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2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition
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Kovach administered this survey three times between 1980 and 1995 (
Table 1
). In 1980, industrial workers
selected “interesting work” as the most important motivating factor. In a final study (Kovach, 1995), employees still
ranked “interesting work” as the most important motivating factor while “sympathetic understanding with personal
problems” was the least important motivating factor. Supervisors’ results did not change across the three studies.
Supervisors consistently thought employees would rank “good wages” as the most important motivating factor and
“feeling of being in on things” as the least motivating factor (Kovach, 1980, 1987, 1995).
Kovach’s findings are supported by previously-cited motivational theories. As long as basic needs
(Maslow) are met, employees may be motivated by higher needs such as “full appreciation of work done,” “feeling
of being in on things,” and “interesting work” (Kovach, 1995). Kovach’s results suggested that supervisors think
that incentives directed to satisfy physiological and safety motives (Maslow) are most important to their employees.
According to Taylor, employees are motivated by the reward of money. Kovach’s supervisors agreed with this; they
selected “good wages” as the most important motivating factor. Intrinsic motivators identified by Herzberg are
reflected in Kovach’s results of “full appreciation of work done,” “feeling of being in on things,” and “interesting
work”, selected by employees as the most important motivating factors (Kovach).
In Kovach’s studies, men chose “interesting work” as the most important motivating factor while women
ranked it second. Women chose “full appreciation for work” as the most important motivating factor while men
ranked it as the second most important motivating factor. Kovach suggested that role conflict may result in women
desiring more appreciation of their work (Kovach, 1995). Kovach also split organization level into three categories.
The greatest difference in the results among these groups was seen in the lower organizational-level group. This
group ranked “good wages” and “job security” as their most important motivating factors while the middle and high
organization-level ranked “full appreciation of work done” as their most important motivating factor.
Simons (1995) conducted a survey using Kovach’s ranking of motivating factors with hospitality
employees and their supervisors. Hotel employees ranked “good wages” highest among the factors. “Job security”
and “opportunities for advancement and development” were ranked second and third, respectively. Based on these
findings, hotel workers differed from the industrial workers that Kovach studied in their ranking order of motivating
factors. Consequently different industries are likely to exhibit different outcomes for ranking motivation factors.
The working conditions and characteristics of the hospitality industry, especially the food service sector,
inherently contribute to high turnover rates (Ghiselli et al., 2001). Wages in the food service industry are lower than
many other industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006). In customer-contact settings such as the food service
industry, high turnover rates negatively affect sales growth and increase the expense of selection and recruitment
(Batt, 2002). Under such conditions, motivating employees should be a high priority for food service managers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006) estimated that employment in food preparation and service-related
occupations totaled 856,400 employees and accounted for 50,090 jobs in 2005. The total estimated earnings of all
food service managers and supervisors equaled about 1.83 billion dollars. Entry-level food production workers and
serving workers earned an estimated 17.1 billion dollars and held 806,310 jobs in 2005. It is expected that the
number of service occupations will increase faster than other occupations and will add the most jobs from 2004 to
2014 (Hecker, 2005). What motivates employees in the expanding food service industry should be of concern.
The food service industry experiences an annual turnover rate of about 67 percent (Ghiselli et al., 2001).
However, the longer an employee has been with the company, the less likely he/she is to leave. Sixty percent of
workers in eating and drinking places are under the age of thirty, and 28% of those individuals leave the industry
within fives years (Woods, Raphael, & Kavanaugh, 1994). Food service, like the service industry in general, offers
low wages. Because of the high turnover rate and low wages in the food service industry, supervisors need to be
aware of factors that motivate their employees.
Hospital food service is one sector of the hospitality industry. Bellou and Thanopoulos (2006) suggested
that improving an employee’s sense of belonging to the organization (hospital) would improve the employee’s self-
esteem and ultimately improve his/her contribution to the organization. Little research exists about the environment
and employee characteristics of hospital food service. Kovach’s survey could be used to study hospital food service
employees and thus learn more about the difference between how hourly hospital food service employees versus
their supervisors rank factors that motivate hourly hospital food service employees.
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