The perceived role of employees incentives on service delivery in selected 3-5 Star Rated Hotels in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Employees of any service industry form the service delivery team and thus, anything that affects them should be of great concern to the management of the firm. It is imperative for management to always ensure that the employees are well motivated to enhance the quality of service delivery. The study sought to establish the perceived role of employees’ incentives on service delivery of in 3-5 star rated hotels. The objectives of the study were to: establish perceived effect of financial incentives on service delivery, determine out the perceived effect of non-financial incentives on service delivery and to find out the extent to which employee’s perceptions towards staff incentives influence their service delivery in 3-5 star rated hotels. The study was anchored on SERVQUAL model of service quality. The study employed correlational research design. The target population comprised of 35, 3-5 star rated hotels, and using purposive sampling, seven 3-5 star rated hotels in Nakuru County were selected. The seven hotels were distributed as; two, 5 star rated hotels, two, 4 star rated hotels and three, 3 star rated hotels with an employee population of 388.Using Simple random sampling a total of 196 respondents formed the sample size computed based on Yamane’s formula of sample determination. Questionnaires formed the basis of data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and results presented on tables and charts. Pearson Correlation co-efficient was used to ascertain the correlation between incentives and service delivery. The major findings indicated that both financial incentives and non-financial incentives enhance service delivery. Further, regression co-efficient found that the financial incentives had a significant positive influence on service delivery (b= .102, p= .0125) and significant positive influence (b = .019, p= .018) between non-financial incentives and service delivery. The study concluded that both financial and non-financial incentives significantly contribute to service delivery by employees. The study recommends that pension schemes and recognition in workplace should be enhanced. Further the study recommends that hotels should continuously improve financial and non-financial incentives for positive work environment. In addition, the management of the hotels should custom-design the existing incentives scheme to suit the needs of the employees.