WORK LIFE BALANCE FOR HOSPITALITY EMPLOYEES - A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF TWO FIVE STAR HOTELS IN KOLKATA

Abstract

People around the world go to hotels to spend holidays and to revive and refresh themselves. This implies that staff working in hotels is busiest during holidays and festivals which affect the work life balance of these employees adversely. Their families are also stressed by the certain absence of such members during festivals and functions. On the other side when hotel employees are off duty the rest of the family members are busy with daily affairs. Hotel industry has a huge variety of jobs and runs 24/7. In today’s competitive labor market it is very difficult to find good people for their team. Employees are not only looking for incentives and financial rewards but many lay emphasis on good treatment and ways to keep their work and life balanced. There are many theories which reports on work life balance. The goal of the current work is to illuminate and to compare the work life balance of hospitality employees working in two five star hotels of Kolkata. The study clearly shows the challenges faced by the employees of this sector and how they cope with the same. The comparative analysis also highlights how few Human resource policies can contribute towards minimizing the gaps in work life balance and go a long way in making employees comfortable which could lead to better retention and more efficient performance.