HOSPITALITY CLIMATE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR (Published)
Demand is on the increase for encouraging strategic human resource practices that are value-added in terms of enhancing competitive ability of organizations. The hospitality sector which has recently witnessed increased level of participation with new entrants and customer patronage is faced with heightened competition, therefore requires exploring and understanding workplace practices that are likely to influence desired outcomes. The study used a structured survey instrument named Hospitality Climate and Competitiveness Survey (HOCACS) to generate data from the sampled four star hotels in the South-South and South-West geopolitical zones. The analyzed data showed some findings thus: encouraging competency is a potent means of staying competitive as employees have the requisite skills to undertake strategic and real tasks; empowering employees and rewarding were also found to have link with competitiveness and clear communication of task and work goals were necessary practices to remain competitive. The study concluded that hospitality climate is required in the face of heightened competitiveness in the hospitality sector and recommended that managers should encourage a friendly work climate and guarantee cross-functional relationship and work member cooperation and commitment.
Keywords: Employee empowerment, Hospitality, communication, competency, employee rewards