Employee Turnover Drivers in the Hospitality Sector

Introduction

Employee turnover is a significant concept in management because it affects organisational performance. By losing talented employees, organisations subject themselves to losses in productivity, as well as additional financial expenses associated with hiring and training new staff. Consequently, reducing employee turnover is a goal of any organisation, and literature in the area seeks to support this process by describing the factors predicting employee turnover or promoting retention. The proposed management research project will focus on an organisation working in the hospitality industry that has been experiencing a high level of turnover lately. The project will seek to explore the drivers of employee turnover in the organisation and provide recommendations on addressing them to facilitate retention.

Literature Review

Employee turnover is among the most popular subjects in management research. According to Lee et al. (2017), there have been over 2000 articles on employee turnover published over the past century. Initial research in the area focused on the factors contributing to employee turnover intentions in an effort to help organisations to identify workers who are likely to leave (Hom et al., 2017). Employee turnover is commonly divided into voluntary and involuntary based on whether the employee is dismissed by their employer or withdraws for personal reasons (Hongvichit, 2015). Voluntary turnover is particularly undesirable for organisations because it can lead them to lose highly qualified and talented workers. Hence, voluntary turnover has been suggested as an indicator of organisational effectiveness (Nica, 2016). Predicting turnover and addressing employees who might leave the company is thus crucial for organisations to meet their performance goals.

Research on the factors leading to employee turnover has not lost its relevance over the years. Contemporary research shows that turnover depends on various structural, supervisory-related, and psychological forces that influence employees and their workplaces (Katsiea, Theodosiu and Morgan, 2015). In general, research points to the fact that perceived support, organisational commitment, perceived employability, organisational justice, corporate culture, person-organisation fit, job security and promotional opportunities all influence turnover in various companies and industries (Kalidass and Bahron, 2015; Kim et al. 2017; Mathieu and Babiak, 2016; Pang, Kucukusta and Chan, 2015; Zhang, 2016). In addition, job satisfaction has been cited as one of the most prominent factors related to turnover, with some scholars suggesting that it acts as a motivational or a mediating factor (Ekhsan, 2019; Frederiksen, 2017; Rubel and Kee, 2015). Other scholars have also pointed to the influence of psychological factors, such as friendship and advice networks (Vardaman et al., 2015). Finally, research supports the presence of a relationship between turnover and leadership practices, with transformational leadership believed to reduce turnover (Amankwaa and Anku-Tsede, 2015; Puni, Agyemang and Asamoah, 2016; Sun and Wang, 2016). On the whole, past research studies provide a useful framework for studying turnover in specific organisational contexts.

Further Reading

Al Mamun, C. A. and Hasan, M. N. (2017) ‘Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention strategies in business organization: a conceptual view,’ Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(1), pp. 63-71.

The article by Al Mamun and Hasan (2017) would be useful for the project because it offers a conceptual view of employee turnover, underlining important theoretical and practical connections affecting this content. This makes the article essential for building the theoretical framework on which the study will be based.

Brown, E. A., Thomas, N. J. and Bosselman, R. H. (2015) ‘Are they leaving or staying: a qualitative analysis of turnover issues for Generation Y hospitality employees with a hospitality education,’ International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, pp. 130-137.

This article focuses on turnover among Generation Y workers in the hospitality industry. Because young workers constitute a significant share of employees in the modern hospitality sector, it is believed that the study will be useful for understanding their perceptions and reasons for quitting.

Holston-Okae, B. L. and Mushi, R. J. (2018) ‘Employee turnover in the hospitality industry using Herzberg’s two-factor motivation-hygiene theory,’ International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(1), pp. 218-248.

In this article, the authors focus on explaining how employee turnover in the hospitality industry fits in with Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The content of the article would be particularly useful in identifying the reasons for leaving that reflect the theoretical view of employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Furthermore, Herzberg’s theory could also be used to develop recommendations on employee retention.

Santhanam, N. et al. (2017) ‘Impact of human resource management practices on employee turnover intentions,’ Journal of Indian Business Research, 9(3), pp. 212-228.

This article reports on the study of the drivers of employee turnover in the hospitality industry. The research focused on a relatively large sample, which offers an opportunity to generalise the results to other populations. As noted by the authors, the study shows that there are some turnover antecedents that are specific to the hospitality industry, and it would be useful to consider them during research.

Qiu, H. et al. (2015) ‘Exploring antecedents of employee turnover intention–Evidence of China’s hotel industry,’ Journal of China Tourism Research, 11(1), pp. 53-66.

This research is particularly important for developing recommendations because it examines the role of different human resources practices in reducing or facilitating turnover. The study was conducted in the hospitality sector, meaning that the results could be applied to the organisation in question.

Key Concepts

The key concepts that will be used to solve the problem of employee turnover in the chosen organisation will be turnover intention, retention and job satisfaction. Turnover intention is the primary antecedent of employee turnover since it refers to an employee’s desire to leave the company (Hongvichit, 2015). Retention is the opposite of turnover and describes employees staying in their organisations (Lee et al., 2017; Zhang, 2016). Retention strategies are used by companies to minimise turnover by solving issues leading to it or offering new reasons for employees to stay. Many retention strategies are linked to job satisfaction, which is thus crucial to the problem. In the context of this research, job satisfaction will be used to define employees’ positive perceptions of various organisational aspects, such as rewards and promotional opportunities (Holston-Okae, 2018). Hence, the ultimate goal of the project is to study drivers of employee turnover in the chosen organisation and use this information to develop retention strategies based on enhancing job satisfaction, thus reducing existing and future employees’ turnover intentions.

Methods

Although the chosen problem could be investigated using various methods, a qualitative phenomenological study seems to be the most appropriate given the limited sample size. This design focuses on identifying commonalities across the participants’ experience and using them to describe the characteristics of a particular phenomenon. The primary source of data for the project will be HR data, such as exit interviews and logs collected from the selected companies. The data will undergo content analysis so that common drivers of turnover could be identified. Then, the results will be linked to theory on turnover intentions and retention strategies, and recommendations will be provided on improving the situation in the future.

Implications

It is anticipated that the project will provide the selected organisation with more information about the reasons that make employees quit the company or lead to their dismissal. The recommendations provided as part of the report will support the organisation in resolving the issues that could be increasing turnover intentions, thus making the company more effective at retaining valuable employees. This, in turn, will lead to improved organisational performance and reduced risk of financial expenses associated with hiring and training. Because the research will be based on secondary data and holds minimal ethical risks, the benefits to the organisation far outweigh project costs.

Time Schedule

Reference List

1. Al Mamun, C. A. and Hasan, M. N. (2017) ‘Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention strategies in business organization: a conceptual view,’ Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(1), pp. 63-71.
2. Amankwaa, A. and Anku-Tsede, O. (2015) ‘Linking transformational leadership to employee turnover: the moderating role of alternative job opportunity,’ International Journal of Business Administration, 6(4), pp. 19-29.
3. Brown, E. A., Thomas, N. J. and Bosselman, R. H. (2015) ‘Are they leaving or staying: a qualitative analysis of turnover issues for Generation Y hospitality employees with a hospitality education,’ International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, pp. 130-137.
4. Ekhsan, M. (2019) ‘The influence of job satisfaction and organisational commitment on employee turnover intention,’ Journal of Business, Management, and Accounting, 1(1), pp. 48-55.
5. Frederiksen, A. (2017) ‘Job Satisfaction and employee turnover: a firm-level perspective,’ German Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(2), pp. 132-161.
6. Holston-Okae, B. L. and Mushi, R. J. (2018) ‘Employee turnover in the hospitality industry using Herzberg’s two-factor motivation-hygiene theory,’ International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(1), pp. 218-248.
7. Hom, P. W. et al. (2017) ‘One hundred years of employee turnover theory and research,’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), pp. 530-545.
8. Hongvichit, S. (2015) ‘The research progress and prospect of employee turnover intention,’ International Business Research, 8(6), pp. 218-223.
9. Kalidass, A. and Bahron, A. (2015) ‘The relationship between perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment and employee turnover intention,’ International Journal of Business Administration, 6(5), pp. 82-89.
10. Katsikea, E., Theodosiou, M. and Morgan, R. E. (2015) ‘Why people quit: explaining employee turnover intentions among export sales managers,’ International Business Review, 24(3), pp. 367-379.
11. Kim, S. et al. (2017) ‘Determinants of employee turnover intention,’ Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 22(3), pp. 308-328.
12. Lee, T. W. et al. (2017) ‘On the next decade of research in voluntary employee turnover,’ Academy of Management Perspectives, 31(3), pp. 201-221.
13. Mathieu, C. and Babiak, P. (2016) ‘Corporate psychopathy and abusive supervision: their influence on employees’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions,’ Personality and Individual Differences, 91, pp. 102-106.
14. Nica, E. (2016) ‘Employee voluntary turnover as a negative indicator of organizational effectiveness,’ Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management, 4(2), pp. 220-226.
15. Pang, L., Kucukusta, D. and Chan, X. (2015) ‘Employee turnover intention in travel agencies: analysis of controllable and uncontrollable factors,’ International Journal of Tourism Research, 17(6), pp. 577-590.
16. Puni, A., Agyemang, C. B. and Asamoah, E. S. (2016) ‘Leadership styles, employee turnover intentions and counterproductive work behaviours,’ International Journal of Innovative Research and Development, 5(1), pp. 1-7.
17. Qiu, H. et al. (2015) ‘Exploring antecedents of employee turnover intention–Evidence of China’s hotel industry,’ Journal of China Tourism Research, 11(1), pp. 53-66.
18. Rubel, M. R. B. and Kee, D. M. H. (2015) ‘High commitment compensation practices and employee turnover intention: mediating role of job satisfaction,’ Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(6-S4), pp. 321-321.
19. Santhanam, N. et al. (2017) ‘Impact of human resource management practices on employee turnover intentions,’ Journal of Indian Business Research, 9(3), pp. 212-228.
20. Sun, R. and Wang, W. (2017) ‘Transformational leadership, employee turnover intention, and actual voluntary turnover in public organizations,’ Public Management Review, 19(8), pp. 1124-1141.
21. Vardaman, J. M. et al. (2015) ‘Translating intentions to behavior: the interaction of network structure and behavioral intentions in understanding employee turnover,’ Organization Science, 26(4), pp. 1177-1191.
22. Zhang, Y. (2016) ‘A review of employee turnover influence factor and countermeasure,’ Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 4(2), pp. 85-91.