Influence of Supervisors‟ Perception on Employee Tenure of Generation Y Employees in Selected Hotels in Kenya

Abstract

Millennials have a reputation of fickleness for their jobs but few studies have directly examined the effect of supervisors’ perceptions on Millennials and latters’ tenure in hotel establishments. Most studies focus on the employees’ perception of their supervisors rather than the supervisors’ perception. Also, most studies focus on employees in general with few looking at specific age category of employees. The aim of this study was to ascertain the relationship between supervisors’ perception of Generation Y employees and the Millennials’ tenure in selected rated hotels inKenya. An explanatory research design was used. The target population was 33 departmental supervisors drawn from five hotels in Nairobi City and five hotels from the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR). The study found a significant relationship (χ 2 =5.00, df=1, p=0.017) between supervisors’ perceptions and Generation Y’s employment tenure. An increase in negative perceptions by supervisors of their millennial employees increases the odds of highly educated Generation X managers held negative opinions about Millennials. The study recommends that hotel establishments should improve the quality of supervisor-subordinate relationship dyad, especially with respect to Generation X supervisor versus Generation Y subordinate relationship.