An Exploration of Motivation among Generation Y Employees: A Case Study of the Hotel Business in Beijing, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT            Generation Y members are working as the main workforce in hospitality industry. To motivate Generation Y hotel employees effectively is one of the most challenging missions that hotel practitioners are facing. This qualitative study, using a case study strategy, was conducted to explore the important motivational factors for Generation Y hotel employees and to discover the Generation Y hotel employees’ expected ways of being motivating in the hotel business in China. Purposive sampling was applied to indentify 17 participants, who were the current employees in the selected Beijing five-star hotel. During the data collection, document review and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain detailed information from these different individuals. The analysis followed the manual coding process which classified a total 903 open codes into 50 sub-categories and finally emerged in six themes. The results of this study revealed that the important motivational factors for Generation Y hotel employees are: (1) future benefitting factors, (2) mental stimulation, (3) material stimulation and (4) overall working conditions. The expected motivational strategies by Generation Y hotel employees are: (1) benefitting their futures, (2) knowing them well, (3) fulfilling their mental needs, (4) treating them better, (5) more attention given to them, and (6) appropriate opportunities for increased pay and promotions.