Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the influence employees’ attitudes has on organizational productivity in MAWA, BLUE PEARL and AZAM hotel in Bamenda, North-West Region of Cameroon. The researcher set objectives in this study which are; to examine customers perception of employees’ attitudes in the selected hotels, to investigate the relationship between observed attitudes and organizational output/returns in the hotels and, to identify the factors that account for negative attitudes of employees’ in these selected hotels. The mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative research approaches was adopted for the study with a descriptive survey design. 75 staff were carefully selected from the three hotels using the purposive sampling technique. 18 customers also participated in this research.

Only workers who had been in these hotels for a period of five years (2011- 2015) and know how it operates were selected for the study. Questionnaires, an interview, and content analysis were used to elicit evidence from the sample. Data obtained was analyzed using Micro soft excel tools, percentages and charts in line with the objectives of the study.

In the findings, it was revealed by employees that they exhibit both negative and positive attitudes depending on the situation in which they found themselves. While the customers involved in the study reported to have experienced more negative than positive attitudes by employees’ in the various hotels.

Management response to the interviews indicated that both positive and negative attitudes were exhibited in the hotels with the negative ones prevailing most of the time. It was identified that employee’s performance drops when negative attitudes are exhibited which results to a decline in productivity while positive employees’ attitudes increases performance which influences organizational productivity positively. In order to address the negative attitudes in these hotels and improve on the positive ones, the researcher therefore recommends motivation of employees, appraisal methods, conducting attitude assessment test and a careful evaluation of attitudes when hiring new employees as possible solutions.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background to the Study

One of the most critical components of an organization is its employees. They also play a vital role in productivity. A proper blend of organization structure, groups, and individual employee behavior is a requisite factor for organizational effectiveness. People in organizations come from diverse backgrounds with different experiences. This diversity becomes a fundamental influential factor in achieving organizational performance.

Employees’ attitudes are considered to be psychological tendencies expressed by the workers through evaluating their work environment with some degree of favor or disfavor (Eagly and Chaiken 1998).Attitudes of employees are one of the hidden, hard- to-measure factors that end up being crucial to the success of an organization. The attitudes of employee influence how the employee performs in the organization. These attitudes describe the way an employee feels inside and how he or she relates these feelings toward the employer, his co-workers and his position within the organization. All employees have certain types of attitudes that they display in their working environment (Mayhew 2004). In every workplace, employees demonstrate different ways of behaving. While some may demonstrate negative behaviors, others turn to exhibit positive comportments and be it for better or for worse; employee attitudes tend to have a drastic impact on organizational productivity.

The manner in which managers’ deal with both levels of behavior differs; understanding this diversity and the extent to which positive or negative employees’ attitude has an impact on organizational results, necessitates empirical investigations. It is widely observed that employee attitudes affect all areas of organizational life. Consequently, attitudes portrayed by employees in organizations are a critical aspect that the organization needs to pay constant attention to. This is because it is assumed that understanding employees’ attitudes enables managers to identify cost saving opportunities, predict and plan turnover, reduce absenteeism, evaluate customer service problem areas and issues, identify areas of ethics, honesty and values concerned, strengthen management skills and training identify communication problems and most importantly, improve productivity.

Attitude is not constant; it varies based on certain forces, and these forces depend on the context. While it is largely observed that ones’ innate personality determines his/her behavior, there is equally a general acceptance of the fact that learning through experience and organizational processes causes’ behavior to change from time to time. Consequently, management needs to evaluate the attitudes of employees unceasingly in order to measure the extent to which it impacts on the organization’s results.

Attitudes exhibited by employees can affect the work atmosphere and productivity within organizations be it in a positive or negative manner. Management needs to create a professional and healthy work environment in order to keep employees motivated. If such an environment is created, the employees are likely to work hard and successfully complete each assignment as expected of them. Attitudes of employees can also affect organizational output directly by attaining customer’s satisfaction or not, and through other job-related factors (Rafner 2009).

Some of these job-related factors can be;

Engagement, Kahn (1990) explains that, employees who have negative attitudes towards their organizations are far more likely to be disengaged, fulfilling their jobs with the least amount of work possible and at the lowest quality level. With this attitude of disengagement, the organization’s well-being is likely to become costly to management due to an increase in turnover and cost in training new employees, and this could bring about a decline in organizational output. Employees however with the same competencies and skill levels are likely to be more productive if they have a positive attitude towards work, and feel connected, committed and invested in the success of the organization.

Retention, based on their attitudes towards work, employees may feel more or less committed to the job. Those with a generally negative outlook on their work situation do not feel invested in a future with the company. They can leave their jobs at any time and high employee turnover is significantly costly to business in a number of ways, which includes training, hiring resources and work left undone. By contrast, employees with positive attitudes towards the job are more likely to develop a sense of commitment to the business and stay for the long haul, lowering turnover costs and increasing productivity through experience(The Entrepreneur Journal July 2010).

 

Client Interaction, not all employees in companies interact directly with clients, but when they do, their attitude is a reliable judge of customer satisfaction. Where a worker exhibits a negative attitude, customers are likely to manifest disengagement and lack of concern for their needs. Customers are an annoyance and an inconvenience to employees with a bad attitude Brooks (2000). On the other hand, a positive and engaged attitude by a worker is likely to result in courtesy, emotional engagement and a real concern for the well-being and satisfaction of the customer.

There are different types of employee attitudes that affect productivity in the workplace which includes job satisfaction, employee engagement, and organizational commitment. Hagedorn (2000) explains that, when a worker feels a high level of achievement, is intensely involved, and is appropriately compensated by recognition, responsibility, and salary, job satisfaction is enhanced. There are two main components of job satisfaction; Intrinsic job satisfaction which is the level of satisfaction which entails factors linked with the job itself, and extrinsic job satisfaction which is the level of satisfaction which involves factors linked with the environment. Job satisfaction is one of the determinant factors as to if an employee leaves the workplace or not.

Employee engagement means to be psychologically as well as physically present when occupying and performing an organizational role Kahn (1990). When employees are engaged in their organizations, they can turn to express themselves cognitively, physically, or emotionally through their assigned jobs.

Allen and Meyer (1990) defined organizational commitment as employees’ minds conditioned to organizations which comprise three dimensions that is; the affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. Organizational commitment is the good relationship that makes employees devoted to organization’s mission in order to support and make the organization better (Steers and Porter 1983).

When an employee is happy with his or her work, and feels the work is appreciated and valued, he/she can feel a positive drive to complete work on time and to the best of their ability. Meanwhile, if employees are not satisfied, committed and engaged in their work, they may develop negative attitudes like absenteeism, lateness, sluggishness and rudeness to clients which have adverse effects on an employee’s productivity.

In every organization, attitudes of employees affect their productivity in many ways and sometimes even without the consciousness of the employees themselves. This is mostly the case with organizations that have close and constant communication with its customers for example hotels which will be the researcher’s case study. It is worth noting that the selected hotels here which are MAWA hotel, BLUE PEARL hotel, and AZAM hotel do have not only constant communication with its customers but also hire human resources with varied skills. This study, therefore, seeks to explore the influence that negative and positive attitudes of employees have on productivity at these selected hotels.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Studies on the human element in organizations have focused largely on motivation as a means of modifying employee behavior with very little regards for innate qualities. This seems to give the impression that negative employee behavior can only be associated with poor organizational policies and practices. However, this is not always the case as some personality traits are ideal for particular types of organizations. This means that introducing motivational packages may not always be the cure to poor performance and that optimum care in the recruitment and selection of workers is needed particularly in the hospitality industry. Unfortunately, an insight view of the attitudes of hotel workers in Cameroon puts to question the manner in which staff is selected.

The establishment of customer friendly hotels is the key to sustainable development of tourism in any country. Yet it is widely observed that hotels customer service in Cameroon is mediocre. This is evident even in the most prominent hotels in the country. Consequently, hotels in the country continue to receive less customer experience, decreasing profits and unable to support developments in the tourism sector of the country. The three selected hotels in this study (Mawa, Blue Pearl, and Azam Hotel), are among the many hotels in the North-West region of Cameroon that demonstrate problems of efficient customer service and satisfaction.

Also for some time now, it appears employees attitude has not been managed well in MAWA, BLUE PEARL, and AZAM hotel. Observation and interaction with some employees did show that their management is more to profit making than managing employees’ attitude towards work. The absence of effectively managing employees’ attitudes has created the reduction of job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, punctuality and efficient customer service. Employees who are not satisfied, engaged, efficient and committed to their work are difficult to work with. They obstruct the creation of positive ideas and infect their co-workers with their bad attitudes.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.3.1 Main Objective

The main objective of this study is to find out the main causes of the negative attitudes of employees towards their jobs and its consequences on organizational output or revenue. Employee attitudes will be used as a determinant factor to establish success or failure in selected hotels.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

The study seeks to accomplish the following specific objectives.

1. To examine customers perception of employees’ attitudes in the selected hotels of the North West Region.
2. To investigate the relationship between observed attitudes and organizational output/returns in the selected hotels.
3. To identify the factors that accounts for negative attitudes of employees in the selected hotels.

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