CHALLENGE-STRESS AND HINDRANCE-STRESS IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN HOTEL SECTOR

Abstract

The hospitality industry is an entity that is continuously determined by varying new demands and the needs of its customers. This ever-changing and complex working environment has caused and become a source of stress for the hospitality industries’ workforce. Workplace stress is increasing from year to year and has become a focus of research interest in recent years.
Responding to the demands of management who require a more precise understanding of the issues of workplace stress, researchers have conducted studies on a total of 115 respondents from a 3 star-hotel and a 4 star-hotel. The personnel involved came from the food and beverage departments, room services and the front offices, whose daily routines involved direct face to
face serving activities and fulfilling their customers’ demands. Using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.0 and AMOS version 18.0, the results of Exploratory Data Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Data Analysis (CFA) have confirmed that there are two stress factors, namely challenge stress and hindrance stress. Both of these stress factors have a
significantly negative relation to one another. Understanding these dimensions in detail can help the hospitality organizations to be well prepared for the task of motivating their employees.

Keywords: challenge-stress, hindrance-stress, service, Southeast Asia, hotel