Reasons for High Labour Turnover in the Hospitality Industry
1.0 Aim and Introduction
Manpower is instrumental for the service industry and that manpower shortage would be the biggest challenge to tourism and hospitality industry compounded by the issue of staff retention and job satisfaction. In an increasingly competitive landscape, the hospitality industry shall face with restructuring especially in aspects of career progression opportunities and matching industry growth with the talent and service levels as well as monetary and non-monetary reward structures. There is a necessity then to look at the context of labour turnover within the hospitality industry and arrive at benchmark practices on combating the operational and administrative challenges the high levels of turnover posed. The paper is proposed to analyse and evaluate the impact of labour turnover in two key establishments in the hospitality industry. The information that this research could provide will enable the two organisations to promote strategies that will minimise the high rates of turnover while optimizing the levels of staff retention by means of enhancing recruitment, job satisfaction, productivity, organisational commitment, excellence and quality service.
2.0 Objectives
To achieve the general purpose aforementioned, the research will seek to accomplish the following discreet objectives:
- To identify and assess literature that examines the characteristics of labour turnover in the hospitality industry
- To distinguish management an employee perceptions of labour turnover in the hospitality industry
- To utilise qualitative methods to conduct empirical research regarding labour turnover in the hospitality industry
3.0 Literature Review
The 2007 report by CIPD discovered that there are different aspects that retention, turnover and retention has interplay. There are eight categories that the institutions has identified: resourcing strategies and objectives, recruitment difficulties, attracting and selecting candidates, working with recruitment agencies, employer branding, diversity, labour turnover and employee retention. The recruitment section explores the nature and scale of recruitment activities that takes place within UK organisations in the previous year. The survey also found out that there are more than seven in ten organisations which still work with agencies as part of their attraction process (73%). Employer branding is rampant as companies are increasingly seeking to make use of their employer brand to help attract, recruit and retain talent within their organisation. For CIPD, employee turnover in UK hospitality industry is inevitable wherein organizations are faced with loss of knowledge and the ability to meet business objectives.
Goldsmith et al (1997) discuss the principles of recruitment and selection, equal opportunities, training and development, staff health and welfare, health and safety in the workplace, employee involvement, performance appraisal, productivity, pay and reward systems and disciplinary and grievance procedures. These are all contributing factors to staff retention but nonetheless may result in higher rates of turnover once the labour needs are not met or not properly managed. Another literature is that Michael John Boella (2000) who discusses labour turnover and termination of employment. Boella suggests that the major challenge is that within the hospitality industry addressing labour turnover and staff stability rates maybe be detrimental because the industry is consists of many sectors and that there are still many differences within those sectors. The author maintains that there are many factors that influence labour turnover such as the nature of the industry itself; the nature of individual units; the nature of individual managers; and the high proportion of workers.
The book written by Salih Kusluvan is also of significance. It states that the tourism industry, of which the hospitality industry is the core element, is one of the largest and the fastest growing industries world-wide. According to World Tourism Organisation forecasts, the industry will continue to grow and employ more people in the twenty-first century. In parallel with the growth of the tourism and hospitality industry world-wide, consumer expectations and demands for quality are rising while consumer tastes are varying on the one hand, and competition among the firms, both nationally and internationally, is intensifying on the other. In this business environment of heightened consumer expectations, distinct market segments that demand unique products and services, and stiff competition, tourism and hospitality organisations are looking for ways to excel in service quality, customer satisfaction, competition and performance.
Kim Hoque (2000), on the other hand, demonstrates that hotels are just as likely to have experimented with new approaches to HRM as are comparable manufacturing establishments. She likewise demonstrates how the primary influences on managerial decision-making in the hotel industry are no different from he primary influences on decision-making elsewhere, challenging the argument that management theories developed within the mainstream are inapplicable within the hotel industry, because the industry is somehow ‘different’.
Mike Reily reiterates the views of the aforementioned authors as his book provides a practical approach to applying up-to-the-minute management techniques, and is a vital source of information for professionals in the hotel and catering industry responsible for personnel and training. Riley explores how aspects such as labour cost, utilization, labour market behaviour and pay are inseparable from the skills of people management while also extending his ideas on productivity so as to encompass its relationship with functional flexibility as well as motivating people is extended to include modern ideas about commitment.
4.0 Methodology
An ‘onion’-oriented researching will be employed in order to arrive at the core of the phenomenon to be investigated. Saunders et al (2003) suggest that conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study. To illustrate:
Research Paradigm and Approach
The research will utilise an interpretivism approach that encompasses positivist perspective and social constructivist view as well as realistic perspective. . Interpretivism is the necessary research philosophy for this study because it allows the search, of the ‘details of the situation, to understand the reality or perhaps a reality working behind them (Remenyi et al., 1998). From the interpretivist perception, it is necessary to explore the subjective meanings motivating people’s actions in order to understand their actions. In other words, the aim of the interpretivist is to understand situations and give plausible and acceptable accounts of them (Varey, Wood-Harper & Wood, 2002). In addition, the research will operate within a cross-sectional framework because of the limited time as the timeline of the study. An inductive approach whereby the researcher will draw insights to form theories instead of testing theories is chosen.
Research Strategy
Exploratory research will be the strategy that the research will be going to employ since this kind of research will enable the researcher to look at the problem in both descriptive and exploratory manner. This can be done through looking into the problem by exploring the views of different sets of respondents, as well as by exploring different literatures related with the study. As such, the strategy will made possible the presentation of facts that concern the nature and status of the situation, as it exists at the time of the study as well as describing the present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). As exploratory, the research will integrate formal interviews, observation, documentary analysis and surveys.
Research Methods
Since the research will incorporate two organizations: Encore Catering Company and Hilton Group, there will be two research methods for the research. First is the case study. According to Saunders et al (2003), case study is the strategy that involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence and is preferable when the study only focus on one or two samples because it involves in-depth multimethod investigations e.g. to understand organization problems. In the latter part of the study, comparative design will be employed.
The research will likewise utilise qualitative research. For qualitative, the research will try to find and build theories that will explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research and acquiring qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs within the organizational domain will be analyzed. Moreover, primary and secondary data will be collected. Primary research will be conducted using the data that will come from the employees of Encore Catering Company and Hilton Group through the researcher-made questionnaire and interview questions. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles, social science journals, theses and related studies on the hospitality industry.
Research Sample
Convenience sampling technique for the employees of both organizations is chosen as the sampling strategy. As planned, 250 questionnaires will be disseminated with the hope of at least 100 questionnaires to be returned. The employees who do not want to participate in the study will be subtracted from the 100% original samples. The researcher also plans to survey members of the upper management, 10 for each, and will be given informed consent to avoid problems.
Potential Research Limitations
Time will be the greatest limitation of this research, which could hinder the long-term outcome of objectives. Environmental factors, such as socio-economic status will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize sample based on two cases only, the results may not effectively represent the general population. Another possible limitation is the data acquire from the employee to the management level may differ. To wit, surveys are limited only to abrupt responses unlike one-on-one interviews where the respondents can further explain their answers to the researchers’ questions. Participation of the employees in disclosing their perceptions regarding the labour turnover conditions may also be a limitation of this study as there may be some who will not be willing to participate or who may participate half-heartedly.
Beech and Chadwick provide an introduction to key aspects of tourism, and to the practice of managing a tourism business as they explore the functions of management within the world of tourism, showing how tourism as a business has evolved, how the tourism and travel industry is structured, and how tourism businesses operate within their political, economic and socio-cultural environments.
5.0 Evaluation Conclusion
There are two broad categories that the research may experience obstructions from. The first is due to accession and the second is on the inherent limitations of the methods. The former points to three criteria as gatekeeper, permission from the two organisations and immersion internal to the organizations; whereas the latter is on providing in-depth analysis yet not jeopardizing the validity and reliability of the research.
6.0 References
Boella, M J 2000, Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry, Nelson Thornes.
CIPD. Annual survey report 2007. Retrieved on 21 May 2008 from http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/746F1183-3941-4E6A-9EF6-135C29AE22C9/0/recruitretntsurv07.pdf.
Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Goldsmith, A Nickson, D, Sloan, D and Wood, R C 1997, Human Resource Management for Hospitality Services, Cengage Learning EMEA.
Hoques, K 2000, Human Resource Management in the Hotel Industry: Strategy, Innovation and Performance, Routledge, London.
Kusluvan, S 2003, Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviours in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Nova Publishers.
Remenyi, D., Williams, B., and Swartz, E. (1998). Doing Research in Business Management: An Introduction to Process and Method. London: Sage.
Riley, M 2000, Managing People: A Guide for Managers in the Hotel and Catering Industry, Butterworth-Heinemann.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business Students, 3rd edition. Essex, UK: Pearson Educational Limited.
Varey, R. J.; Wood-Harper, T. & Wood, B. (2002): A Theoretical Review of Management and Information Systems Using a Critical Communications Theory. Journal of Information Technology 17, 229 – 239.
7.0 Appendices
TASK Months
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Select topic
Undertake preliminary literature search
· Define research questions
· Write-up aims and objectives
Select appropriate methodology and locate sources of information. Confirm access.
Write-up thesis plan
Undertake and write-up draft critical literature review.
Secondary and Primary Data Detailed
· Sources
· Consulted
Research Findings:
· Analyzed
· Evaluated
· Written-up
Discussion:
· Research findings evaluated and discussed in relation to the literature review
Methodology written-up
(including limitations and constraints)
Main body of the report written-up and checked for logical structure
· Conclusions drawn
· Recommendations made
Introduction and Executive Summary written-up
Final format and indexing
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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