are among the top ten
luxury hotels which reflect the efforts of the company in motivating and retaining the staff.
To ensure the satisfaction of the team members, the company has introduced the advanced
technology for measuring and monitoring the performance of managers and staff called Success
Factors. Hiltons Human Resources (HR) staff measures performance and uses dashboards to
monitor the realization of the planned performance standards. If an employee meets the standards
set, the program sends reminders to managers to increase the employees pay. By automating
and enhancing the performance management process, Success Factors helps the managers in the
hotels to demonstrate the willingness of the company to offer all its employees equal
opportunities.
The equal treatment of all employees is important for their motivation. The program also
improves the distribution of merits, ensures clear lines of responsibility and allocation of duties
which further motivates people to provide superior performance along with their knowledge that
their efforts will not go unnoticed. This also help the hotels maintain and deliver better guest
experience .
The company has also developed a platform which makes it much easier to perform critical
human resource functions such as performance management, compensation planning, and
succession planning. The efforts and the investments of the company has resulted in
increase in employee satisfaction.

37%

CONCLUSION
Employees, with their knowledge, skills and competences, contribute to creating and maintaining
a competitive advantage of the organization. To workers who are motivated to offer their full
potential, provide superior service and ensure the satisfaction of the customers. However,
material rewards are less a source of motivation than non-financial rewards. Therefore,
increasing number of employers pays more attention to career development, training, work life
balance and the like.
In the hotel industry, motivated staff makes the difference and is the source of the competitive
advantage. Luxury hotels, such as Hilton Worldwide, differentiate themselves from the
competitors based on the superior service. The brand of the company, which serves as the
guarantee of quality to guests all over the world depend on the superior service which is provided
by the hotel employees. The company has invested into improving and measuring the
performance of the employees, ensuring the equal opportunity of all, thus increasing their
motivation. The company also offers competitive salary, benefits and various perks to its
employees.

REFERENCES
1. American Customer Satisfaction Index survey, https://www.theacsi.org/customersatisfaction-benchmarks/benchmarks-by-brand/benchmarks-for-hotel-chains
2. Armstrong, M. (2012). ARMSTRONG S HANDBOOK OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT PRACTICE. London: Kogan Page.
3. Harter, J. & Adkins, A. (2015). What Great Managers Do to Engage Employees. Harvard
Business Review, April, 2015.
4. hiltonworldwide.com, http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/
5. sap.com, http://news.sap.com/hilton-makes-customers-happier-rewarding-top-performers/