Determining the quality of work life and career expectations of hotel employees: The case of Kuşadası

Today, organizational or employee-based changes have made human resources an effective force in businesses. As a result of this development, most of the enterprises are trying to take measures on how they can improve the quality of life in the workplace for employees. It has become the priority of the enterprises to learn the thoughts and expectations of the employees about their jobs and to develop some applications for this. Hotels, which provide significant employment within the scope of accommodation facilities, have various difficulties as they involve jobs that require intense tempo and labor with their unique working conditions. In this context, the opinions of employees in the hotel industry, which has features such as seasonality, working with an entree, and high working speed, on the quality of work life and career expectations gain importance. In line with these explanations, the aim of the research is to determine the perspectives of hotel employees on the dimensions of work life quality and career expectations. The population of the research consists of employees in 5-star hotels operating in Kuşadası.In line with the purpose of the research, firstly, the literature review was made about the subject of the research. Within the scope of the relevant literature, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 20 people, including animation, housekeeping, front office, kitchen, service department employees, who interact with customers, considering the relationship with customers, which is also considered as the dimension of work life quality. After the interviews were completed, a focus group interview was held with a group of 6 people. The data obtained was analyzed with content analysis. As a result of the research, 10 dimensions were revealed within the scope of the work life quality of hotel employees. The dimensions that emerge in this context are human resources management, job characteristics, all-inclusive concept, organizational problems, work group relations, relations with customers, occupational stress, work-life balance, unionization and general problems. When the data including career expectation, which is the other focal point of the research, are analyzed, it has been determined that it is difficult to rise in the hotel sector, employees in the mid-career and post-career periods generally continue to work out of necessity, and they continue to work in the sector because of their age and because they do not have the knowledge and skills to do another job. Keywords: Quality of Work Life, Dimensions of Quality of Work Life, Career, Career Expectations