The impact of isolation on hospitality employees' job satisfaction and job performance

Abstract

Typical hospitality employees are a gregarious lot, enjoying nightlife and after- shift partying. What happens, then, when college-age hospitality employees spend the summer at an isolated lodge where there are no television or radio stations, where the only methods of transportation in and out of the area are by one daily- scheduled flight or by unscheduled ferry boats, and where the only place to unwind is the lodge itself? This pilot study was completed during the summer of 1990 at Glacier Bay Lodge, located in southeast Alaska on the waters of Bartlett Cove in island-studded Glacier Bay. The bay is surrounded by the 15,000-foot high Fairweather Mountains and contains the largest accumulation of tidewater glaciers in the world. The nearest city of any size is Juneau, located 60 miles away. Supplies are shipped by barge with a three-week turnaround for purchasing. The purpose of the study was (1) to determine whether isolation would have a deleterious effect on employee performance, morale, and social adjustment for a small, selected group of hospitality employees, and (2) to identify what dependent variables might predict small-group adaptation and performance in isolated settings. © 1992, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.