Abstract
Managerial competencies of restaurant managers play a major role in motivating employees to be productive and to provide excellent service which, in turn, will lead to customer satisfaction. Drawing upon generational differences in work ethics and values, the authors examine the importance of managerial competencies in three age cohorts. A quantitative research design was selected using a structured questionnaire consisting of five competency domains. Data were collected from 180 restaurant managers and employees in restaurants in the City of Tshwane. The results of the Fisher exact test indicated that the importance of managerial competencies differed significantly in the three age groups. Significant differences existed for three leadership domains, two management domains, one interpersonal and one intrapersonal domain. No significant differences were recorded for the perceptions of the different age groups regarding the importance of the technical domain. For the younger generation, the ability to grant employees the opportunity to grow was regarded as highly important by all respondents. The ability to maintain discipline in the workforce was perceived as less important by the youngest age group when it was compared to the other age groups. The youngest employees felt that the ability to be innovative was not as important unlike the perception of the older age groups. The findings of this study could lead restaurant managers to a better understanding of the different generational groups, how to motivate them thereby ensuring job satisfaction and service quality.
Highlights
The tourism and hospitality industry continues to be one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant sectors of Africa’s economy, contributing 9% to South Africa’s GDP in 2015 (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2016)
Several studies highlighted the importance of managerial competencies in the hospitality industry (Jiang & Alexakis, 2017; Suh et al, 2012).The proportion of those who considered the promotion of feedback on employee performance to be highly important was significantly higher (p=0.030) for the oldest age group (>40) than for the youngest respondents (16–24) (Table 2)
Statistical differences were found in leadership domain items, H01 that no significant differences exist in the different age groups’ perceptions of the importance of the leadership domain is rejected
Summary
The tourism and hospitality industry continues to be one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant sectors of Africa’s economy, contributing 9% to South Africa’s GDP in 2015 (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2016). As the restaurant segment is a key source in the service sector in generating income in many African countries, factors affecting restaurant performance, such as management competencies, need to be explored(Voon, de Jager, Chitra, Kueh, & Jussem, 2013). These management competencies are the signal from a hospitality establishment to indicate the areas and levels of performance that the establishment expects from their employees. Providing a set of management competencies will assist the employee with a map of behaviours, but with skills that will be valued, recognised and rewarded in the establishment These management competencies will be explored in this paper
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
