COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN HOTELS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between communication skills and employee performance in Hotels in Rivers State. The study adopted the explanatory cross-sectional survey research design. Using a combination of Taro Yamene formula and Bowley’s Population Appropriation formula, a sample size of 306 respondents was drawn from a population of 1308 full time staff of 43 (3-5 Star Hotels) Hotels in Rivers State.  After validation by the supervisors and other experts and having determined the reliability of the instrument using Cronbach Alpha, questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Out of the total of 306 copies of the questionnaire distributed, a total of 250 copies were retrieved. Mean and standard deviation were used to carry out the univariate while the bivariate analysis was done using Spearman Rank Order.  There is a significant positive relationship between communication skills and employee performance in Hotels in Rivers State. The study concluded that communication skills boost the job performance of employees in Hotels in Rivers State. The study recommended amongst other things that the management of Hotels should invest more in digital upskilling programmes and technological upgrade in order to enable their staff fit in for improved performance.