NTRODUCTION

Housekeeping is one of the most diverse departments in the hotels and plays a
very important role in the guest relations as it functions back of the house. The
housekeeping department includes work such as cleaning of rooms, making
beds, laundry, floristry, maintenance of the public areas, etc. Housekeeping is
considered to be very difficult job as well as less reputed. The department is
playing a major role in the contribution to the propertys green practices. This
department is the department facing the highest employee turnover in the
industry. Executives are constantly trying to motivate the housekeeping team to
perform better. They try to provide them with monetary and non-monetary
bonuses, trainings, good schedule, etc. They try to including people from
different cultural diversities. This will benefit the organization, by different
ideas from employees with different background.

Housekeeping is the least admired department in the hotels, due to its nature of
work. This department demands a lot of physical work with very less guest
contact. It is considered as a low skill, low pay occupation, comprising
monotonous work. But it is very essential for the successful running of the
operations. The cleanliness of the room is a major factor for the guest to decide
if he should return to the hotel or not. A clean room may not satisfy a guest
fully, but a dirty room will certainly be noticed and will create a negative
impact.Mumbai is known for its high cultural diversity that comes from
different parts of the world. But the problems also exist. Mumbai is one of the
major centers for business, commerce, and entertainment industry. The hotels
in Mumbai range from budget hotels to luxurious resorts. There are all types of
service for all types of people. Most of the luxurious hotel properties fulfil the
needs of the modern day guests, by providing them unique facilities and
luxurious services.
A research on the Mumbai lodging market by Sudeep Jain reveals that Mumbai
has 45 operational hotels, with an inventory of 10,537 rooms spread across
different categories. Luxury and upper scale hotels dominate the total supply
with 69 percent to the overall inventory. The upscale and midscale segments
contribute 14 percent and 8 percent respectively. Mumbai represents 5 percent
of the total supply. Between 2009 and 2012, Rev PAR in Mumbai increased by
4% as a result of increase in occupancy level by 1% and 2% in ADR.

Indian Tourism Industry Forecast (2007-2012) report gives an insight into the
present scenario and the future prospects of the Indian tourism industry. The
report focused on different parameters of the tourism industry which included
inbound tourism, outbound tourism, expenditure by inbound tourists, and
medical tourism in India. It also helps us understand the factors affecting the
success of the tourism industry in India. In India, inbound tourist expenditure
per head is third highest in the world, even more than global average that a
tourist spends. India has been promoting its healthcare tourism by providing the
visitors with private healthcare facilities. An annual growth of around 9% over
the next years has been predicted for the Indian tourism industry by the World
Travel and Tourism Council in its last projection which covered 174 countries.
Indian tourism industry is well recognized in the International tourism industry,
however there are certain serious problems the Indian tourism industry is
facing, such as, poor infrastructure of roads, railways, airports, availability of
good star rated hotels, heavy tax structure, lack of qualified and competent staff
both at operational and managerial levels, and huge gap between supply side
inputs and demand side requirements. There is a huge growth in the tourism
sector in the recent years and the need to accommodate the growing number of
tourists coming to India on various occasions must be increased. This increases
the number of people requires by the hotels increasing the opportunities for
more employment, but the industry demands skilled and competent staff.
Attrition rate is defined as the shrinkage or the number of employees who leave
an organization during a period of time which can be due to voluntary or
involuntary reasons. The hospitality industry in India is growing, also
increasing the employment opportunities in India. But still people are not
willing to join the industry. Many people join the industry every year, but they
quit soon due to many reasons which includes pay, workload, career
advancements and other reasons. There is an increased competition in the
industry and every company or brand is trying to find themselves in the top
preferred companies or brands. They try to differentiate themselves from each
other by delivering the best service and products to the guests.

A reduction in the number of employees makes it very important to identify the

possible reasons behind the employee turnover. Some employees leave the
organization because they are paid better at other organizations. Some
employees are removed from an organization because they do not meet the
requirements of the organizations. In some organizations, only a fraction of the
employees manage to go to the senior levels. The rest of the employees look
forother organizations where they feel they can grow better. Some employees
leave the organization for pursuing their education. Many employees are
joining the industry at a very young age for experience. But with time, they try
to pursue their higher education or move to other organizations for a change in
work environment or better offer. Some employees leave the organization due
to inevitable reasons like accidents which make the employee temporarily or
permanently handicapped, or incapable of doing their usual work. Some other
reasons why employees leave the organizations could be due to not liking the
type of work, not liking the working environment, or lack of job security. A
Fortune magazine survey conducted few years back showed that nearly 75% of
the employees suffered in the organization due to difficult seniors. The
employees who are leaving the organization usually find their job very
monotonous and want more meaning in their work. They seek opportunities
that allow them to use and develop their skills. They do not show much interest
in their jobs if they are not given the opportunity to show or develop their
skills. They prefer to use their qualities and skills in challenging teamwork led
by capable leaders.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In a study that was carried out at the Cornell Institute named The Contagion
Effect: Understanding the Impact of Changes in Individual and Work Unit
Satisfaction on Hospitality Industry Turnover it states that the hospitality
managers have long suspected that there is a connection between the industrys
high turnover and employee attitudes. The reports explain the results of a 2
year long longitudinal study examining the effects of employee turnover
resulting from the change in individual and unit levels of satisfaction.The
satisfaction levels in the hospitality industry is low generally because of less
salary, and many associates depend on the tips provided by the guests. The
employees in the hospitality industry should generally be patient, resourceful
and engaging. At times guest are indirectly the cause for the employees to leave
the job. The guest may be in a bad mood and may show their anger on the
employees. The employees are should be trained to be calm. The hotels are
successful only when their profit margins are met. Hotels need repeat
customers to keep their business successful. Employees are usually tired and
bored of their schedules and monotonous work. The employees in the
industries are always expected to wear a smile on their face no matter how their
day is going. The hotels expect every employee to make the guest feel warm
and secure as long as their stay in the property.

Brandford, Crant and Philips (2009) also perceived the importance of a

customer interaction with a satisfied salesperson. The quality of that interaction
could help an employee to gain the motivation to work better. Moreover,
diverse job tasks, kind co-workers and a nice working environment have been
detected both as motivational and satisfaction factors (Bjerker, Ind and Paolli,
2007) . People agreed that a pleasant atmosphere contributes in the creation of
optimistic feelings (Bjerker et al., 2007).Generally speaking, however, the
reasons that have been identified by industry professionals may be distilled into
various areas, such as highly demanding and stressful employment exacerbated
by nightshift work; lack of clearly defined career and growth opportunities;
mismatch of aptitudes and expectations between employer and employees;
competitive pressure in the industry in the industry resulting in a heavy inter
firm poaching; and the desire to pursue higher education or alternative
occupations. Attracting the right service professionals, training them and
motivating them to stay long enough in a company to recoup recruitment and
training costs is an escalating challenge for managers of service industry firms
(Brooker, 2008; and Manpower, 2008).

According to Capelli and Hamori, 2006, the push factors can be unhappiness or
employee miss-match, with job requirements, interpersonal relationships or
organizational values. In earlier studies conducted it was seen that internal
working factors have a negative effect on the employee job satisfaction and
eventually lead to the decision of leaving the current organisation he or she is
working in (Atchley, 1996). These factors include perceived interference with
work family lifestyle balance, poor relations with the co-workers, high stress
levels, unsatisfactory supervisory relationships (Anderson, 2005). The
relationship between work stressors and turnover intentions have been studied
extensively in a range of occupational settings has been studied extensively in a
range of occupational settings (Udo et al., 1997; and Elangovan, 2001; and
Firth etal., 2004) and can likely be generalized to the service environment
(Siong et al., 2006).

Hotel management graduate takes 3-4 year to excel in hospitality field. But in
the industry he is paid very low salary. Also he will be working for 6 days a
week whereas other industries provide good packages and work for 5 days a
week. HVS international reports say that around 20% of hotel management
fresher are deemed employable.

A thesis by Swee Hua Goh says that housekeeping is regarded as a minor

operational department in hotels and motels. But without the housekeeping
department the hotel would be untidy and no guest would want to patronise the
property. The hotel industry has realised that housekeepers are very valued
employees. The duties of housekeepers include cleaning of rooms, bed making,
bathroom cleaning, dusting, and vacuuming. These duties when done makes the
guests feel comfortable and satisfied. But if not done the guest would have an
unpleasant experience at the property and would want to come back to the
property. Housekeepers are responsible for maintaining the quality standards of
the rooms and reputation of the hotel. The housekeepers are generally paid less
and have comparatively low prestige.

A dissertation by Francisco J. Cordero says that for the success of any industry
it is very important to keep the employees satisfied. Dissatisfied employees can
result in high fiscal, physical or psychological costs to the organisation. The
study examined the relationship between the employees and the management,
working environment, pay, nature of work and similar factors. The organisation
should try to minimize the employee turnover in order to maintain the quality
standards of the industry due the nature of employee guest contact.
Relationship aspects of the exchange association between a supervisor and an
employee are essential to understanding employe attitudes and behaviour in the
organisational environment (Jablin, 1979; Napier & Ferris, 1993). Traditional
leadership theories explain leadership as a function of the personal
characteristics of the leader, the situation characteristics, or the interaction
between the leader and the group (Gerstner & Day, 1997). But these theories
failed to recognize that the behavior and attitude of the leader will directly
affect the subordinates.
According to the journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, job
satisfaction may arise from many sources such as quality of supervision, social
relationships, and the amount of support they get at their workplace. The
relationship between employee satisfaction and employee turnover can be
moderated using factors like age and gender. If the employee is satisfied,
naturally the absenteeism and employee turnover will reduce. But in the long
run, adverse effects such as loss of trained employees, unrealized productivity,
and lowered morale often translate into lower financial gains than anticipated
(Cascio, 2002).

An article published in The Economic Times by Shreya Biswas on June 7,

2013, says that one in every four employees tend to move to other
organisations Nearly 55% of Indian employees expressed concerns about the
fairness of their compensation and the extent to which benefits meet their needs
(48%). One in every three employees expressed concern over a lack confidence
in being able to achieve their career objectives with their current employers
(37%); as a result, they are concerned about opportunities for learning and
development (39%) and supervisory coaching for their development (36%).

DATA ANALYSIS

Data for the dissertation was collected through primary and secondary sources.
This chapter contains the target population, data collection instrument and
procedure followed for the collection of the data. The data collected have been
analyzed using SPSS.

The samples were collected from three 5 star Indian hotel brands in Mumbai.
The samples are collected from employees of the housekeeping department.
Questionnaires were designed to find out the reasons as to why employees were
not happy in an organization. The questionnaire designed for the employee
perspective had 2 sections. First section had 4 questions to collect the personal
information of the employee. The second section was a 5-point rating scale
with 8 statements about the housekeeping department and the employees were
expected to rate the statements based on their level of agreement, strongly
agree, agree, uncertain/ not applicable, disagree, and strongly disagree. A total
of 150 questionnaires were given to the employees of the
housekeeping department, out of which only 109 were responded.

The main objective of this study was

To study the association between employeesage, gender, level of

education, years of experience with their expectations met after joining
the industry, working environment, working hours, salary, stress levels at
work, positive than negative aspects at work.

To analyse the level of satisfaction among the employees in the

housekeeping department.

Employee demographics
DEMOGRAPHIC
S PERCENTAGE (%)
1. GENDER
a. Male 72.4
b. Female 27.5
2. AGE GROUP
a. 18-22 Years 5.5
b. 23-27 Years 14.6
c. 28-32 years 18.3
d. 33-37 years 14.6
e. 38-42 years 19.2
f. 43-47 years 21.1
Expectations were met after I joined the
organization
Strongly Agree Uncertain/ Disagree Strongly
 agree Not disagree
applicable
Highest <10 th 10 4 2 1 0 17

level of 58.8% 23.5% 11.8% 5.9% .0% 100.0%

education 10th 1 19 4 16 4 44
2.3% 43.2% 9.1% 36.4% 9.1% 100.0%
Till 12th 4 24 4 2 1 35
11.4% 68.6% 11.4% 5.7% 2.9% 100.0%
UG 0 4 0 3 0 7
.0% 57.1% .0% 42.9% .0% 100.0%
Diploma 3 0 3 0 0 6
50.0% .0% 50.0% .0% .0% 100.0%
Age
while 18-22 yrs 0 24 7 14 3 48
Joining .0% 50.0% 14.6% 29.2% 6.2% 100.0%
23-27 yrs 9 12 1 3 0 25
36.0% 48.0% 4.0% 12.0% .0% 100.0%
28-32 yrs 7 15 4 5 2 33
21.2% 45.5% 12.1% 15.2% 6.1% 100.0%
32-37 yrs 2 0 1 0 0 3

International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research

(IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421

Volume 4, No. 8, August 2015

Strongly Agree Uncertain/ Disagree Strongly

agree Not disagree
applicable
No of 1-5 yrs 13 14 5 7 1 40
Years 32.5% 35.0% 12.5% 17.5% 2.5% 100.0%
5-10 yrs 2 16 1 0 0 19
10.5% 84.2% 5.3% .0% .0% 100.0%
10-15yrs 0 4 0 0 1 5
.0% 80.0% .0% .0% 20.0% 100.0%
15-20 yrs 0 10 0 3 1 14
.0% 71.4% .0% 21.4% 7.1% 100.0%
2-25 yrs 3 4 7 7 2 23
13.0% 17.4% 30.4% 30.4% 8.7% 100.0%
 >25 yrs 0 3 0 5 0 8
.0% 37.5% .0% 62.5% .0% 100.0%
Total

Working hours are satisfactory for the employees

i) Present age of the employee

ii) Number of years the employee worked in the department
iii) Gender of the employee

Conclusion
In this study the conclusions of the study says that from the employee
satisfaction survey tools to allow the employees to voice their opinions. The
interpretation of the data used in the research process shows that employees
are generally satisfied with their company.The study is carried out in Mumbai
seeing that the populace is moderately high and there are lot of employee job
opportunities in this city. This study is concentrated just on the housekeeping
division of the 5 star hotels of Indian brands in Mumbai. This study will bring
up those reasons why it is hard to hold the housekeeping employees in the
department furthermore the reasons that a worker would consider to leave his
place of employment in the housekeeping department. The information is
gathered through questionnaires given to the employees of the housekeeping
department and the management of four 5 star Indian brand hotels in Mumbai.
The information was changed over to numerical structure using SPSS. As per
the study and according to the 109 respondents it is found that nearly 63% of
the respondents feel that their expectations about the department have been
met, whereas