Impact of High Turnover on Customer Service

This dissertation proposal aims to investigate the impact of high turnover on customer service. It will examine the negative impact of turnover rate on customer services and identify the major reasons for turnover within the organization. The research will provide valid recommendations based on the findings to improve customer services in hotel organizations.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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BA/BSc BUSINESS PROGRAMMES
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL PROFORMA
Name of Student
Name of Dissertation
Supervisor
Research Question/Problem
To investigate the impact of high turnover on customer service
Terms of Reference
The main aim of the research are as follows:
 The study will aim to investigate the negative impact of high turnover rate on
customer services
 The research will examine the different elements of turnover rate to identify the
major reasons for turnover within the organization
 The research will examine the different aspect of customer service to understand
the impact.
 Triangulation will be used to collect data and analyse it using different method to
check the validity of the data collected.
 The research will aim to provide valid recommendation based on the findings so
that management in hotel organizations can improve their customer services.
Research hypothesis
H0: There is no impact of employee turnover on the customer service quality
H1: There is significant impact of employee turnover on the customer service quality
Background and Context
Employee turnover is a major concern for the hotel industry and it has the highest turnover
rate among all other sectors. Studies shows that modern employees in hotels are
expected to leave their jobs as they are more focused on the job experience and not the
compensation they are receiving (Menon 2017). Moreover, the employees in the hotel
industry are under constant scrutiny from the internal stakeholders, such as line
managers, floor managers, owners but also from the guests and customers. The stressful
work environment in the hotel organizations have made it difficult for the companies to
engage their employees which is one of the major reasons that human resources kin the
hotel industry leave within three years of service. Surveys conducted on the hospitality
employees in UAE shows that majority of the employees are focusing on switching to
different jobs and better opportunities in the near future (HotelierME 2018). This is a major
concern for the organizations in the hotel industry in UAE and the research will take the
various cases into account to evaluate the turnover rate intentions of the employees and
its current and future possible impacts. Moreover, the research will aim to increase the
awareness of the management of the hotel regarding different issues faced by employees
while working in the hospitality industry and how the organization can mitigate those
issues to improve the service quality.
However, in the recent years, various organizations have not been able to hold up to

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the standard of service they have been known for so the research will evaluate the impact
of turnover on the customer service to provide suitable recommendations. This research
topic has been chosen for research as it one of the most important issue in organizational
context and will facilitate in developing analytical skills. This skills can be used in future
context for solving management issues in practical scenarios in the future.
Summary of Relevant Theory
Mohsin, Lengler and Aguzzoli (2015) states that it is essential to make careful investment
in human resources for maintenance and management of talented workforce. Staff
turnover is a key issue and impacts the performance of the organization. Brandt, Bielitz
and Georgi (2016) states that the cost of recruiting new employees has significant impact
on the profit margin of organizations. There are many hidden or indirect cost attached to
recruitment of new employees. Staff results in shortage of staffs and excessive work load
for the existing employees. This reduces the effectiveness of the organization and affects
the service quality. Mohsin and Lengler (2015) states that impact of staff turnover is not
monetary but also affects the morale of the employees. This causes issues in meeting the
demands of the consumers due to high stress level and low morale of the employees. Call
et al. (2015) opined that there is significant increase in staff turnover among employees
due to lack of satisfaction from the current job role. Mohsin, Lengler and Aguzzoli (2015)
supported by explaining that employee turnover results in unnecessary increase in
management waste, monetary cost and lack fo motivation.
Patiar and Wang (2016) states that staff turnover affects the service level of the
employees which in turn affects customer satisfaction. On the contrary, (Wong, Wong and
Wong (2015) focused on the advantages of employee turnover where downsizing has
been considered as a natural phenomenon and the presence of casual and part time
employees makes the employee turnover data skewed. However, the author admits that
there is adverse impact of employee turnover on customer service. There is lack of
satisfaction among the employees in the organization which results in increase in turnover
rate. The importance of staff satisfaction is high in contemporary businesses which deals
with the problems of performance and loyalty of the consumers. Employee turnover is one
of the most common issue in the hospitality industry due to the increase in employee job
dissatisfaction. Patiar and Wang (2016) states that employee turnover in not limited to a
few factors but there are groups of factors that result in lack of motivation and employee
turnover.
Methodology
Research methodology consists of set of framework, assumptions and concepts required
for knowledge development. In this research, Saunders research onion will be followed to
unfold the different methods used in each step of the data collection and analysis. In this
current research, pragmatism will be chosen as the research philosophy. Pragmatism
accepts theories when valid actions support them (Flick 2015). Pragmatism considers that
there are multiple ways of interpreting an issue which results in existence of multiple
realities. In this study, pragmatism will facilitate in performing a mixed method analysis.
There are mainly two types of research approaches, inductive and deductive approach.
The difference between the deductive and the inductive approach can be understood by
the significance of hypothesis in the research. Inductive approach is used for developing
new generalisations and theories. On the other hand, deductive approach is used for
testing existing theories in the research (McCusker and Gunaydin 2015). In this given
study, both inductive and deductive approach will be used to perform the mixed method
analysis. The study will use a sequential explanatory research design where initially
quantitative analysis will be performed to analyse the relationship between employee

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turnover and customer service quality and then the qualitative analysis will be performed
to validate the results from the quantitative analysis (Subedi 2016).
The research will use primary data collection method where both quantitative and
qualitative data will be collected. Survey questionnaire will be used as an instrument to
collect quantitative data. The survey questionnaire will comprise of close ended questions
and 5 point Likert scale will be used. On the other hand, Interview questionnaire will be
used to collect qualitative data which will consist of semi structured open ended questions
(Palinkas et al. 2015). The research will use stratified random sampling to choose 100
employees and quota sampling to choose 3 managers. The quantitative data will be
analysed using statistical tools like SPSS and Ms Excel. The response frequencies will be
represented into frequency tables and charts. Pearson’s Correlation and regression
analysis will be used to evaluate the relationship between turnover rate and customer
service quality. The qualitative data will be analysed using coding. Open coding will be
used to analyse the pattern from the qualitative data collected and axial coding will be
used to link the codes to existing theories.
In this study, reliability of the data will be measured using Cronbach’s alpha test which
measures the internal consistency and scale reliability of the collected data (Bonett and
Wright 2015). On the other hand, pilot testing will be used to send the questionnaire to 10
respondents for understanding the appropriateness of the research instruments.
Timescale
Task Name Duration Start Finish
research plan 68 days Mon 14-05-
18 Wed 15-08-18
Topic Selection 5 days Mon 14-05-18 Fri 18-05-18
Search for project topics 2 days Mon 14-05-18 Tue 15-05-18
Discuss with lecturer 3 days Wed 16-05-18 Fri 18-05-18
finalise topic 1 day Fri 18-05-18 Fri 18-05-18
Milestone 1: Topic selected 0 days Fri 18-05-18 Fri 18-05-18
Data collection from secondary sources 10 days Mon 21-05-18 Fri 01-06-18
Search for online sources 3 days Mon 21-05-18 Wed 23-05-18
collect relevant sources 2 days Mon 21-05-18 Tue 22-05-18
Framing layout of the research 3 days Wed 30-05-18 Fri 01-06-18
Milestone 2: Data collected 0 days Fri 01-06-18 Fri 01-06-18
Literature review 16 days Mon 04-06-18 Mon 25-06-18
Critically analyse the collected material 3 days Mon 04-06-18 Wed 06-06-18
Develop annotated bibliography 4 days Wed 13-06-18 Mon 18-06-18
formulate the preliminary literature review 5 days Tue 19-06-18 Mon 25-06-18
Milestone 3: Literature review developed 0 days Thu 21-06-18 Thu 21-06-18
Research methodology 19 days Fri 22-06-18 Wed 18-07-18
Selection of the Appropriate Research
Techniques 3 days Fri 22-06-18 Tue 26-06-18
sampling of data respondents 4 days Tue 03-07-18 Fri 06-07-18
reliability and validity 2 days Thu 12-07-18 Fri 13-07-18
informed consent 3 days Mon 16-07-18 Wed 18-07-18
Milestone 4: research plan developed 0 days Wed 18-07-18 Wed 18-07-18
Data collection from primary sources 8 days Thu 19-07-18 Mon 30-07-18
Conduct survey and interviews 4 days Thu 19-07-18 Tue 24-07-18

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Data analysis using Ms Excel and SPSS 2 days Wed 25-07-18 Thu 26-07-18
Content analysis 2 days Fri 27-07-18 Mon 30-07-18
Milestone 5: primary data collected and
analysed 0 days Mon 30-07-18 Mon 30-07-18
Conclusion of the Study 12 days Tue 31-07-18 Wed 15-08-18
Formation of Rough Draft 5 days Tue 31-07-18 Mon 06-08-18
Discuss with the lecturer 3 days Tue 07-08-18 Thu 09-08-18
Submission of Final Work 4 days Fri 10-08-18 Wed 15-08-18
Milestone 5: Project concluded 0 days Wed 15-08-18 Wed 15-08-18
References
Bonett, D.G. and Wright, T.A., 2015. Cronbach's alpha reliability: Interval estimation,
hypothesis testing, and sample size planning. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(1),
pp.3-15.
Brandt, W.A., Bielitz, C.J. and Georgi, A., 2016. The impact of staff turnover and staff
density on treatment quality in a psychiatric clinic. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, p.457.
Call, M.L., Nyberg, A.J., Ployhart, R.E. and Weekley, J., 2015. The dynamic nature of
collective turnover and unit performance: the impact of time, quality, and
replacements. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), pp.1208-1232.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
HotelierME 2018. 86% of current UAE hospitality workers plan to move jobs soon. [online]
HotelierME. Available at: https://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/34624-86-of-current-uae-
hospitality-workers-plan-to-move-jobs-soon [Accessed 8 Apr. 2019].
McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.
Menon, J. 2017. Staff attrition a major problem in the hotel industry. [online] HotelierME.
Available at: https://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/31836-staff-attrition-a-major-problem-in-
the-hotel-industry [Accessed 8 Apr. 2019].
Mohsin, A. and Lengler, J., 2015. Exploring the antecedents of staff turnover within the
fast-food industry: The case of Hamilton, New Zealand. Journal of Human Resources in
Hospitality & Tourism, 14(1), pp.1-24.
Mohsin, A., Lengler, J. and Aguzzoli, R., 2015. Staff turnover in hotels: Exploring the
quadratic and linear relationships. Tourism Management, 51, pp.35-48.
Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K.,
2015. Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health
Services Research, 42(5), pp.533-544.
Patiar, A. and Wang, Y., 2016. The effects of transformational leadership and
organizational commitment on hotel departmental performance. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(3), pp.586-608.
Subedi, D., 2016. Explanatory sequential mixed method design as the third research
community of knowledge claim. Am J Educ Res, 4(7), pp.570-577.

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visitabudhabi.ae 2019. Jumeirah at Etihad Towers. [online] visitabudhabi.ae. Available at:
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Wong, Y.T., Wong, Y.W. and Wong, C.S., 2015. An integrative model of turnover
intention: Antecedents and their effects on employee performance in Chinese joint
ventures. Journal of Chinese Human Resource Management, 6(1), pp.71-90.