preview

Investigating High Turnover Rates Within the Hospitality Industry

Better Essays

CHAPTER 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the problem

Attracting and retaining employees is a topic of in numerous articles, conference sessions, books and Websites, as well as the basis for numerous product launches to cub the concern of many organizations (Klepinger, 2007). Smith, (2007) notes that there is difficulty in finding and keeping talented people is having a catastrophic impact on many businesses and industries throughout the world. Money and benefits are important, but studies show most employees leave for other reasons. Employers have the need to retain the talents they have to attain the desired organizational goals which could include quality, customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Earle (2003) observes that …show more content…

When employees experience low job satisfaction and organizational commitment, it can be very costly especially since the hotel industry has an extremely high turnover rate (Cote and Heslin, 2003). Leadership styles also rank high in this area. Organizations that have committed employees should pay particular attention to those areas (through various methods). And having management team in place with the appropriate skills to provide the appropriate leadership for the environment in which the business must deal, companies can expect an increase in employee commitment. Studies seem to indicate that many factors are also involved in employee commitment and companies that are interested in increasing employee commitment should not solely focus on the two above areas. Other areas can significantly contribute to employee retention (Applebaum,Wunderlich,Grunstone,Grenier,Shapiro, Leroux and Troeger, 2003).
Boardman and Barbato (2008) posit that the hotel, catering and tourism (HCT) sector of the industry suffers from high levels of labour turnover. This provides a constant challenge for employers, limits the ability to maintain a skilled workforce and results in enhanced costs. The Marriott Corporation, for example, reported in 2000 that a 1 per cent increase in employee turnover would cost their company between $US5 and US$15 million.
Straus (2008) has noted that Nairobi

Get Access