The moderating effect of supervisors’ perception on determinants of job tenure among generation y employees in star rated hotels in Nairobi and Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Abstract

Employee job tenure is important for the existence, growth and development of any organization. It is more important to the larger tourism and hospitality sector, since it relies heavily on people to offer services to customers. The sector is particularly attractive to young employees, also known as Generation Y. However, these employees are known to exhibit short job tenure at work as well as moving from one organization to another, which can destabilize the work environment. This study aimed at establishing the determinants of Generation Y job tenure in selected star rated hotels. Specifically, the study sought to establish the relationship between Generation Y employees‟ work values, perceived leadership traits, the perception of their supervisors‟ support, to establish the moderating influence of supervisors‟ perception of Gen Y employees and to compare job tenure antecedents and Gen Y employee job tenure among star rated hotels in rural and urban Kenya. Hertzberg two factor theory, theory of planned behavior and theory X and Y guided the study. Positivism informed the study. An explanatory research design was adopted for this study. The target population consisted of 1,226 Generation Y employees and 117 departmental supervisors in hotels. Sampling was done in three phases: cluster and stratified sampling to select five hotels and lodges each from Nairobi and Maasai Mara National Reserve, proportionate and systematic sampling to select 264 Generation Y employees and a census survey of 117 departmental supervisors in hotels were interviewed to determine perception of Generation Y employees. Questionnaire survey was the primary instrument of data collection. Quantitative data was collected and analyzed descriptively using distribution, measures of central tendency, skewness, frequency and percentages. The data was also analyzed inferentially using hierarchical regression analysis to determine levels of significance between the study variables. The study found that the employee work values, (p=0.000) and Generation Y employees‟ perception of supervisors‟ support (p=0.023) were predictors of job tenure. On the other hand, perceived supervisors‟ leadership traits (p=0.877) was not predictors of job tenure. Further, the moderating influence of supervisor perceptions on the identified determinants were found not to moderate the determinants and job tenure among Generation Y star rated hotels and lodges in Kenya. The study concluded that the perception of supervisors as conservative and rigid and the feeling by the supervisors that Generation Y possess unrealistic expectations and have little respect for authority markedly reduced the tenure of the latter. In addition, shorter working hours and a democratic as opposed to authoritative leadership increased Generation Y tenure. The study therefore recommends that retaining Generation Y employees in the service industry requires the cultivation of an environment of mutual understanding and respect between employees and supervisors, where the employees are given room to be creative and innovative without necessarily being told what to do