Professor Glenn McCartney looks at the problem of declining job satisfaction among retail staff at Macau’s integrated resorts and what can be done about it.
Shopping, especially at malls located in Macau’s integrated resorts, is a popular activity for mainland Chinese when visiting the SAR. Retail is an important part of casino development, so it might seem paradoxical to find out the volume of retail hospitality staff who are currently considering quitting their jobs due to employment cost-cutting measures. in the hospitality industry through various programs and incentives to reduce employment.
It could be argued that it is during the coming recovery phase for the casino and hospitality industry that it will be more necessary than ever to retain and recruit qualified staff to deliver high levels of service. to customers.
Only such quality service will help sellers, many of which are luxury brands, achieve their sales and revenue goals for years to come.
Given the losses suffered by Macau’s gaming industry, there is an urgent need to recover revenue and recreate sales growth, and with diversification, create greater revenue growth in non-gaming sectors such than retail. Staff turnover is disruptive, leading to financial and operational challenges.c
In a recent study by myself, Charlene Lai and José Pinto titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospitality Retail Employee Turnover Intentions” and published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , we found that several factors could influence the job satisfaction of retail employees and in turn the likelihood of them leaving.
The questionnaire survey was conducted last year among 301 hospitality workers employed in retail outlets at integrated resorts in the Cotai Strip. To bring this study and these issues together, several previous studies on hospitality staff retention were reviewed.
With the ongoing pandemic, there may be issues of perceived personal risk, anxiety and uncertainty as well as the mental well-being of the individual possibly affecting the behavioral intention to return to work. Many hoteliers are in frontline positions, with a constant visual reminder that the pandemic is continuing, including warning notices and mandates such as wearing masks and health codes.
We specifically looked at the impact of co-worker relationships, workload, compensation, and company support on job satisfaction and, therefore, employee intention to leave. current position. Each of these factors has various aspects.
Along with workload and salary, compensation for retail employees can include commissions and sales incentives, which during the pandemic have often been reduced. There may be other benefits such as social gatherings or birthday celebrations, or even ensuring fair shift rotation. All have been found in previous studies to influence job satisfaction.
We found that workload and salary influenced job satisfaction, as did other benefits such as job matching, training, promotion, and career prospects. Retail company support also influenced job satisfaction.
An important finding of this study was that co-worker relationships did not influence job satisfaction. Nevertheless, studies have shown that trust and relationships within the workforce are important, contributing to job satisfaction.
During the pandemic, many have been confined to their homes or to online platforms, with limited social interactions. A follow-up action could mean retail HRM is prioritizing ways to re-engage co-worker interactions. With the return of the retail workforce, actions to restore relationships between colleagues become possible.
This study was only a snapshot, but revealed concerning issues that need to be addressed to retain retail staff. This is a study that could be replicated not only to track employee job satisfaction over time, but across multiple hospitality industries such as casinos, lodging, restaurants, entertainment , events and leisure. It shapes such important data as part of the diversification analysis of Macau’s tourism industry in the development of non-gaming, given the importance of recruiting, training and retaining qualified talent in these roles.
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