Employee Retention in the Hospitality Industry: A UK Perspective

This report critically analyzes employee retention within the UK hospitality industry. It begins by introducing the context of high staff turnover rates and the associated costs, highlighting the industry's challenges in attracting and retaining employees. The report explores various factors influencing retention, including motivation, career development, work-life balance, and flexible working hours. It examines the impact of initiatives like training programs, communication platforms, and profit-sharing schemes. The methodology section details the research design, philosophy, approach, data collection methods (surveys and interviews), data analysis techniques, and ethical considerations. The report aims to provide insights into effective strategies for improving employee retention, offering recommendations for the hospitality industry to implement a strategic approach to address this critical issue and reduce turnover rates. The report also provides a comprehensive overview of the research process, including the research onion, data collection, and analysis methods, and ethical considerations, and sample size.

Introduction
In the hospitality industry, employee retention and staff turnover have a negative impact for the employers within that sector (Nicholls
2013).Employee retention has a major impact on the hospitality industry, where cost is high during the recruitment and training process, which
then gives the employee a reason to find another job (Nicholls, 2013). In the hospitality industry, the recruitment and retention process can be
very difficult (Hospitality & Catering 2013). However, there is evidence to suggest that a significant proportion of hospitality industry employers
is trying different options so that they can retain their employees. Hospitality & Catering (2013) shows that 12 employees had interest to pursue
a long-term career in the hotel industry. This was done by the introduction of a working scheme that allows current and newly employees to
shadow the manager.
Reason N (2019) the head of tiger hospitality states that other industries are more advance than the hospitality industry when it comes to the
employee retention. The hospitality industry has a retention rate of 70% compared to the national average rate of 85%. She listed some issues
that were raised by employees which leads to the low retention rates. To name a few such as unattractive hours, low salaries, misplaced
promotions and lack of career progression.
According to Big hospitality, (2013) turnover between middle and senior managers stands at a rate of 23% and 21%, but 46%, which is nearly
half of respondents has increased in the past 3 years. In order to increase the retention rates, it is said that training budgets would need to increase
by 50%.
In the United Kingdom, the hospitality industry is the fourth largest employer in the United Kingdom. Retaining employees was always an
issue. Opinions from the public suggested that jobs in the hospitality sector mostly offers minimum wages and bad working hours. ‘42% of
parents say they would actively discourage their children from working in the industry, citing poor pay and long working hours, as common
reasons’. 60% would consider their job in the hospitality industry as temporary and 62% would normally leave the job within 3 years. 45% of
people say that a career in the hospitality industry is normally for students, Simmons (2018).
In 2018, Bartlett Mitchell has had a consistent employee retention rate of 98%. There were communication platforms that will help support the
well-being of the employees. The platform, which includes an app, called Yapster, empowers direct communication between all employees and
develop the digital skills on the marketing team. The app gives a positive impact on the company producing a 30% increase on employee
engagement and a significant increase on employee retention (hospitality and catering news 2019).

The CEO of the Manorview Hotels & Leisure Group said that he would love the employees to feel a part of the company culture and work
together towards the same goals and vision. Such goals can be achieved by nurturing talent, rewarding loyalty and communicating core values.
The company introduce a profit share scheme called the HeartCount Fund which was launched in August 2017. In March 2018, Manorview
decided on sharing 10% of its pre-tax profits to the HeartCount Fund. Employees would have to be qualified to earn some of the grant. To
qualify an employee must be employed with the company for 12 months or more (Hospitality & Catering News, 2018).
There are several routes organizations should consider in order to improve the effectiveness of employees: Job previews, career development and
progression, training programs, motivation, promotions and incentives. The business will then have to spend a significant large amount of
resources, which still leads to high employee turnover rates which then creates a problem for low retention rates (CIPD 2019)
The purpose of this research paper was to critically analyse employee retention within the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom. Therefore,
the primary objectives of this study are
 To introduce the statistics of retention/ turnover within the United Kingdom Hospitality industry
 To critically evaluate the impact of motivation on retention rates in the hospitality industry
 The critical analysis of job embeddedness and how it links to retention in the hospitality industry
 Critical evaluation of work life balance/flexible working hours and retention rates in the hospitality industry
 Conclude and recommend how the hospitality industry can implement a strategic approach
Employee retention in the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom is the chosen topic because of the current situation today that organisations
are facing just to retain their employees. This topic is very important to the writer because it will give him/her a broader understanding from
different sources on how organisations could retain their workers, which links to their current academic field and career choice. During the
writer’s university journey, they experience working in the hospitality industry, which include hotels, restaurants and bars. For all those
businesses, most of them had the same thing in common, “A problem to retain their employees”. There were so many different employees within
the theme of employment. The writer thought of some reasons that could cause an issue like that, such as lack of motivation, type of contracts,
wages etc. Those situations are what the writer experience being a student.
A survey was put into place to find out where the hospitality in the United Kingdom rate stands. “The employee turnover rate stands at 30%,
where 3 out of 10 employees leave their job within a year. A total of 55% of the United kingdom’s employees that’s part of the hospitality
industry feels that if they have more control over them workload and shift patterns, would make it less possible to leave the employment”, Birkin
(2019).

When this research project is concluded, anyone who works or interested in the hospitality industry no matter if it’s part-time or causal will still
benefit. The researcher has high expectations that this research.
Methodology
Choice of research design
Research Philosophy
In a research, there are mainly three types of philosophies used: positivism, post-positivism and interpretivism. Positivism
philosophy relates to the development of the scientific and objective knowledge related to the subject matter of the research
(Dougherty, Slevc and Grand 2019). Post positivism is the act of deducing the results from the anticipated knowledge.
Interpretivism relates to the inducing different facts and insights from the available knowledge. In this research, positivism
philosophy is applied for developing scientific and objective knowledge related to employee retention in the hospitality industry, UK.
Research Onion

Fig: The research onion
(Source: Sahay 2016)
Research Design
Researches are conducted in a particular design, which are mainly: exploratory, explanatory and descriptive. Exploratory design
implies exploring the unexplored realms of the subject matter to enhance the awareness of the readers about every aspect of the
subject matter (Creswell and Poth 2016). Explanatory research design is that in which the researcher explains every parameter of
the subject matter. Descriptive design implies the description of the facts related to the topic. In this research, exploratory design is

applied for exploring the unexplored realms of the field of employee retention in the hospitality industry, UK. This exploration would
be effective for detecting the diversified opinions regarding employee retention in the hospitality industry of UK.
Construction of the method
Research approach
The research is viewed mainly from inductive and deductive approach. Inductive approach consists of the establishing new insights
and facts from the already established facts and ideas (Edson, Henning and Sankaran 2016). In case of the deductive approach is
used for deducting relevant facts from the collected data. The researcher in this research selects deductive approach for deducing
relevant facts related to employee retention in the hospitality industry, UK.
Data collection
The necessary data in a research is collected mainly through primary and secondary methods. These methods are further
subdivided into quantitative and qualitative. In primary quantitative, data is collected through surveys. In primary qualitative, the
data is collected through interviews (Maison 2018). In comparison to this, in secondary method, data is collected through the
means of case studies, books, journals, reports and others (Leavy 2017). The researcher, in this research, the necessary data
would be collected through primary quantitative and qualitative method, that is, survey and interview.

Data analysis
The collected data needs to be analysed for deducing relevant facts to the research topic. This analysis is done through the means
of primary and secondary methods, which are divided into quantitative and qualitative methods. In primary methods, the collected
data is analysed through the means of survey questions. The responses are analyzed through the means of tables, charts and
graphs (Finfgeld-Connett and Johnson 2018). On the other hand, secondary data analysis is done through the development of
relevant themes. In this research, the collected data would be analyzed through survey questions. The responses would be
projected in tabular and graphical format.
Reliability and validity
The sources from where the necessary data is collected, needs to be from reliable sites. In this context, mention can be made of
inclusion and exclusion criteria, which is important. Inclusion criteria are the act of referring to those sources, which have been
published in the last 10 years (Ryen 2016). On the contrary, exclusion criteria state that the data, which has been published more
than 10 years, are not to be included (Finfgeld-Connett and Johnson 2018). In this research, the research abides by the inclusion
criteria, assuring only to include those sources, which have been published in the last 10 years. Consciousness towards these
aspects would be crucial for generating validity in the propositions regarding employee retention in hospitality industry of UK.
Ethical considerations

Ethics is considered to be essential element in every research. Adherence to ethics helps in achieving the desired outcomes.
Typical examples of this consideration include exposing liberal approach to the needs of the samples; compliance with the Data
Protection Act (1998), acknowledging every source referred and not referring to those sources, which needs subscriptions (Ryen
2016). In this research, the researcher abides by all of these aspects including an assurance to the samples, that their responses
would be used only for the purpose of research and not for any commercial purposes. The researcher also catered to the fact that
the samples are not pressurized for producing the responses. These approaches would be effective for the researcher to avert the
instances of plagiarism and collusion.
Sample size
The whole of the population bears indirect or direct relationship with the research. However, in order to cope up with the
limited time and financial resources, the researcher selected samples for gaining the essential data. Size of the samples matters in
terms of finishing the process of data collection within the stipulated time. The sample size is dependent on the type of the research
(Chambers 2018). Explorative researches have considerable amount of samples for the process of data collection. In this research,
the samples size is 50 employees and 3 managers of Hospitality Industry,UK.
Sampling technique

The samples selected for the research, is done mainly in simple, random and probability basis. Simple technique is devoid of
any tests and experiments. The same is the case with random technique. Probability sampling is done through tests and
experiments regarding the acquaintance of the samples to the issue. In this research, the researcher has selected the samples
through the probability basis (Finfgeld-Connett and Johnson 2018). This approach would be effective for testing their awareness
about the retention strategies in the hospitality industry, UK.
Timeline
Preparation of the timelines is accounted as important aspect of the research strategy. This timeline is to be prepared at the initial
stage of beginning with the topic selection. The researcher exposed well time management skills in completing the research related
activities within the stipulated time.
Activities Wee
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Topic
selection
Gaining
information

Developin
g aims and
objectives
Literature
review
Data
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analysis
Findings
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conclusion
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Evaluation
Table: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by the author)

Literature review
Introduction
Motivation
Job Embeddedness
Flexibility/Work life balance
Findings, Analyses and Evaluation
Conclusion and Recommendation
Appendices
Hospitality & Catering News (2018) Sofitel London Gatwick encourages employees to see hospitality as long-term career choice. Available at:
https://www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com/2018/01/sofitel-london-gatwick-encourages-employees-see-hospitality-long-term-career-choice/ (Accessed:
30 January 2020).
Hospitality & Catering News (2018) Manorview Group’s HeartCount Fund gives employees a New Year boost. Available at:
https://www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com/2018/01/manorview-groups-heartcount-fund-gives-employees-new-year-boost/ (Accessed: 30th January
2020).
Big hospitality (2019) Long term plans: 6 steps to hire for longevity. Available at: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2019/05/07/Long-term-plans-6-
steps-to-hire-for-longevity-in-hospitality-restaurants-staff (Accessed: 04th February 2020).

Big hospitality (2018) Nestle Professional on the ‘talent challenge’. Available at : https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/News/Events-Awards/Toque-d-Or-2019-
comment (Accessed: 04th February 2020)
Hospitality and catering news (2019) Bartlett Mitchell report organic growth drives 16% increase in turnover. Available at:
https://www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com/2019/05/bartlett-mitchell-report-organic-growth-drives-16-increase-turnover/ (Accessed:6th February 2020).
Big Hospitality (2013) HotelSwaps: Room exchange programme launched to fill empty hotels and offer staff rewards. Available at:
https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2013/02/04/HotelSwaps-Room-exchange-programme-launched-to-fill-empty-hotels-and-offer-staff-rewards
(Accessed:2nd February 2020).
Nicholls (2013) Want to keep your staff? Invest in training, says People 1st. Available at: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2013/07/10/How-to-
retain-staff-in-hotels-restaurants-pubs (Accessed: 19th Februrary 2020).
CIPD (2019) Employee turnover and retention. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/resourcing/turnover-retention-factsheet#7169
(Access: 2nd March 2020)
Chambers, J.M., 2018. Graphical methods for data analysis. CRC Press.
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2016. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Dougherty, M.R., Slevc, L.R. and Grand, J.A., 2019. Making research evaluation more transparent: Aligning research philosophy, institutional values, and
reporting. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), pp.361-375.
Edson, M.C., Henning, P.B. and Sankaran, S. eds., 2016. A guide to systems research: Philosophy, processes and practice (Vol. 10). Springer.
Finfgeld-Connett, D. and Johnson, E.D., 2018. Data Collection and Sampling. In A Guide to Qualitative Meta-synthesis (pp. 18-30). Routledge.

Leavy, P., 2017. Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches . Guilford
Publications.
Maison, D., 2018. Qualitative Marketing Research: Understanding Consumer Behaviour. Routledge.
Ryen, A., 2016. Research ethics and qualitative research. Qualitative research, pp.31-48.
Sahay, A., 2016. Peeling Saunder's Research Onion. Research Gate, Art, pp.1-5.