Hotel Work & Well Being Project

To what extent does a career in the hotel industry affect one’s personal life, and how does personal life affect one’s career in the hotel industry? That’s the central question behind a series of investigations being conducted at the Penn State School of Hospitality Management. This inter-disciplinary project, known as Hotel Work & Well Being, focuses on the work-family interface in the hotel industry.

The research is trying to increase understanding of the effects of working in a service industry that operates on a 24/7/365 basis. With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and led by John O’Neill,  professor  of hospitality management, and Jeanette “Jan” Cleveland,  professor of psychology, the team launched personal, in-home visits and interviews with hotel managers and their spouses or partners, in 2003.

In 2005, with an additional $630,000 in funding from the Sloan Foundation, the research moved into the next stage. With leadership from O’Neill and Ann “Nan” Crouter, professor of Human Development and Family Studies, the research team is currently collecting a variety of data, including in-person interviews with hotel executives and telephone surveys with managers and their spouses. In addition, an in-depth study of diary entries examines the links between daily experiences on the job and mood, physical health, and family relationships.

In recognition of the project’s importance, in July 2005, the interdisciplinary  team  was awarded $1.3 million by the National Institutes of Health, establishing Penn State as one of four national centers to study the health benefits of family-friendly policies and practices in the workplace, and enabling the group to add the collection of biomarker (i.e., cortisol) data to the project, and to study hourly hotel employees, as well.

The innovative project illustrates the power of interdisciplinary research and university-community partner-ships to address critical social issues. Not only will this research illuminate  connection  between work stress, health, and family  relations, it will provide critical information about how workplace policies and practices affect the well-being—and productivity—of employees.

For more information about the project, visit www.personal.psu.edu/staff/a/b/abg125/.