Introduction
Maintaining a stable
workforce is a key element in effective talent management strategy and yet over
the years this has been something of a challenge for hospitality and tourism
operators. Research into the retention of talented staff is ongoing and this
article examines the findings from such research to put forward strategies for
industry consideration.
There are four key
themes to the current research. Firstly, the article examines the literature on
models of turnover and the subsequent implications of these models. Seminal
work by researchers such as Porter and Steers (1973), Mobley et al. (1979) and Price (1977)has underpinned work in
this area by Cotton and Tuttle (1986), Griffeth and Hom (1995), Deery and Iverson (1996), Deery and Shaw (1999) and Ghiselli et
al. (2001), these
latter three being located in the hospitality and tourism industry. Much of
this research examines the role that constructs such as organisational
commitment and job satisfaction play in contributing to employees' intentions
to leave an organisation. The second theme addresses the personal attributes of
job stress and turnover intentions play in the decision to leave an
organisation.
The third theme emerging
from the literature examines the role that work-life balance (WLB) plays in
employee turnover. Work by Wang and Walumbwa (2007), for example, investigates the role that family friendly programs
have on work withdrawal, while Dagger and Sweeney (2006) specifically focus on quality of life issues and employee
turnover. Finally, research on the fourth theme on strategies to achieve higher
retention rates is discussed. Maxwell's (2005) research, for
example, into the role of managers in WLB policies and practices informs this
fourth theme.
This article, then,
scopes the literature to identify past and ongoing debates around perspectives,
causes, solutions and organisational strategies surrounding labour turnover and
identify the implications of these for approaches to talent management. The
article focuses around four themes that appear frequently in the hospitality
employee turnover literature. These are the role of job attitudes such as job
satisfaction and organisational commitment, personal attributes such as
positive and negative affectivity, the role of WLB in employee intention to
leave and, finally, the strategic role that organisational activities such as
training and career development can play in retaining staff.
Theme 1: job attitudes
The constructs of job
satisfaction and organisational commitment have been consistently found to
influence employee turnover and have underpinned studies by Tutuncu and Kozak (2007), Robinson and Barron (2007) and Carbery et
al. (2003). Much of
the debate in previous research has focused on whether it is organisational
commitment or job satisfaction that has the greatest influence on employee
turnover and, although this issue is examined in the hospitality literature
cited here, other issues relating to these job attitudes are also incorporated
into the studies. For example, the work by Carbery et
al. (2003) investigate
that the psychological contract, career expectations and managerial
competencies have in the decision to leave an organisation. In concluding, the
authors found that “a combination of demographic, human capital, psychological
attributes and hotel characteristics, explain significant variance in turnover
cognitions of hotel managers” (p. 671).
Robinson and Barron (2007), on the other hand, focus on the issues of deskilling and
standardisation that lead to a lack of job satisfaction and organisational
commitment and ultimately to the decision to leave the organisation. Research
by Tutuncu and Kozak (2007) concur
with these findings, noting that the work itself, the pay and supervision
within the hotel industry can lead to job dissatisfaction and then employee
turnover. Many of these studies use the job descriptive index (JDI) by Smith et al. (1969), in which the key components of job satisfaction are the work
itself, pay, co-workers, supervision and an overall job satisfaction variable.
The work by Walmsley (2004), for example, uses the
JDI dimensions testing the perceptions of these aspects according to both
employers and employees. Substantial differences were found between their
perceptions. Gustafson's (2002) study
on employees in private clubs in USA confirms the role that low pay, and the
opportunity for better pay, plays in the decision to leave an organisation. In
addition to these considerations, Lam et al. (2002) also focus on the role that mentoring and training play in
new employees' decisions to leave an organisation. Importantly, they have found
that training new employees significantly mitigates their desires to leave the
organisation.
Finally, the work
by Ghiselli et
al. (2001) and Stalcup and Pearson (2001) examine
the causes of turnover using management data. Lawrence and Pearson's study is
particularly interesting in that it examines both voluntary and involuntary
causes. They note the similarities and differences between the causes cited by
the employees and those cited by the organisation. In terms of differences,
none of the employees cited a lack of skills or a lack of motivation as a
cause, whereas the managers cited these as important influences on the decision
to leave. Managers, on the other hand, did not cite integrity or the ethics of
the property as causes, as did the employees. There were, interestingly, more
similarities than differences between the two surveys and issues such as the organisational
culture and work-life conflict were cited in both. Research by Ghiselli et
al. (2001, p. 36) also
examines the role that job satisfaction and life satisfaction has on the
turnover decision. They found that “managers who were more satisfied with the
intrinsic components of their jobs, more satisfied with their life and
(relatively) older were less likely to leave their position imminently” (Table I).
Theme 2: personal employee dimensions
The second theme focuses
on attitudes that the employees have that contribute to their desire to leave
an organisation. Psychological dimensions such as job burnout and exhaustion
were examined by Lee and Shin (2005) where
the job burnout construct used had the three components of emotional
exhaustion, depersonalisation and diminished personal accomplishment. Emotional
exhaustion, on the other hand, refers to a lack of energy “due to excessive
psychological demands” (p. 100). Their study used a number of other dimensions
including examining the role of positive and negative affectivity on an
employee's intention to leave. The authors found that turnover intention was
positively correlated with negative affectivity, workload, exhaustion and
cynicism. These items were negatively correlated with vigour, dedication and
absorption. In their regression analysis, the items of cynicism and workload
were the significant predictors of turnover intentions.
The research by Karatepe and Uludag (2007) also
tests, among others, the relationship between exhaustion and employees'
intention to leave the organisation. Their study found that frontline employees
who had difficulty in spending time with their family or in keeping social
commitments were likely to be emotionally exhausted. This, in turn, impacted
negatively on their job satisfaction and ultimately influenced their intention
to leave the organisation. Karatepe and Uludag discuss the relationship between
these personal employee dimensions and WLB and the implications of these
findings are discussed in the next section.
The final article
discussed in this section is that by Rowley and Purcell (2001). While this article examines a number of causes and strategies
relating to employee turnover, it does elaborate on the impact that stress and
job burnout have on the employees' intentions to leave an organisation. In
particular, these authors specify the impact that job overload, through
“deliberate understaffing, temporary staff shortages and unrealistic task
criteria” (p. 169), together with impact of bullying, has on retention rates in
hotels. Table II provides a summary
of the key literature in the area of personal employee dimensions.
In summary, then, the pressures
that hospitality and tourism employees are under appears to significantly
contribute to employee turnover and the lack of staff retention. The
excessively long hours, style of management and conflict between work and
family life, present barriers to making the tourism work environment an
attractive and stable one. The toll that the conflict between work and
family/life for hospitality and tourism employees, is discussed in the next
section.
Theme 3: work-life balance
The issues relating to
obtaining a WLB have received substantial attention over recent years,
especially in the area of contemporary organisational research. Less attention,
however, has been given to researching the impact of WLB in the hospitality
area (Mulvaney et
al., 2006). These
authors discuss the impact that non-work factors such as job stress and burnout
have on an employee's intention to leave an organisation and, in particular,
they focus on the roles that job stress, work-family conflict and the
characteristics of the job have on this vital decision. Their research,
together with that of Mulvaney et
al. (2006) has
more recently provided the underpinning for future work in this area. Their
model, presented here in Figure 1, includes many of the
variables frequently associated with the antecedents of employee turnover,
variables such as the long and irregular hours.
These authors suggest
that the levels of conflict between work and family will be impacted or
moderated by the levels of support employees (in this case, managers) receive,
the personal attributes they bring to the job, the industry norms and the way
all these components are managed in the workplace. Mulvaney et
al. (2006), Cleveland et al. (2007), Namasivayam and Zhao (2007) andKaratepe and Uludag (2007), together with Rowley and Purcell (2001), argue, in various ways, that these components work to effect job
satisfaction and organisational commitment and ultimately lead to employee
turnover.
The research note
by Cullen and McLaughlin (2006, p. 510) offers a different perspective on the WLB issue. Cullen and
McLaughlin discuss the notion of “presenteeism” defined as “an overwhelming
need to put in more hours or, at the very least, appear to be working very long
hours”. They argue that there are three rationales that reinforce presenteeism
as a managerial value in hotels. These rationales are that firstly, it appears
to be the belief of hotel managers that they have a duty to provide emotional
support to their staff and need to be available to provide counselling. The
second rationale is that hotel managers see themselves as the face of the hotel
and need to be continually present to be this. Finally, the authors argue that
it is the very nature of the industry, the constancy and complexity of running
a hotel that is open at all times, that makes it appear vital that managers be
available for excessive long hours. All of this “presenteeism” of, impacts
negatively on life satisfaction and the WLB (Table III).
The issues surrounding
WLB, those of the long hours, the exhausting work and the stress that arises
from customer related activities are only just being examined in any
substantial way in the hospitality industry. Interestingly, however, there is
sound literature on the success or otherwise of initiatives to combat this
issue of WLB and this is addressed in the next theme that examines the
strategies to reduce employee turnover.
Theme 4: organisational strategies to assist
employee retention
This theme, that of the
organisational strategies to assist in retaining employees, comprises the
largest number of articles for the purposes of this article. Many of the
research studies focus on the functional human resources (HR) activities such
as recruitment and training. Examples of these are from Collins (2007), Dermody et
al. (2004) Reynolds et al. (2004) and Martin et al. (2006) who focus on the important role that appropriate recruitment
plays in retaining good staff. Improving the quality and quantity of
hospitality staff appears to be dependent on improving the image of the
industry, together with more strategic ways of managing work rosters and
workloads. Demody et al. argue that hourly paid staff are best
motivated and attracted to the industry through incentive pay programs and
innovative benefits such as cash bonuses, flexible work schedules and mentoring
programs. Hospitality recruiters need to be more aware of the skills and
attributes such as computing and language skills required by the hotel during
the recruiting phase – basic allowance for sustenance rates (BAS, 2007) argues
that many recruiters are not sufficiently strategic in this area.
Another HR function, and
therefore a potential retention strategy, that receives attention in the
literature is that training. Research byChiang et al. (2005) examined the relationship between training, job satisfaction
and the intention to stay in the hospitality industry. The findings suggest
that training quality was positively related to training satisfaction, job
satisfaction and intention to stay. Related to the concept of training is that
of education and the type of training given by training providers such as
universities and vocational institutions. A study by Hjalager and Andersen (2001) explores
the difficult question of whether tourism employment is merely contingent,
temporary work or whether it is actually a career. These authors address this
question through examining research sites in restaurant and catering,
accommodation and travel services. They conclude by stating that:
Due to its structure,
rapid shifts and the social character of its jobs, tourism seems to be an
industry that, more than any other industry in the economy, attracts the
ultramobile, the virtual, and the boundaryless (p. 128).
They also suggest,
however, that due to the lack of research into the ways that careers and
professions develop, it is possible that the industry may develop into what we
would now consider to be a profession. Such findings are most informative and
perhaps suggest that vocational training and on-the-job training would be more
appropriate for the industry. Such findings also have ramifications for the way
we view the turnover rates in the industry. The work by O'Leary and Deegan (2005), examining the career progression of Irish tourism and
hospitality management graduates, in many ways confirms the findings of
Hjalager and Andersen as does that by Pratten and O'Leary (2007) who
argue that hospitality and tourism students need to be encouraged to look
further afield than those promoted by their training institutions.
The approach taken by
Wildes and Parks in their research on food servers, looks at the influence that
internal marketing has on employee retention. They argue that building strong
relationships within the organisation reduces turnover and, furthermore,
promotes recommending behaviour of employees of the hotel to friends.
Interestingly, and contrary to the work by Hjalager and Andersen (2001), a third
of the food servers saw their jobs as professions and as having a career.
The area that has most
recently been a focus for examination regarding the retention of staff is that
of the role that balancing working and family life has in turnover decisions.
The research by Doherty (2004) and Maxwell (2005) provide insights
into the link between the work-life conflict and employee turnover. Maxwell
suggests that managers are key to the initiation and implementation of WLB
policies with some of those policies being the introduction of flexible working
hours and arrangements, providing better training, breaks from work and better
work support. All these strategies not only address WLB issues but also enhance
employee retention. Doherty also examines WLB strategies, especially as they
relate to women, and notes that such strategies may only assist women hen the
labour market is tight. She argues, too, that a stronger equal opportunities
approach is problematic in that it draws attention to the difference between
men and women's working preferences and needs. She suggests that there be a
greater and clearer set of rights as well as assisting male managers to provide
more balanced lives for both male and female workers (Table IV).
Discussion
The literature
pertaining to the retention of staff has, over the last years, focussed on
traditional causes such as the lack of job satisfaction and organisational
commitment. In addition, the role that stress and various components of stress
such as emotional exhaustion and job burnout, has taken a more “front-of-stage
role” in being identified as a significant cause of employee turnover. Stress
has frequently been incorporated into studies on turnover, but the literature
presented here suggests that it is now being perceived as an issue/variable in
its own right. The various components of stress, emotional exhaustion and job
burnout such as cynicism and sabotage have received greater attention than
previously given. Such a focus suggests that stress and its various parts is a
growing concern for both the industry and researchers and its impact in
employee retention, or lack thereof, is an area that demands more attention by
both industry and the academic community.
The most recent addition
to the research into employee retention is the role that obtaining a balance
between work and life has in an employee's decision to remain with the
organisation. It would appear that the conflict between these important
dimensions of human activity can cause both job dissatisfaction and hence an intention
to leave the organisation as well as causing conflict with family members and
family activities. Strategies to ameliorate these tensions have been introduced
into a number of organisations, but there is still substantial improvement and
trailing of such initiatives to ensure a better balance.
Strategies to ensure a
WLB are among many that have been suggested in the literature to retain staff.
The most common strategies put forward, apart from the WLB ones, focus on the
role that recruitment and training have in improving job satisfaction and
organisational commitment and hence employee intention to stay. What is
concerning, However, is that these strategies have been suggested to assist in
employee retention for some time now and yet, there appears to be little
improvement in the rates of employee retention. It is possible, therefore, that
strategies such as more focussed recruitment strategies and better quality
training programs need to be combined with other elements to achieve the most
effective outcome. Figure 2 brings together
the various themes and strategies from the literature to suggest a more
holistic framework for improving employee retention rates.
The framework presented
in Figure 2 provides
organisations with a more holistic method of examining the causes or low
employee retention as well as suggesting ways to improve job satisfaction and
organisational commitment. Such a framework requires further examination of
each of the variables within the key categories of the organisational and
industry attributes, personal employee dimensions and improved organisation
strategies. It is suggested here that this framework should underpin future
research in this area. Specifically, it is suggested that organisations
undertake a strategic approach to ameliorate employee turnover by firstly
addressing the organisational and industry attributes as outlined in Figure 2. More equitable and
flexible roistering of staff designed to alleviate the number of unsocial hours
worked per employee is a strategy within the control of the organisation.
Similarly, the provision of mentoring and a “buddying” system of on-the-job
training would assist in the professional development of staff. Management need
to be aware of the signs of employee stress and have the capacity to provide
counselling and stress management activities such as time out and relaxation
methods. Finally, it is argued that organisations need to monitor levels of
stress and work-life imbalance through longitudinal surveys; adopting these
strategies provides an opportunity to further the relationship between
researchers and practitioners within tourism.
Implications for the workplace
The implications for the
workplace in retaining staff from this review of the literature include a range
of actions at both the government and organisational level. Assuming that the
previous research is correct in that WLB issues impact negatively on staff
retention, an imperative for governments is to legislate, not only for minimum
hours of work, but also maximum hours of work. In Australia, for example, it
has been found that according to the Relationships Forum Australia report
by Shepanski and Diamond (2007), more than
20 per cent of employees work for 50 hours or more a week and
more than 30 per cent work on the weekend regularly. Two million Australians
also spend at least 6 hours of family time on
Sundays working, without compensating for it during the week. At the
organisational level, there are a number of actions that can be adopted to
retain good staff as well as assist in balancing work and family life. These
include:
- providing flexible working hours such as roistered days off and family friendly starting and finishing times;
- allowing flexible work arrangements such as job sharing and working at home;
- providing training opportunities during work time;
- providing adequate resources for staff so that they can undertake their jobs properly;
- determining correct staffing levels so that staff are not overloaded;
- allowing adequate breaks during the working day;
- having provision for various types of leave such as carer's leave and “time-out” sabbatical types of leave;
- rewarding staff for completing their tasks, not merely for presenteeism;
- staff functions that involve families;
- providing, if possible, health and well-being opportunities such as access to gymnasiums or at least time to exercise; and
- encouraging sound management practices.
These recommendations
are made to assist organisations to retain their talented staff and to not only
retain them but to provide a more holistic experience that includes a balance
between their work environment and their home life. In so doing, employee
turnover causes such as stress, work overload, low job satisfaction and little
organisation commitment can be alleviated and retention rates of good staff
improved.
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