Employee Motivation And Empowerment In Hospitality, Rhetoric Or Reality ? Some Observations From India | Venkatesh Umashankar & Akshay Kulkarni

In recent years, researchers, commentators, consultants and practicing managers have come out with the imperative of the empowered and hence motivated employee for sustenance of the organization in a world characterized, among other things, by the free flow of ideas, knowledge, information, skills, resources and most importantly people. The contention of this paper is that service sector employees, because of their ?high?touch? requirements, have a more immediate and pressing need to be provided with ?extra? motivational support within the modern organization. Secondly, the paper also tries to link the very high rates of employee turnover in the hospitality sector in particular, to this factor of empowerment and motivation. The paper, through the description of standard operating procedures and work conditions prevalent in the relevant industry, then tries to explain why employee motivation in the said industry is at such a low-ebb. A cultural perspective is also provided wherein the feudalistic basis of transactions evident in the industry is delineated. The paper concludes with the reasons there for and suggestions thereto, which may bring positive change.