Work stress and well-being in the hotel industry

Abstract

Employee stress is a significant issue in the hospitality industry, and it is costly for employers and employees alike. Although addressing and reducing stress is both a noble goal and is capable of resulting in expense reductions for employers, the nature and quantity of hospitality employee stress is not fully understood. The first aim of this study was to identify common work stressors in a sample of 164 managerial and hourly workers employed at 65 different hotels who were each interviewed for eight consecutive days. The two most common stressors were interpersonal tensions at work and overloads (e.g., technology not functioning). The second aim was to determine whether there were differences in the types and frequency of work stressors by job type (i.e., managers v. non-managers), gender, and marital status. Hotel managers reported significantly more stressors than hourly employees. There were no significant differences by gender or marital status. The third aim was to investigate whether the various stressors were linked to hotel employee health and work outcomes. More employee and coworker stressors were linked to more negative physical health symptoms. Also, interpersonal tensions at work were linked to lower job satisfaction and greater turnover intentions.

Mediators of transformational leadership and the work-family relationship

“…Previous research suggests that hotel employee stress is linked to negative physical health symptoms, lower job satisfaction, and greater turnover intentions (O'Neill and Davis, 2011).…”

“…Given the high cost of ineffective work-family management on employees, organizations, and societies, understanding factors that contribute to (in) effective workfamily management is of significant concern (O'Neill and Davis, 2011). Leaders have the potential to drastically influence employees' work experiences, positively or negatively (Arnold, Turner, Barling, Kelloway, and McKee, 2007;Perry, Witt, Penney, and Atwater, 2010).…”

Work–family conflict/family–work conflict, job stress, burnout and intention to leave in the hotel industry in Quebec (Canada): moderating role of need for family friendly practices as “resource passageways”

“…Recently, Kim (2008) has revealed the importance of stress in the hospitality industry by showing that it produces burnout (O'Neill & Davis, 2011), and leads employees to consider leaving their work (Sharma et al, 2010;Tsaur & Tang, 2012), which makes the subject all the more important to firms in the industry. In Québec as elsewhere, the issue of stress in relation to work-family conflict (WFC) is all the more important since the hospitality industry is 59% female.…”

Sociology’s Role in the Teaching of Organizational Behavior in Higher Education. The Case of Hospitality Management

“…Although the majority of the mentioned characteristics do not apply to managers, there are some, such as unbalanced work-family relationship, high stress and burnout, as well as working with antisocial schedules and rhythms, that they have in common with the rest of the employees [38,39].…”