An Investigation of Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction

Abstract

The measurement of job satisfaction has become an important issue in tourism because this industry requires a great interaction between the contact personnel (frontline employees) and the individual customer and because quality perceptions are evaluated mostly on the basis of the performance of subjective (intangible) criteria. Thus, the extent to which employees are satisfied with what they are responsible for may directly influence the level of customer satisfaction with their services. Using an improved form of job descriptive index, this study aims to evaluate the predictors of hotel employees' both job satisfaction and their intention to stay in the hotel business. The discussion is based upon the findings of a survey carried out among those working in the Turkish hotel industry. Findings suggest that such attributes as the work itself, supervision, and promotion are the determinants of the level of overall job satisfaction. The level of overall job satisfaction in turn leads to changes in the employees' intention to continue working in the hotel business. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.