Desired employee value proposition attributes by generation Y hospitality students in South Africa.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Generation Y represents an increasing percentage of today’s workforce, with employment needs and expectations very different from any other generational cohort. The hospitality industry in particular faces a major challenge in attracting qualified talent from the Generation Y cohort. It is imperative that hospitality organisations assess their attraction and retention strategies to ensure a sustainable, talented workforce. This research identifies and ranks attributes of an employee value proposition desired by Generation Y hospitality students. A survey, consisting of 28 employee value proposition attributes, was presented to Generation Y hospitality students to partially rank order their 10 most preferred attributes. The Shotgun Stochastic Parameter Estimation Algorithm, a quantitative analysis, was used to compare the attributes and to identify significant attributes that represents a set of core attributes of an employee value proposition for the hospitality industry. The findings indicate that Respect is the most important attribute for Generation Y hospitality students. In addition, Future Career Opportunities, Compensation, Ethics, Development Opportunities, Empowerment, and Co-Worker Qualities are also considered as significant attributes for an employee value proposition. Although these results are not wholly consistent with the results from similar studies, it is reflective of the nature of employment within the hospitality industry.