Stress in managers in the hotel industry in Mauritius

Abstract

Work-related stress is a hindrance to the quality of working life. Stressful circumstances occur when individuals are no more able to handle, manage and cope with difficult situations. Events and situations are themselves not inherently stressful; it is the capability of people to face these situations and handle these effectively which will cause less or more stress. Hotel operations have to compete by constantly offering an increasingly better comparative product and service. Being at the centre stage, hotel managers, therefore, have to respond to this challenge. The exigencies of the tourists and of the industry are exerting additional pressures on hotel managers. The main findings of this study carried out from the human resource management perspective indicate the following: pressure from work and from both occupation-home and home-occupation interfaces do not have a positive influence on hotel managers’ psychological health. However, there is a positive effect of work on both the occupation-home and home-occupation interfaces and of manager interests and hobbies on the health and home-occupation interface. Potential areas of future research are identified and new research directions are proposed.