Gbm 909 Work Integrated Learning Assessment Answers

Answer:

Introduction

The present study investigates employee behavior and its impact on the customer satisfaction of hotel organizations. In any hospitality sector, employee behavior holds a significant value for organization and customer satisfaction. Particularly, in the service industry, the level of customer satisfaction depends on employee behavior, attitudes and other similar aspects. Employee behaviors are defined as different sequence of actions performed by the employees within the organization(Ariffin & Maghzi, 2017). Here, some of the behavioral attributes could be positive and indicate the constructive actions of employees and customers while the rest of the attributes could be negative and could destroy a healthy and productive work environment. However, it is certain that employee behavior can influence customer satisfaction but it is not known that to what extent employee behavior can influence guest satisfaction in the hotel industry. Therefore, the present study investigates the employee behavior and all related aspects associated with it and the customer satisfaction. This investigation is necessary because success of hotel organizations depends on customer satisfaction and in the service industry, customer satisfaction is depended on how the employees of the hotel is treating the customers.

Background

Quality of service and customer satisfaction in the hotel industry largely depends on the employees. It is believed that the behavior shown by employees towards customer’s perception of service quality and their satisfaction(Brinkmann S. , 2014). It is mentioned that employees have a great impact than other factors on customer satisfaction. In this sense, it is of great significance that employees show appropriate behaviors for a service experience that customer perceives as pleasing and high quality(Delcourt C. , Gremler, Van Riel, & Van Birgelen , 2013). There were many studies that tried to investigate the idea of employee’s behavior and its relation to customer satisfaction. It is mentioned that a smiling face always has a beneficial effect on guest satisfaction(Eccles , Ioannou , & Serafeim, 2012). On the other side, it has been implied that the significance of friendly behaviors such as friendliness, familiarity, responsiveness and trustworthiness enhances service outcome and long-term relationship(Evanschitzky, Sharma, & Prykop, 2012). Another experimental study presented by the scholars mentioned that the effect of respectful staff’s behavior on service encounter satisfaction and their study found a positive employees’ behavior enhanced customer service encounter satisfaction(Fan & Suh, 2014). In order to learn more about the role of employees on customer satisfaction in the hotel industry, the present study investigates these variables employee behavior and customer satisfaction.

Research Aim:

The primary aim of the research is to investigate how employee behavior creates impact on customer satisfaction. Likewise, the research also sheds light on the components associated with employee behavior and customer satisfaction. The following are the key objectives of the study:

• To identify different components that compromise employee behavior
• To study the outcome of customer satisfaction
• To study how employee behavior affects customer satisfaction

Literature Review

With the help of reviewing the literature, it can be seen that there were many studies that has been conducted tried in examining the idea of the behaviour of the employees as well as the relation of the behaviour of the employees in providing satisfaction to the customers. For example: It is commented that the smiling gesture of the employees has positive impact on the satisfaction of employees(Gin Choi, Known, & Kim, 2013). There have been different studies that has been conducted that indicated the proper importance of friendly kind of behaviour that includes proper politeness, caring as well as responsiveness kind of service staff in order to improve the outcomes as well as long term relationships with the customers as well. It is revealed that satisfaction of customers is least dependent on specific kind of relationship with contact employees as well(Jeon & Choi, 2012).

One experimental study that has been conducted as well as introduced by the scholars helped in investigating the effect of the respectful behaviour of employees on the satisfaction of the customers(Jung & Yoon, 2014). The research that has been conducted helped in understanding that the positive behaviour of employees has helped in increasing the satisfaction among the customers. Furthermore, it is noticed that a proper personalization dimension that helped in analysing the information relating to the behaviour of the employees in general with the customers(Karatepe, 2013). The scale helped in analysing that the employees’ behaviour has major effect on the satisfaction of the customers.

It is helped in conducting a proper study that helped in analysing as well as testing propositions that helped in analysing bond or relationships that is interpersonal in nature between the employees as well as the customers(Keh, Ren, Hill, & Li, 2013). This can help in significantly influence the positive word of mouth communication and this study helped in analysing the different dimensions that include trust, familiarity as well as support. According to some scholars, it is specified that the service providers who are successful in nature help in investigating the service requirements of the behaviour of employees on satisfaction of customers in the entire hotel industry(Kehoe & Wright, 2013). There is another study that helped in citing the importance of the behaviour of employees on the satisfaction of the customers.

The recent studies helped in analysing the relationship between the customers as well as employees during the encounters of the service provided by them. It commented that there is positive relationship between the internal service that is provided by the employees as well as the perceptions of the service quality of the customers in the entire hotel industry(Lankenton, McKnight, & Thatcher, 2014). It is highlighted that the behaviour of employees during their interactions of service in the hotel industry as there should be a personal linkage with the customer as well as service provider. The author stated that the more attention has to be provided to the service providers such as desk clerks, bell men, stewards as well as park rangers who constantly interact with the customers.    

According to the hypothesis that has been conducted, it can be seen that there are two major topics that include satisfaction of the customers along with the expectation of the customers from the behaviour of the employees who are working in the hotel industry. The expectation of the customers is essential in nature to be considered as this will help in analysing the feeling of the customers whether they are happy or disappointed with the kind of service that has been provided to them.

Satisfaction of the customers and performance of the employees in hotel industry:

Proper satisfaction is the attitude or the evaluation that is formed with the help of expectation of the customers. It is defined that satisfaction is defined as the feeling of the customer’s pleasure or the disappointment of the customers resulting from comparison of the perceived performance of the product that is in relation with the expectation of the customers(Mackey & Gass, 2015). Additionally, It is stated that satisfaction of the customers is a collective outcome of the perception, evaluation as well as the psychological reactions to the experience of consumption with the product as well as service that has been delivered to them(Torres & Kline, 2013).

Disconfirmation Theory:

According to the marketing literature, It is commented that the theory of disconfirmation emerges as one of the essential functions of the models related to satisfaction(Namasivayam, Guchait, & Lei, 2014). According to the disconfirmation theory, satisfaction is determined with the help of the discrepancy between the cognitive standards as well as perceived performance such as desires as well as expectations of the customers. The five dimensions are essential in nature as this helps in analysing the discrepancy gaps that is occurred within the expectation as well as satisfaction of the customers.

The disconfirmation theory helps in analysing the different issues that can crop up in the process of the satisfying the requirements of the customers. The satisfaction of the customers is one of the essential criteria that is required in order to improve the different discrepancy gaps as well as the other issues that is faced by the organization along with the reputation of the hotel as well.

Furthermore, It is commented that the satisfaction of the tourists along with providing proper and quality service is essential in nature and this plays an essential role in understanding the requirements of the tourists(Oliver, 2014). This is one of the essential indicators that is dependent with the performance of the employees along with the behaviour of the employees as well.

The recent studies on the performance of employees on the satisfaction of the customers play a vital role and this will help in improving the techniques of the employees in the hotel industry to satisfy the tastes and preferences of the customers as well. The disconfirmation theory helps in studying the satisfaction models that is required to understand the expectation of the customers as this will help in making proper considerations that are required to make the changes in the performance of the employees. In order to understand the best indicators of the service quality in the hotel sector, the experience of tourists is the key indicator that is required in evaluating the performance as well as serving people properly as well(Pan , 2015).

Influential Elements:

Considering the fact of customer satisfaction,It is commented that the socio-cultural background has certain impact on the same(Pannerselvam , 2014). The employee behaviour is however the major variable for this research, which is further influenced the socio-cultural background of the customers visiting the organization. For example, some researchers stated that the people who come from a disturbed background is tended to be less satisfied by the employee behaviour as the mentality and social perception is disrupted by their background(Ryu, Lee, & Gon, 2012). On the other side, the service encounters from an organized and rich socio-cultural background have less complain about the employee behaviour affecting their satisfaction level. People who are enriched with the social values however provides feedback on the employee behaviour based on the acceptance and use of values by the employees(Silverman, 2016).

Again, it is argued that the number of visits of the customer to a particular hotel is found to be influential factor on the customer satisfaction(Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2015). He further mentions that a particular customer who has visited the hotel for more than once is generally found to be satisfied by the employee behaviour, whereas the people who have visited the hotel once often are dissatisfied. Therefore, It is opined that the employee behaviour is individually does not impact on the customer satisfaction and further is impacted by the external forces from the background of customers(Van Ryzin, 2013). However, it is opined that this fact is not always true in terms of influencing customer satisfaction because the people who are visiting the hotel are already satisfied by the employee behaviour as well as the service provided by the organization(Wang, Tsai, & Tsai, 2014).

In regard to this, scholars mentioned that the interaction with the employees as well as the management of the organization regarding the service is another major force for influencing the customer satisfaction. The recent studies on the employee behavioural impact on the customer satisfaction points it out that the effective and proper interaction of the customers with the service providing employee creates impact on the emotional aspect of the customers. The emotional commitment of the consumers is strengthened by the satisfied interaction between them and the employees. In reverse, positive employee behaviour though the reflection of the proper communication is capable of satisfying the customer expectation.

On the other hand, the technological factors are another major influential aspect for the customer satisfaction out of the employee behaviour. It is opined that the technological competencies of the employees create huge impact on the customer in terms of service satisfaction(Ariffin & Maghzi, 2017). It is found from his research on the certain context that the employees who shows excellent technological efficiencies to the customer in serving them, are provided with good customer satisfaction feedback. Hence, the technologically advanced service encounters are equally influential on the customer satisfaction along with the quality service and the overall employee performance.

Methodology

The methodology of the nature is based on qualitative nature(Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2015). The purpose of choosing this research methodology is based on behavioral aspect of the employees of the organization. the respondent of the research is the manager of the organization who have been interviewed. The research methodology analyses the diverse behavior of theemployees are influenced by the number of factors and further effects them to behave in a certain manner which satisfy the customers. In addition, the methodology is focused on the measurement of the satisfaction level of the customers. The manger is responsible for the maintaining effective relationship with the customers which indicates that the manager is the appropriate person to be interviewed in terms of understanding the customer satisfaction level(Oliver, 2014).

The methodology of the nature is based on qualitative nature. The purpose of choosing this research methodology is based on behavioral aspect of the employees of the organization. the respondent of the research is the manager of the organization who have been interviewed. The research methodology analyses the diverse behavior of the employees are influenced by the number of factors and further effects them to behave in a certain manner which satisfy the customers. In addition, the methodology is focused on the measurement of the satisfaction level of the customers(Mackey & Gass, 2015). The manger is responsible for the maintaining effective relationship with the customers which indicates that the manager is the appropriate person to be interviewed in terms of understanding the customer satisfaction level.

The qualitative research methodology is based on the inductive and deductive reasoning. In this research, the researcher applies inductive approach of reasoning, taking into consideration the observations and experiences of the manager. This consideration has helped the researcher to make relevant linkages between the gathered facts and the theories applied. As the subject matter of the research is very subjective, deducing conclusions based on the gathered facts is next to impossible. Herein lays the appropriateness of the other name of inductive approach, “bottom down”, as the gathered facts are placed in the bottom.

The researcher, for efficient execution of the research, has chosen explorative design. The major drive behind this is the easy deduction of relevant conclusions according to the structured design of the research (Brinkmann, 2014). The study attempts to peek into the attempts of the managers in terms of regulating the performance of the employees in the restaurants. Herein lays the importance of the policies, specifically the code of conduct. The presentation in this direction is precise, which assists the researcher to conduct an open-ended investigation at the end of the research.

Data collection:

In this research, the researcher desires to apply primary data collection method. The aim behind this application is the maintenance of originality throughout the research. As a matter of specification, this research would collect first hand data from the Restaurant and Bar Manager of a 5 star hotel in Sydney(Kehoe & Wright, 2013). The manager would be interviewed, which would consist of a set of pre-determined questions. Effective consideration of the responses to these questions would help the researcher to conduct in-depth investigations, which would be an added advantage in terms of adding to the reliability of the gathered facts.

Tools and instruments used:

Interview schedule is the primary tool, which would be used by the researcher to carry out this research. Within this schedule, a set of questions are included, which is to be answered by the respondent, that is the Restaurant and Bar Manager of a 5 star hotel in Sydney. As a matter of specification, there are 15 questions divided into two sections.  

Sampling technique and Data analysis:

As there is only one manager as the respondent, therefore the researcher would put in no extra efforts. This would be an added advantage in terms of analyzing the data through the method of coding in an efficient and effective manner.

Findings and Analysis:

Data Analysis

The analysis of the data has been undertaken with respect to the dependent variables and independent variables that are associated with the relationship among employee behaviour and customer satisfaction. The paper would associate the variables with the questions that have been framed earlier and each one of them has been given as follows: 

The first question associates with construction of a work environment that would motivate the employees and even empower them. In this respect, in order to empower the employees in order to construct an effective working environment Motivation plays a key role as development of motivation among the employees would be helpful in empowering them and in that manner would lead to effective performance among the employees which would enhance the working environment within the restaurant industry. 

This question deals with finding out whether empowering of customers or employees is important. The research has explained that empowering of employees or the teams is much important than the customers as they are the one who aids in the success of the business. Hence, the variable that can do the same is again Motivation as motivation leads to the empowerment of the employees. 

This question tries to find out how efficiency of the employees can be enhanced. With respect to this question, the variable that can enhance the efficiency of the employees has been developing responsiveness. In this manner the employees would be burdened with responsibilities and these responsibilities can improve the efficiency of the employees. 

This question relates with the importance of employee service quality in an era of competition. In this respect, Empowerment plays a key role as empowering the employees with various kinds of work and workload can be helpful in improving their service quality and in that manner enhance the performance of the organization in the current competitive working environment. 

This question is related to the process with the help of which employee empowerment can increase the revenue of the firm. This approach is undertaken with the help of the recommendation and upselling. The process of upselling and recommendation is mostly done by the Word-of-Mouth and therefore Word-of-Mouth and Empowerment are closely associated to each and other and thereby plays a key role in the rise in the revenue of the business. 

This question looks to discover that which of the area where that requires importance. The response suggests that experience has been given the utmost importance as experience of the team of employees and their service is what influences the customers to increase their frequency of visits. In accordance to this response, it can be stated that the independent variable of Service Quality is related to this response.   

This question is related to the fact that whether motivated employees are able to bring in more business to the restaurant. The response suggests that motivated employees have the ability to increase the level of business for the restaurant and thereby associating to the fact that Motivation has a key role to play in the development of customer base and increase of business for a restaurant. 

These questions are associated with the customer satisfaction element of the business. This question therefore looks to find out whether customer satisfaction is a principle or a strategy. The answer explains that the restaurant looks at customer satisfaction as a principle and therefore the answer can be related to customer loyalty. It has been due to the fact that Customer Loyalty increases as the level of customer satisfaction rises. Hence, customer satisfaction principle can be enhanced with the help of Customer Loyalty.   

This question looks to discover whether it is good for an employee to be multi-tasking. The response explains that multi-tasking is a key element even though effective concentration has been given to the customers according their requirements and demands. This explains that this process can be related to the Service Quality of the employees as service quality can be related to the process of multi-tasking and the efforts that is given by the employees in order to meet the demands of the customers.    

This question looks to answer what influences the customers more, employee performance or the name of the brand. The answer explains that employee performance has been given utmost importance over the brand name as performance is the one that leads to the establishment of brand name. There will be a loss in the brand name if the performance falls and hence in order to maintain the level of performance, Service Quality will play a vital role and in that manner would improve the brand name as well as the operations of the company. 

This question tries to answer the feeling the customers have when the employees are able to demonstrate their level of responsiveness. It explains that there would be a rise in the level of work and in that manner would have an influence on the level of customer satisfaction. This can be related to the Responsiveness of the employees, which is the independent variable and the Customer Loyalty which is the dependent variable. Both of these variables are related to this question and therefore has been helpful in answering the question. 

This question is in relation to whether the customers have been able to appreciate the behaviour of the employees in any instances. In this scenario, the response that has been gained that there has been one customer who has provided feedback with respect to the behaviour of the employees. The customer has provided valuable feedback with respect to the amnesties received from the restaurant and the operations that needs improvement. This question can therefore be linked to the Customer Loyalty as being a loyal member, the client has been able to provide proficient feedback. The other variable that can be related to has been the Service Quality and Responsiveness of the employees as these variables have a relation with the question that has been asked. 

This question has asked whether a satisfied customer repeats their visit to the restaurant. The response states that customer satisfaction does not increase the frequency of visit among the customers and therefore this question can be associated to Customer Loyalty as a loyal customer would be generated from customer satisfaction and thereby would influence them to visit more often.    

This is a question that has tried to answer that whether a satisfied customer spreads positive words about the restaurant. The feedback has strongly agreed to this statement and therefore this question can be connected to the Word-of-Mouth variable as word-of-mouth specifically improves the operational level of an employee. 

The last question tries to answer that whether favourable employee behaviour leads to increased level of customer satisfaction. The answer suggests that employee behaviour leads to improved customer satisfaction and therefore the Responsiveness and the Service Quality of the employees leads to Customer Loyalty which in turn has a positive impact on customer satisfaction.  

Discussion:

The discussion is based on the analysis which focuses on the fifteen different questions related to the research. It is seen in the data analysis that the main focus of the questions has been on the empowerment and the customer loyalty. The empowerment of the employees of the organization has been stressed upon in the data analysis. The word-of-mouth empowerment is found to be playing key role in the esteemed organization in terms of the enhancing the employee behavior. On the other hand, the customer loyalty is another aspect that has also been highlighted in the data analysis. The data analysis of the research shows that customer loyalty is the reflection of the customer satisfaction. In short, the customer loyalty comes from the customer satisfaction. However, the customer satisfaction also influences the customer loyalty. Along with this, the customer loyalty is influenced by the responsiveness of the employees with regard to the interaction between the customers. Another variable of the research is found to be the service quality of the employees which determines the job satisfaction of the customers. Therefore, the last question of the data analysis highlights that the service quality and the responsiveness of the staffs impacts on the customer loyalty which further leads to the job satisfaction of the customers.   

Hence, after the assessment of the questions it can be said that favourable employee behaviour leads to employee motivation and effectiveness and employee loyalty and commitment and this in turn leads to improved and enhanced service quality. The development in the service quality is an influential factor that leads to the development of perceived customer loyalty and rise in the level of customer satisfaction. This explains that all the variables are associated with each other and thereby helpful in understanding the relationship between employee behavior and customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Conclusion:

The discourse aims to highlight the impact of the employee behavior on the customer satisfaction of the hospitality industry. The background of the research shows that there are various dependent and independent variables that are responsible for influencing the employee behavior as well as the customer satisfaction out of the same. through the background research the discourse presents the literature review based on the several studies on the same. The literature review being the focus of the study highlights the different elements that determine the customer satisfaction. The review of literature sheds light on the evidence based analysis of the topic in terms of reflecting an idea of the various literature. The forces discussed in the literature review presents how those factors influence the employee behavior as well as the customer satisfaction. The major factors of the are impacting on the employee behavior are found to be the service quality, responsiveness, empowerment, service quality and the performance. However, the same are equally responsible for influencing the customer satisfaction along with the along with the background of them. The methodology used for the analysis of the research is based on the qualitative research nature which enabled the researchers to take interview of the employees of the organization. However, the research focused on the only one respondent. The manager being the general higher authority is aware of the customer feedback on their satisfaction out of the employee behavior. The research therefore chose the manager as the individual respondent for identifying the intended outcomes in terms of customer satisfaction as the impact of the employee behavior.

Recommendation:

However, there are several limitations of the research findings as found from the interview taken of the manager. It is found from the research that the communication is not given mush priority by the employees as well as the manager of the organization. The manager is not focused on the interaction of the employees with the customers.Therefore, the first recommendation is intended towards the communication enhancement of the employees with the customers. The employees as well as the manager of the hotel needs to put more attention to the improvement of effective communication between the service providers and service encounters. It is suggested to the manager of the hotel to arrange training and awareness program for the employees to develop the communication skills in terms of providing the better customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the company is devoid of any technological advancement due to which the customer satisfaction level is not increasing. However, the management is focused on the employee performance for improving the customer satisfaction, which can further be enriched by the technological advancement. Various studies have contributed towards the customer satisfaction as the impact of the employee behavior in terms of technological competencies. Therefore, another implication of the research findings is based on the technological introduction to the chosen hotel in terms of enhancing the competencies of the employee resulting into the positive and increased customer satisfaction.

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