Employee Engagement in the “Great Uncertainty”: What Makes Employees Want to Care?

The hospitality industry faces persistent structural challenges, including low pay, demanding working conditions, seasonality, unsociable hours, limited career progression and poor work–life balance. Additionally, AI, labour mobility, economic pressures and employment uncertainty create new challenges that contribute to high employee turnover, increasing recruitment costs, loss of expertise, reduced operational efficiency and compromised service quality.

During the “Great Uncertainty”, organisations must move beyond traditional engagement approaches, recognising that employees are more likely to care for guests when they feel cared for themselves. Fair compensation remains important, but engagement also depends on supportive leadership, trust, recognition, empowerment and a positive organisational culture. Employees need to feel valued, heard and confident that opportunities for personal and professional growth exist.

Hospitality organisations should adopt strategic, inclusive management practices, including tailored training, coaching, mentoring, career planning and transparent progression pathways. Flexible working arrangements, improved work–life balance, realistic recruitment expectations and employee participation in decision-making can strengthen engagement, commitment and retention. Recognising differences in employees’ aspirations and career expectations is equally important. A living hospitality culture places people at its centre, creating environments where employees feel valued, empowered and motivated to care, contribute and grow, even amid uncertainty.

Employee engagement depends on whether people feel secure, valued and respected at work. During the “Great Uncertainty”, hospitality employers need to give employees confidence that their effort will be recognised, fairly rewarded and supported.

This starts with good working conditions, manageable workloads and decent salaries, particularly at the lower end of the pay scale. Asking employees to care while overlooking their own insecurity undermines trust.

Daily relationships also matter. Managers should communicate honestly about change, acknowledge what remains unknown and involve employees in decisions affecting their work. In smaller businesses, owners must recognise when their direct involvement creates additional pressure or conflicting expectations.

Our talent management research highlights supportive cultures, development and progression. Credible opportunities to learn, including support for adapting to AI, can help employees see a future within the organisation. Predictable rotas and flexibility also provide some control over life outside work.

Equally, managers must address cultural misunderstandings and silos, while bridging expectations across four generations without stereotyping individuals.

Hospitality depends on employees’ willingness to show empathy, solve problems and contribute beyond routine tasks. That willingness grows through reciprocal care. Employers cannot expect a sense of duty without managers / owners demonstrating their own responsibility towards employees through consistent, fair and supportive actions.

The level of uncertainty in today's workplace is unprecedented. Social media promotes unrealistic lifestyles and income opportunities, causing many employees to question their current jobs and contributes to the "grass is greener" phenomenon. At the same time, artificial intelligence and the internet have created perceptions of lucrative opportunities requiring minimal effort and allowing remote work.

 To address these challenges, hospitality organizations must create attractive work environments where employees can thrive professionally, earn competitive wages, and maintain a desirable quality of life. However, this remains difficult because no single company is large enough to drive industry-wide change in working conditions and compensation. As a result, organizations compete individually to attract, retain, and develop talent, rendering some employers more appealing than others. A coordinated industry-wide approach is needed to increase the attractiveness of hospitality careers among younger generations.

Hospitality organizations can differentiate themselves by adopting a long-term employment mindset that emphasizes career development from the outset. Development opportunities supported by quarterly performance reviews can better align with the expectations of younger employees. Employees seek recognition, feedback, and rewards for their contributions. This approach requires managers to spend more time coaching and engaging employees, making 90-day performance reviews an effective tool for development and retention.

These are both great topics, but let me address the second question "What makes employees want to care, contribute, and grow when the future itself feels uncertain?" At KTN, our hospitality training focuses heavlly on helping staff understand the diversity of situations, circumstances, and life experiences playing out on the other side of the desk, counter, table, bar, phone call, or door. A deeper understanding leads to stronger empathy, which is at the heart of hospitality. We also empasize that when we bring out the best in others, we bring out the best in ourselves. WE have more fun at work. As to leaders... we need to be modeling hospitality during interactions. If you want your staff to remember guests' names, remember the name about their child, spouse, or elderly parent. Don't "bash" guests and blame hotel shortcomings on guest's unreasonable expectations or personalities. The spirit of hospitality is re-ignited daily at the staff entrance.

Our recent research offers some insights into what may motivate employees to remain engaged during the “Great Uncertainty.” Based on data from 231 U.S. service-sector employees, we found that employees' expectations of social outcomes, including respect, fair opportunities, and belonging, had the broadest relationships with their sense of duty toward coworkers, organizational missions, and standards. Expectations of personal growth and accomplishment also mattered.

Interestingly, uncertainty did not significantly weaken most of these relationships. This suggests that positive workplace relationships, fair opportunities, and opportunities for personal development may remain important factors supporting engagement even when the external environment becomes unpredictable.

Therefore, although organizations cannot eliminate economic uncertainty, geopolitical conflicts, or AI-driven disruptions, hospitality leaders can create supportive workplaces where employees feel respected, valued, and empowered to grow. Managers should communicate transparently, recognize contributions, provide development opportunities, and help employees connect their daily work with a meaningful organizational mission.

Most importantly, we should not mistake employee retention for engagement. Employees may stay because leaving feels risky, but their willingness to contribute depends on more than job security. Hospitality organizations must give employees compelling reasons not only to stay, but also to care.

The other day I walked into a brand-new hotel. In today's hospitality environment there is trepidation as I am often underwhelmed.

There was a doorman. The doorman greeted us, handled the vehicle and asked the purpose of our visit and how we could help. As we walked through reception, every single receptionist stopped what they were doing. Looked up and greeted us. We were merely passing by reception.

The destination was the food and beverage outlet on the roof. A target as I was scouting a venue for a function. Once again, a new outlet, a new hotel, modern 'hospitality'. I wondered what I would get.

I received genuine surprise at a highly engaged workforce enthusiastic in their execution of hospitality. Naturally, I asked after all of the staff and their background. Many of them were dynastic hoteliers. Families in the business. They wanted to make the hospitality experience great again. Pardon the pun.

None of them were graduates. But they were graduates of industry through their experiences via their family, bringing their own verve into the modern business of hospitality.

I won't mention any of the names or location. Although I can tell you I am usually disappointed. Perhaps we're in good hands!

Why employees want to care is a tough question. The issues that make hospitality different are the public, through familiarity, believes they know the restaurant and hospitality industry because of many service encounters. From  quick service restaurants or a motel, or people that started their work lives in restaurants and hotels, guests believe that being a customer gives them greater insight into what makes the hospitality work and therefore emboldens critique. Working with the public can be challenging!

The hospitality industry has a high demand for employees and needs to create an image and environment for service that it is a “career calling.”  We need to create work environments that are sustainable and inclusive for employees and guests. Hospitality organizations should strive to make the workplace an industry of choice for prospective employees. Through an emphasis on self-awareness and career pathway planning,  employees can identify themselves as an optimal fit for hospitality. This is both an educational effort and a career recruitment effort for the hospitality industry. We need to prepare students and graduates through experiential learning and career opportunities. A career pathway can position employees to care, and educational opportunities can provide the tools to get the job done.