Ithaca, NY,October 30, 2008 --Hospitality managers would do well to consider employees' wishes in setting the number of hours they work each week, according to a new hotel management research study from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research. Rather than use the arbitrary standard of forty hours as a fixed gauge in scheduling all workers, the study suggests applying employees' own preferences. The newly released hotel management study, "Forty Hours Doesn't Work for Everyone: Examining Employee Preferences for Work Hours,"by Lindsay A. Zahn and Michael C. Sturman, is available from the center at no charge, http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-14944.html.

"While there has been a lot of research looking at working more than forty hours, given today's economic conditions and cutbacks in work hours that workers are experiencing, we felt it was important for research to look into the psychological consequences of 'hours mismatch,' the difference between the number of hours employees desired and the actual number of hours received," said Zahn, a senior at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. "The usual standard of forty hours is meaningless in terms of whether employees are overscheduled or underscheduled. Instead, employees who don't get the hours they want are more likely to turn over, especially if they have too many or too few hours." Zahn added that the hotel management report surveyed the attitudes of over 1,000 workers.

"Although too many hours bothered many employees, too few hours also caused respondents to consider leaving their jobs," said Sturman, who is an associate professor at the School of Hotel Administration. "Again, the definition of 'too few hours' rests with the employee. A few hours less did not seem to be a problem, but when the schedule was short by eleven hours or more, employees were particularly unhappy—more so than when they were overscheduled."

Hotel Management Report Offers Valuable Assistance to Employers, Given Today's Economy

Zahn and Sturman recognize that the current economic environment will unavoidably mean cutbacks and layoffs in the hospitality industry. Consequently, they suggest that managers do their best to take employees' scheduling desires into account, rather than worry about the arbitrary forty-hour weekly standard.

Thanks to the support of the Center for Hospitality Research partners listed below, all Cornell Hospitality Reports and Tools are made available free of charge from the center's website, www.chr.cornell.edu.

About the Center for Hospitality Research

The purpose of the Center for Hospitality Research is to enable and conduct research of significance to the global hospitality and related service industries. CHR also works to improve the connections between academe and industry, continuing the School of Hotel Administration's long-standing tradition of service to the hospitality industry. Founded in 1992, CHR remains the industry's foremost creator and distributor of timely research, all of which is posted at no charge for all to use. In addition to its industry advisory board, CHR convenes several industry roundtables each year for the purpose of identifying new issues affecting the hospitality industry.

Center Members: Accenture • Access Point Financial, Inc. • Barclaycard US • Cvent • Davis & Gilbert LLP • Deloitte & Touche USA LLP • DerbySoft • Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts • Fox Rothschild LLP • Hilton Worldwide • Host Hotels & Resorts • Hyatt Hotels Corporation • IDeaS Revenue Solutions • InterContinental Hotels Group • Jumeirah Group • Marriott International • NTT DATA • Preferred Hotels & Resorts • priceline.com • PwC • The Rainmaker Group • RateGain • ReviewPro • Revinate • Sabre Hospitality Solutions • STR • Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces • Tata Consultancy Services • Wipro EcoEnergy • Wyndham Hotel Group

Glenn Withiam
607.255.3025
CHR