Introduction
Tourism is an important sector in the economy of every country as it not only attracts income but also provides important avenues through which people and nature interact constructively. The hospitality industry attracts people from across the world for recreation, business, and environmental conservation attractions. Due to the nature of the activities involved, individuals tend to stay in places like hotels, lodges, and camps, which provide convenient environments for the execution of such activities. Effective management of such facilities is critical to ensure that the tourists get the best experience of their lives away from their homes. The industry is linked to unethical issues like drug and human trafficking, favoritism, and unequal treatment of guests, which involve tourists, employers, and industry staff, leading to significant impacts on society.
Importance of Ethics in Hospitality
Ethics in the hospitality industry is critical due to the various activities involved and the diversity of people involved. Since the industry engages individuals from different cultures, religions, and ethnic communities, the likelihood of developing unethical behaviors is high, requiring great professionalism, especially for those working in the sector (Hooker, 2018). Due to this reason, human resource managers in different facilities should ensure high levels of ethical behavior to protect the reputation of their organizations and attract more clients. In addition, ethical practices in the hospitality industry enhance the level of productivity in hotels and restaurants, ensures low losses, and promote customer trust, loyalty, and the development of effective employee teams (Hooker, 2018). Other activities like ethical tourism enhance environmental conservation practices, creating an effective relationship between tourists and local communities.
Making Ethics Personal in the Workplace
In the workplace, maintaining ethical practices among employees enables the creation of an effective work environment. Organizations that act ethically create a positive impression among their employees, leading to the development of increased profits. The human resource managers should develop strategies that show the employees how the organization is committed to high ethical practices making them devoted to their roles. Employees in the hospitality sector should maintain high levels of professionalism due to the nature of activities they engage in and the diverse nature of people they interact with daily (Elshaer & Marzouk, 2019). Employees working in the hospitality industry maintain high levels of respect for the people they interact with and the situations in their daily lives (Afsar et al., 2018). Employees should embrace professionalism in their business dealings and interactions to ensure they do not violate the law. Unethical practices create a negative reputation for their organization and the country. Therefore, ethical behaviors should be made a personal issue, especially for those in the hospitality industry.
Importance of Effective Communication in the Workplace
Effective communication is critical in the hospitality industry, enabling effective interaction between administrative staff and customers. Communication skills are, in most cases, obtained through learning as they are less likely to develop naturally. Employers should provide staff training in communication practices to enhance the organization’s productivity (Elshaer & Marzouk, 2019). Excellent communication in the hospitality industry creates a hospitable tourist environment, enhancing their experience. For example, employees with effective communication skills continuously engage guests who enjoy when maximum attention is given to them through listening to them, providing excellent and timely feedback, and conveying clear messages to the necessary parties.
Honesty
The products and services involved in the hospitality industry are of high quality resulting in the need for honesty. Hospitality managers should be honest and truthful in their engagements with tourists to ensure that the information about their organizations is not misleading or deceptive (Hooker, 2018). The managers should demonstrate courage in their convictions by doing what is right even when there are opportunities and pressure to do otherwise. Honesty sets the tone for the culture maintained and workplace behavior and builds trust and loyalty in prospects and customers (Afsar et al., 2018). It eliminates the misrepresentation of facts, a significant ethical issue within the hospitality industry.
Trust/ Loyalty
In addition, the managers should base their operations on trust to obtain loyal customers. Studies show that if a company lacks integrity in the hospitality industry, its clients lose trust in its products or services as they believe the organization cannot serve their best interests (Hooker, 2018). It is presumed that trust refers to the integrity, honesty, confidence, believability, and acceptance that customers have towards an organization. Therefore, honesty and trust are key aspects that influence the success of organizations in the hospitality industry.
Being Fair
In addition, the employees should treat all the customers fairly and equitably without exercising any form of favoritism. In this case, the managers of the organizations within the hospitality industry should set standards that ensure quality services are provided to all the customers enhancing their experience (Elshaer & Marzouk, 2019). Fairness among employees fosters effective work relations, job satisfaction, and motivation and enhances teamwork. These practices make the work environment work smoothly as the staff can count on each other.
Accountability
The hospitality industry is an industry that deals with people making it technical due to the diverse human nature. Managing people when serving others is a technical task requiring significant qualities like accountability, where the employees are held responsible for their actions in their line of duty (Afsar et al., 2018). Accountability in the hospitality industry is created in a culture where the execution of daily services is ingrained in organizational leadership (Afsar et al., 2018). Such practices make it necessary for people in the wrong to be responsible in their undertakings and avoid any unethical practices that may ruin their reputations.
Morale
Effective relationships between employees and supervisors within the hospitality industry enhance their morale. According to Elshaer and Marzouk (2019), the perception of ethical practices within an institution significantly impacts employee performance, commitment to their work, satisfaction, trust, and behaviors. In such environments, high levels of employee turnover, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and overall organizational success are experienced (Afsar et al., 2018). Such aspects develop since High levels of ethics enable human resource managers to create an effective working environment that makes the staff feel comfortable and acknowledged.
Standards
The quality of services provided in the hospitality industry is based on the standards maintained in the industry. Ethics enable the maintenance of an effective relationship between the workers in the industry and the customers. The role of ethics in enhancing effectiveness in the hospitality industry increases the need for human resource managers to develop teams that maintain high levels of professionalism. The staff can maintain quality interactions and respect for each other through professionalism, eliminating the likelihood of developing unethical behaviors that may lead to misunderstandings (Hooker, 2018). Such skills enhance consumer loyalty and satisfaction, resulting in increased business success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ethics and ethical behavior are important in the hospitality industry. The industry involves interactions of people from different backgrounds and varied intentions, making it subject to the development of unethical practices. Due to this, the need to make ethics a personal issue ensures that every individual maintains boundaries in their interactions and maintains the highest levels of professionalism. The teams should portray honesty, trust, fairness, and accountability in their operations. These aspects are great ingredients for developing effective teams, which can be used to set standards regarding the quality of products and services they produce. Through effective communication, the employees in the hospitality industry can maintain close relationships with their supervisors and customers, enhancing the level of motivation and satisfaction in the workplace.
References
Afsar, B., Shahjehan, A., & Shah, S. I. (2018). Frontline employees’ high-performance work practices, trust in supervisor, job-embeddedness and turnover intentions in hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(3), 1436–1452.
Elshaer, A. M.& Marzouk, A. M. (2019). Labor in the tourism and hospitality industry: skills, ethics, issues, and rights. CRC Press.
Hooker, J. (2018). Taking ethics seriously: Why ethics is an essential tool for the modern workplace. Productivity Press.