Motivating Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry. A Literature Review

The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to codify human resources motivation theories and, on the other hand, to highlight their advantages in employee performance and hotel organization. In the context of analyzing the concept of motivation, human resources motives that enhance the performance of hotel employees are investigated. The Content Analysis methodology is employed, based on which the theories of motivation are classified in chronological order (per decade). In this way, the characteristics and impact of motivational theories on hotel human resources are highlighted. The present paper, by documenting the evolution of motivation theories over time and connecting them to the motivation of employees in the hospitality industry, leads to an original codification of the theory that future researchers can utilize.