Evaluating the relationship between hotel employees' extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in obtaining a cha certification to enhance professional development

Using certifications as an educational tool to benchmark someone's knowledge, skills, and compliance is a practice that dates back to the 13th century. Leaders in the hotel industry have accepted the significance and value of certification but have not conducted a study to prove its value. The problem studied was the inability to determine if a relationship exists between hotel employees' extrinsic and intrinsic value and demographic variables in obtaining a Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) certification in the course of professional development. The purpose was to determine if a relationship existed between extrinsic and intrinsic value that indicated the value of certification for employees in the hotel industry. Research questions focused on examining the relationship between the relevant employee demographic information and their extrinsic or intrinsic value in obtaining a CHA certification. Maslow's theory on hierarchy of needs and the andragogy theory of adult learning by Knowles comprised the theoretical framework associated with certification. The data analysis strategy included deploying a survey using the Perceived Value of Certification Tool to measure participants' responses to certification value statements. The responses to the 18 extrinsic and intrinsic value statements led to a determination of value measured against the independent variables of age, gender, years in the hotel industry, certified 1-5 years, certified 6-10 years and noncertified. Analysis of the data involved using multiple regression. Data were ordinal and nonparametric procedures were used. The key finding from the research was the demographic variables did not correlate with the extrinsic and intrinsic perception of value for the CHA certification. Recommendations included changing the demographic group from only the certified or uncertified CHA certifications to include other professional certifications within the hotel and lodging industry and using hotel market segments as a demographic to determine the extrinsic and intrinsic value of the participants. Recommendations for future research were to change the sample from individuals who were noncertified or CHA certified individuals to hotel brands including the top 50 management companies that operate the hotels and to conduct further research on green certifications and the benefits they provide hotels from an operational and revenue generation perspective.