Workplace Health and Safety: Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover in a Medium-Sized Hotel with a Restaurant on Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

The report examines the reasons for the high turnover of staff in a medium sized hotel with a restaurant on Gold Coast, Queensland, in Australia. It outlines the various types of stressors, strategies that were found to be effective in reducing employee turnover, and recommendations suggested to the hotel with a restaurant on Gold Coast.

Running head: WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary
The purpose of the report was to examine the reasons for the high turnover of staff in a medium
sized hotel with a restaurant on Gold Coast, Queensland, in Australia. The report first outlined
the various types of stressors as identified in the academic literature. Then, the report examined
the strategies that were found to be effective in reducing employee turnover. Further, the report
analyzed the effectiveness of these strategies and found that some of the strategies worked for
the said hotel and some did not. The report concluded with some recommendations suggested to
the hotel with a restaurant on Gold Coast and an overall gist of the analysis.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Aim........................................................................................................................................3
2. Stressors leading to staff turnover...............................................................................................3
2.1 Types of stressors hotel employees face................................................................................4
2.1.1 Work overloads...............................................................................................................4
2.1.2 Interpersonal tensions at work........................................................................................4
2.1.3 Work arguments..............................................................................................................4
2.1.4 Burnout...........................................................................................................................5
3. Strategies to reduce staff turnover...............................................................................................5
3.1 Retention programs................................................................................................................5
3.2 HRM strategies......................................................................................................................5
3.3 Internal marketing strategies..................................................................................................6
3.4 Recruitment strategies...........................................................................................................6
4. Discussion....................................................................................................................................6
5. Recommendations........................................................................................................................7
6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
7. References:..................................................................................................................................9

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1. Introduction
Ensuring the health and safety of the workforce in any industry is an extremely important
aspect of the organization. Health and safety of the workforce is significant to the overall
productivity of the organization. Within the hospitality industry, health and safety concerns have
become a worrying issue with the increasing cases of violation of Occupational Health and
Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations. In the hotel business, this has been the leading cause
of high staff turnover rate.
1.1 Background
For the purpose of this report, QT Gold Coast has been chosen as medium sized hotel that
will be assessed to understand the high turnover rate of employees.
1.2 Aim
The report aims to investigate the different stressors that lead to high employee turnover.
The report will review four articles that talk about workforce health and safety with special focus
on the chosen hotel. After reviewing, the report will then provide certain recommendations for
the hotel to reduce its staff turnover.
2. Stressors leading to staff turnover
Stress is one of the main causes that lead to decreasing health of the employee thus,
resulting in high turnover. Hospitality workers in particular face numerous types of stressors that
accelerated the pace of employee turnover especially in the recent decades. Employee stress has
been an important matter in the hospitality industry and it costs heavily on not only the
employees but also the employers.

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2.1 Types of stressors hotel employees face
2.1.1 Work overloads
O’neill and Davis (2011) found in their study that work overloads have been one of the
most frequent stressors for hotel employees. It was revealed in their study that hotel managers
and hourly employees face the stress of work overload the most. Work overloads occur due to
break down of equipments that occur on about 20% of the day. The stress of work overload leads
to increasing cases of ill health amongst hotel employees.
2.1.2 Interpersonal tensions at work
This stressor has also been found most amongst the hotel manager. Interpersonal tension
occurs in situations where managers have to avoid conflicts such as an argument. Interpersonal
tensions are the most common forms of stressors for other employees as well. It is difficult to
avoid conflicts for the managers and employees everyday and this makes the situation even
worse. Higher level of interpersonal tension thus leads to lower job satisfaction and high
turnover.
2.1.3 Work arguments
Stress experienced due to work arguments are a common occurrence in most industries
but in the hotel industry, it is most likely to occur more often. Arguments are likely to offer most
often in the kitchen as due to the aggressive behavior of the chefs towards the junior cooks.
Meloury and Signal (2014) found that aggression amongst male chefs in the kitchen were the
most visible and recurrent. Line cooks find it stressful in the kitchen to carry on with their work
and ultimately decide to quit.

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2.1.4 Burnout
Yang et al. (2012, p. 839) highlight long working hours and burnout as stressors that
cause hotel employees to leave their job. The authors state that the stress due to long hours of
working results in burnout. Burnout accounts for a high percentage of employee turnover and
refers to emotional exhaustion occurring from excessive workload and prolonged stress.
3. Strategies to reduce staff turnover
Davidson and Wang (2011) present different strategies with which the hotel employee’s
turnover could be reduced and retention rate could increase.
3.1 Retention programs
Many hotels conduct retention programs to reduce employee turnover and increase
retention. The common yet effective retention program is internal promotion. This encourages
the employees to work harder and drop the idea of quitting their job. Professional training and
performance bonuses are also some effective programs that hotels use to retain their employees.
3.2 HRM strategies
According to Yang, Wan and Fu (2012), human resource management (HRM) strategies
are tailor-made to enhance employee job satisfaction. The strategies include training and career
development, intrinsic rewards, compensation policies and inter-departmental transfers. Apart
from these strategies, selective hiring procedure could also be an effective strategy for employee
retention. The authors further state that it is important that the managers treat their employees the
same way they treat their customers. Career development and empowerment as motivations are
also influential strategies for employee retention.

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3.3 Internal marketing strategies
Within this strategy, the staff receives managerial support and encouragement to practice
behaviors that are market oriented. Further, managers introduce programs like internal
coordination and communication, integrating human resources with marketing helps retain and
motivate employees. Yang, Wan and Fu (2012), also talk about international marketing strategies
aiming to market HRM functions within the hotel industry as an excellent strategy. The strategy
assists supportive employee relations practices connected with work systems and high
performance.
3.4 Recruitment strategies
Davidson and Wang (2011) hold that since retention and recruitment are related,
recruiting quality workers also adds to the strategies directed towards retaining employees. They
argue, the first step towards managing and reducing turnover is to select the correct employee.
While looking for the correct employee, the hotel must look for qualities like the right
personality, attitude and commitment. However, it is also true that in spite of the strong will to
hire the right employees, hotels in actuality do not commit into using the conventional
recruitment and selection procedure (Manoharan, Gross and Sardeshmukh 2014). The authors
argue that hotels must start adopting a holistic approach to recruitment and selection that stresses
on positive interaction between organization’s structure, the external environment and the traits
of the selector.
4. Discussion
According to the data on employee within Australian state and territory, the turnover rate
in Queensland is 60%, which is six percent less than the national average (Deloitte Access

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Economics (Firm) 2015). Further, businesses operating within Australia also reported that lack of
desired skills also caused a barrier to employee retention and increased employee turnover.
In case of the chosen hotel with restaurant in Gold Coast, the staff turnover is quite high.
The restaurant run by the hotel in Queensland’s Gold Coast has received bad reviews most of
which indicate issues with employee turnover. It demonstrates that poor employee retention
strategies and poor management of stressors become visible in the eyes of the customers even.
The strategies mentioned in the above sections could be analyzed for their effectiveness
by finding their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the scenario given, which is, hotel with a
restaurant in Gold Coast. The retention program strategy such as performance bonus might not
prove effective for the Gold Coast hotel because it would be financially straining for the medium
sized hotel because it would mean that the hotel would incur additional costs on the hotel, which
it might not be able to afford. In addition, performance bonuses or professional training is less
likely to be effective in reducing stress caused from interpersonal conflict work overload.
The HRM strategies especially career development and empowerment could prove to be
an effective strategy for the hotel in reducing high turnover because it when the employees are
assured of development, they are less likely to leave. Further, these strategies could help in
motivating the employees and helping them cope with burnouts. The strategy also includes
similar treatment of employees and customers by the management. This has the potential to
reduce stress like burnouts.
5. Recommendations
 Provide the employees, especially the new recruits, sufficient time to analyze the
environment and learn the skills and their responsibilities to carry out efficiently. Putting

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too much pressure at the beginning might scare the employee and prompt her or him to
leave.
 Make a perfectly coordinate roster asking each employee about his or her preferred shift
timing. In this way, the restaurant staff could have a time to feel at ease and not be too
emotionally and physically exhausted.
 Prepare a plan where the hotel and restaurant staff come together once a week and engage
in recreational activities including the customers as well. This will ensure that the
employees feel comfortable and avoid conflicts.
 Maintain a log that contains maintenance records of all the equipments in the restaurant
and the hotel as well. This would reduce the work overload from the managers who in
turn would be able to focus on other employees thus avoiding interpersonal conflicts as
well.
6. Conclusion
In the conclusion, it could be stated that the presence of various stressors amongst the
workforce especially in the hotel industry has caused the rate of employee turnover to increase.
The report has been prepared to provide an overview of the employee turnover within Australia’s
Gold Coast region. The report encompassed the various stressors, reasons, and strategies to
tackle those stressors. Lastly, a recommendation list has been provided to the hotel with a
restaurant at the Gold Coast to follow in order to reduce employee turnover by addressing the
stressors.

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7. References:
Davidson, M.C. and Wang, Y., 2011. Sustainable labor practices? Hotel human resource
managers views on turnover and skill shortages. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality &
Tourism, 10(3), pp.235-253.
Deloitte Access Economics (Firm), 2015. Australian tourism labour force report: 2015-2020.
Manoharan, A., Gross, M.J. and Sardeshmukh, S.R., 2014. Identity-conscious vs identity-blind:
Hotel managers’ use of formal and informal diversity management practices. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, pp.1-9.
Meloury, J. and Signal, T., 2014. When the plate is full: Aggression among chefs. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, pp.97-103.
O’neill, J.W. and Davis, K., 2011. Work stress and well-being in the hotel industry. International
journal of hospitality management, 30(2), pp.385-390.
Yang, J.T., Wan, C.S. and Fu, Y.J., 2012. Qualitative examination of employee turnover and
retention strategies in international tourist hotels in Taiwan. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 31(3), pp.837-848.