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The purpose of this study is to apply expectancy theory to employee motivation in the hotel setting and confirm the validity of expectancy theory. The proposed expectancy theory model for motivation was tested using data from 289 hotel employees. The results show that a modified expectancy theory with five components (expectancy, extrinsic instrumentality, intrinsic instrumentality, extrinsic valence, and intrinsic valence) best explains the process of motivating hotel employees. This study also indicates that intrinsic motivation factors are more influential than extrinsic factors for hotel employees, suggesting that hotel managers need to focus more on intrinsic factors to better motivate employees

What makes hotel employees motivated and satisfied with their jobs? The hotel industry has long struggled with this question because of high employee turnover. It is believed that the nature of the work, its low pay, and its long working hours contribute to the high turnover. Thus, to effectively address this turnover problem, employee motivation could be an on-going and critical issue for managers in hotel operations. The expectancy theory of motivation, originally developed by Vroom (1964), is a theory explaining the process individuals use to make decisions on various behavioral alternatives. The motivational force for a behavior, action, or task is a function of three distinct perceptions: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. Motivational force is the force directing specific behavioral alternatives, which are suggested when deciding among behavior options. Expectancy theory generally is supported by empirical evidence (Tien, 2000; Vansteenkiste et al., 2005) and is one of most commonly used theories of motivation in the workplace (Campbell and Pritchard, 1976; Heneman and Schwab, 1972; Mitchell and Biglan, 1971). Expectancy theory provides a general framework for assessing, interpreting, and evaluating employee behavior in learning, decision-making, attitude formation, and motivation (Chen and Lou, 2002). However, Mitchell (1974) suggested that the construct validity of the components of expectancy theory remains little understood. The results of the meta-analysis by Van Eerde and Thierry (1996) suggest that Vroom's model does not yield higher effect sizes than the components of the models, implying that the model lacks external validity. In addition, little research has been devoted to developing a theory for the process of employee motivation, and the lack of a strong theoretical framework may negatively affect the validity of the Vroom's model. Thus, one main purpose of this study was to gain more understanding of employee motivation and its decision-making process by testing the proposed model that was based on Vroom's expectancy theory. Hotel employees require intelligence, job knowledge and skills, and time management ability but without motivation, an employee will not advance in his/her career (Wong et al., 1999). Lee-Ross (1995) stated the concept of “internal work motivation,” which is to intrinsic motivation in that the more effort is expended on the jobs, the more motivated they would become. However, motivation factors including pay, monetary rewards, opportunity for advancement and promotion have been examined in the hotel industry (Byrne, 1986; Wong et al., 1999). Also, other motivation factors such as job responsibility, recognition from people, job challenge, feelings of accomplishment and development of self-esteem have been identified important for hotel employees (Wong et al., 1999). Intrinsic means belonging naturally, existing within, and extrinsic operating or originating from the outside: intrinsic work motivation refers to motivate someone by his/her heart (e.g., feelings of accomplishment and development of self-esteem) and extrinsic work motivation applies monetary rewards. Thus, this study also intended to comparatively examine importance of intrinsic and extrinsic work motivation for hotel employees with their intensive labor work, low pay, image of low status and few opportunities for advancement. Both hotel employees and the management acknowledge the importance of employee motivation, and both will benefit from a better understanding of forms of employee motivation. Hotel employees will be motivated in the way they want to be motivated to do their jobs and to enjoy their jobs. Hotel management will implement employee motivation more effectively, and effective employee motivation will impact employee performance and service quality directly or indirectly. The proposed employee motivation model can help hotel management understand the needs and wants of employees and develop effective motivation plans for employees. Furthermore, the research model also can be applied to motivate individuals at the managerial level in the hotel industry.

The findings of this study supported the validity of the modified expectancy theory model explaining expectancy, extrinsic and intrinsic instrumentality, as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic valence of employee motivation in the hotel industry setting. This study showed the followings with respect to the three components of the expectancy theory: expectancy is the belief that employees have that if they work very hard, their job performance will improve; instrumentality is the reward hotel employees think they will receive from doing a job well; and valence is the reward or outcome that motivates them to work. Intrinsic instrumentality contributes to motivation in that hotel employees have a sense of accomplishment and feel good when they perform well. Intrinsic valence motivates employees to take more responsibility, making full use of their abilities and accomplishments. Expectancy and extrinsic valence (pay, bonuses, pay increases, and promotions) are also employee motivators. Only extrinsic instrumentality showed no positive effect on work motivation. However, extrinsic instrumentality showed a negative effect on work motivation when intrinsic instrumentality was controlled. When hotel employees perform well, and the intrinsic outcomes are controlled, expect good pay, monetary bonuses, and pay increases or promotions, the motivation of employees who decreases if they do not receive those extrinsic rewards. Results showed that intrinsic variables (both instrumentality and valence) contribute more to employee motivation than extrinsic variables do. However, pay usually ranks first in motivating hotel employees in most previous studies. Typically, hotel employees receive lower pay than employees in other industries, so hotel employees should prefer pay increases or bonuses to motivate them. This finding is consistent with the studies of Graen (1969) and Mitchell and Albright (1972) that intrinsic outcomes yield predictions of job performance and job satisfaction that are superior to those affected by extrinsic outcomes. Wahba and House (1974) suggested that intrinsic outcomes may have more power to motivate than extrinsic outcomes, primarily because the instrumentality perceptions associated with outcomes that are self-administered should approach certainty. This study confirms that hotel employees weight intrinsic factors higher; when employees feel a sense of accomplishment about their jobs, they are more motivated to work hard. This study illustrated the importance of motivation, because hotel employees understand if they work hard, their performance will significantly improve, and when they are highly motivated, they will put more effort on the job and enhance their productivity and the quality of their performance. Managers need to motivate employees continuously and provide on-going feedback for employees. Since feeling good about themselves, having a sense of accomplishment, taking responsibility, and having challenging work are good motivators for employees, managers should compliment employees and recognize employees who do well. Managers should also provide job training, so employees can fully use their skills and knowledge in the workplace. Managers should listen to employees, care about employees, encourage employees involved in job or job-related decisions, take care of employee advancement or career growth, and reward employees with pay increases or bonuses. The most important factor is for managers to support employees and recognize employees.