Research Proposal: Employee Turnover Reasons in Hotel Industry

This research proposal investigates the significant issue of employee turnover within the hotel industry, particularly in Australia. The study aims to identify the key reasons driving high turnover rates, including factors such as inadequate training, organizational culture, job stress, and insufficient rewards. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining secondary data analysis from government publications and academic literature with qualitative interviews of hotel professionals and owners. The research plan outlines variables, data collection methods, and a detailed schedule for the project, including data analysis using SPSS and grounded theory. The anticipated outcomes include a comprehensive understanding of the causes of employee turnover and recommendations for effective mitigation strategies to improve employee retention within the hotel sector.

Running head: REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
Research Proposal: REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................2
1.1 Background..................................................................................................................2
1.2 Research Problem and Justification.............................................................................2
1.3 Research Aim..............................................................................................................2
1.4 Research Questions.....................................................................................................3
2 Literature Review...............................................................................................................3
2.1 Identified Gap..............................................................................................................4
3 Research Plan......................................................................................................................4
3.1 Research Variables......................................................................................................5
3.2 Data Collection and Analysis......................................................................................5
3.3 Schedule......................................................................................................................6
4 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................8

2REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
Human resources are probably the most vital resource of an organisation. The
organisation has to invest time, effort and resources to develop them, however, if they leave
the job it becomes a major concern for the employer (Shaikh & Zahid, 2016). The discussed
process is called as employee turnover. One of the industry that is facing the employee
turnover massively is the hotel industry. Hence, the proposed study is aimed at identifying the
reasons for the employee turnover in hotel industry.
1.2 Research Problem and Justification
One of the most prominent concern that is being faced by the employers is the
challenge of employee turnover. It not just impacts the organisation instantly but also affects
their sustainability. The costs incurred on hiring, training and developing new skills
consumes time, effort and resources. Furthermore, the employee turnover rate in the hotel
industry is very high which is emerging as a global concern. There are several reasons for the
turnover but a proper assessment over them is incomplete or improperly defined. Hence, it is
of great prominence that attention over the employee turnover be given so that a proper
framework for the mitigation of the causes of employee turnover can be developed.
1.3 Research Aim
The aim of the paper is to identify the reasons that lead to employee turnover in the
hotel industry. It will be supported by certain objectives that have been listed below along
with the primary aim of the paper:
RA: To identify the reasons that lead to employee turnover in Hotel Industry.
RQ1: To identify the employee turnover rate in Australian Hotel Industry.

3REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
RQ2: To identify potential measures that are capable of mitigating the employee turnover
rate.
1.4 Research Questions
RQ1. What are the employee turnover rates in the Australian hotel industry?
RQ2. What are the possible reasons behind the employee turnover in the Australian hotel industry?
RQ3. What are the possible solutions and the mode of implementation of them in in the Australian
hotel industry?
2 Literature Review
Employee turnover is the phenomenon that represents the employee leaving their job and
moving onto other opportunities (Subramanian & Shin, 2013). The turnover is represented as
percentage or number of employees leaving the job and are replaced with other employees.
The identification of the discussed factor can prove to be beneficial for the employers as they
will be able to understand the investments that they are spending on the hiring, training and
development process (Lin et al., 2017). The identification can help them to change their
strategic plan and make it more intruding with the objective of retaining employees for a
longer period of time or to reduce their cost in hiring by hiring freelancers for the
organisational purpose (Terera & Ngirande, 2014). However, freelancers are not the solution
in hospitality industry because here, the employees are bound to communicate with the
customers directly. The direct communication demands near perfect verbal and non-verbal
communication for customer satisfaction which is very difficult without proper training and
development. Furthermore, hospitality industry faces a lot of job stress and the misbehaving
of the customers with employee is also a very common scenario (Kim, & Fernandez, 2017).
All of these adds to a high employee turnover rate in the hospitality industry and of all the
hospitality industry it is highest in the hotel industry.

4REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
According to Weber et al., (2013), challenges with the hotel industry are extensive and
the most prominent of them is attracting skilled labour and the second is employee turnover.
Both of the challenges adds to the expenditure of the industry as they have to invest in human
capital and their quality and training. According to Han, Bonn & Cho, (2016), the employee
turnover is dominated by underestimating of the employees in context with the customers,
low wages and similar other reason. However, on the contrary, Qiu et al., (2015), states that
better job opportunity and self-humiliation are the most prominent force that leads to the high
employee turnover ratio in the hotel industry. While, Santhanam et al., (2018), have stated
that the employee turnover is dominated by the lack of training and chance to learn new
things. Similarly, different scholars and studies have concluded their study over the employee
turnover in the hospitality industry on different contexts. No similar identification has been
identified (Kalidass, & Bahron, 2015). Furthermore, the focus on hotel industry is also very
limited and most of the identified researches focuses on the hospitality industry or a broader
aspect. An in-depth assessment of the causes that leads to the employee turnover is missing in
the literature review.
2.1 Identified Gap
Hence, to summarise it would be justified to state that employee turnover is one of the
most assessed topic and have been studies multiple time by different scholar or scholars and
organisations. However, no conclusive reasons have been identified and furthermore, the
emphasise in most of the studies and researches have been given to the hospitality industry
and a proper assessment of the hotel industry is missing. The gap in literature needs to be
filled because it has been identified that hotel industry is one of the industry that is heavily
suffering from the challenge posed by employee turnover and without proper assessment over
the cause for the high rate, the identification of solution is not feasible. Hence, to propose

5REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
potential solution it is crucial to identify the cause so that adequate and feasible solutions can
be proposed.
3 Research Plan
The proposed study will adopt interpretivism research philosophy. The reason for the
selection of the philosophy can be justified by the fact that there are studies available on the
employee turnover as identified in the literature review. However, an in-depth analysis of the
same is missing which is greatly supported by the adopted philosophy. The philosophy is also
known as the qualitative research philosophy and hence, the data collected for the discussed
paper will be qualitative in nature (Hom et al., 2017). Additionally, secondary data will also
be collected for the paper because of the first RQ that can be answered through the secondary
sources such as government publications. The secondary data will be collected from
http://lmip.gov.au/ ; https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2018/sp-so-2018-10-05.html ;
https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/labour-market-and-related-payments-monthly-profile-
publications along with different literary works that had been assessed in the past over the topic to
support the findings. Along with the literary works blogs and articles from reliable sources will also
be considered as part of the secondary data (Huang, et al., 2017). The secondary and reliable sources
in discussion are the newspaper and magazine articles, company blogs and others. Government
notification, policy drafts and others can also be considered as part of the secondary source.
3.1 Research Variables
In the Australian hotel industry, the absence of the required soft skills is a significant
barrier for the employees in performing to the desired level of expectation (Weber et al.,
2013). Apart from this, the organizational culture and the work environment of many of the
Australian hotels are observed to be a significant reason behind the creation of the job stress
for the employees (Subramanian & Shin, 2013). In response to these causes of employee
turnover in the Australian hotel industry, the impact of the rewards is significant (Terera &

6REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
Ngirande, 2014). Other variables will be identified in the primary literature review that will
be done before data collection and analysis and will be discussed in the final report.
3.2 Data Collection and Analysis
The secondary data will be collected through online search that will most prominently
involve use of Google Scholar search engine which is home for peer reviewed article and
journals. The primary qualitative data will be collected through interviews that will be done
with the use of VoIP (Voice over IP). The form of VoIP may be email, IM, video call or
audio call depending upon the comfort of the respondents. The sample size for the qualitative
data collection will be 15 and the population will be a mix of both hotel industries
professional and owners. The respondents will be communicated though emails and face to
face if they are known individuals (Tenopir et al., 2014). The email will consist a brief draft
about the aim, purpose and scope of the study. Post collection of the data, the data will be
analysed based on ground theory approach and critical thinking. The statistical data collected
from the secondary sources will be analysed using the IBM SPSS tool. Depending upon the
collected data, inferential analysis, differential analysis will be conducted. If the data will
need inferential analysis then ANOVA, T Test or correlation will be adopted. In case of the
descriptive data, frequency tables, cross tabulations and other descriptive formats will be
adopted to summarise and conclude on the data. If additional data analysis tool or techniques
adopted, then it will be mentioned in the final report.
3.3 Schedule
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Reasons for employee
turnover in Hotel Industry 40 days Wed 28-11-18 Tue 22-01-19
Starting Phase 7 days Wed 28-11-18 Thu 06-12-18
Assessment over Topic 2 days Wed 28-11-18 Thu 29-11-18
Assessment over Subject 1 day Fri 30-11-18 Fri 30-11-18 2

7REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
Minor Literature Review 3 days Mon 03-12-18 Wed 05-12-18 3
Research Objectives
Development 1 day Thu 06-12-18 Thu 06-12-18 4
Planning Phase 5 days Thu 06-12-18 Wed 12-12-18
Budgeting 1 day Thu 06-12-18 Thu 06-12-18 4
Risk Assessment 3 days Fri 07-12-18 Tue 11-12-18 7
Scheduling 1 day Wed 12-12-18 Wed 12-12-18 8
Developing Research
Question 3 days Fri 07-12-18 Tue 11-12-18 4,5
Proposal Submission 0 days Tue 11-12-18 Tue 11-12-18 10
Execution Phase 17 days Wed 12-12-18 Thu 03-01-19
Major Literature Review 7 days Wed 12-12-18 Thu 20-12-18 11
Secondary Data
Collection 3 days Fri 21-12-18 Tue 25-12-18 13
Determination of Patterns
from Review 3 days Wed 26-12-18 Fri 28-12-18 13,14
Qualitative Data
collection 1 day Mon 31-12-18 Mon 31-12-18 15
Qualitative Data Analysis 3 days Tue 01-01-19 Thu 03-01-19 16
Analysis Phase 12 days Tue 01-01-19 Wed 16-01-19
Summarising Findings 6 days Tue 01-01-19 Tue 08-01-19 11,16,13
Discussion 2 days Wed 09-01-19 Thu 10-01-19 19
Concluding 1 day Fri 11-01-19 Fri 11-01-19 20
Report Development 3 days Mon 14-01-19 Wed 16-01-19 21
Report Completed 0 days Fri 11-01-19 Fri 11-01-19 21
Closure 4 days Thu 17-01-19 Tue 22-01-19
Report Submission 1 day Thu 17-01-19 Thu 17-01-19 22
Oral Presentation 3 days Fri 18-01-19 Tue 22-01-19 25

8REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

9REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
4 Bibliography
Han, S. J., Bonn, M. A., & Cho, M. (2016). The relationship between customer incivility,
restaurant frontline service employee burnout and turnover intention. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 52, 97-106.
Hom, P. W., Lee, T. W., Shaw, J. D., & Hausknecht, J. P. (2017). One hundred years of
employee turnover theory and research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 530.
Huang, Y. H., Lee, J., McFadden, A. C., Murphy, L. A., Robertson, M. M., Cheung, J. H., &
Zohar, D. (2016). Beyond safety outcomes: An investigation of the impact of safety
climate on job satisfaction, employee engagement and turnover using social exchange
theory as the theoretical framework. Applied ergonomics, 55, 248-257.
Kalidass, A., & Bahron, A. (2015). The relationship between perceived supervisor support,
perceived organizational support, organizational commitment and employee turnover
intention. International Journal of Business Administration, 6(5), 82.
Kim, S. Y., & Fernandez, S. (2017). Employee empowerment and turnover intention in the
US federal bureaucracy. The American Review of Public Administration, 47(1), 4-22.
Lin, L., Baur, J., Ivers, J. J., & Buckley, M. R. (2017). Employee-Employer Turnover
Voluntariness Typology and Third-Party Involvement in Turnover. In Academy of
Management Proceedings (Vol. 2017, No. 1, p. 10431). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510:
Academy of Management.
Qiu, H., Haobin Ye, B., Hung, K., & York, Q. Y. (2015). Exploring antecedents of employee
turnover Intention–evidence of China’s hotel industry. Journal of China Tourism
Research, 11(1), 53-66.
Santhanam, N., Kamalanabhan, T. J., Dyaram, L., & Ziegler, H. (2018). Examining the
moderating effects of organizational identification between human resource practices

10REASONS FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN HOTEL INDUSTRY
and employee turnover intentions in Indian hospitality industry. GSTF Journal on
Business Review (GBR), 4(1).
Shaikh, T., & Zahid, M. (2016). Retention Strategies to Increase Organizational Commitment
and Reduce Employee Turnover in Hospitality Sector of Karachi, Pakistan.
Subramanian, I. D., & Shin, Y. N. (2013). Perceived organizational climate and turnover
intention of employees in the hotel industry. World Applied Sciences Journal, 22(12),
1751-1759.
Tenopir, C., Sandusky, R. J., Allard, S., & Birch, B. (2014). Research data management
services in academic research libraries and perceptions of librarians. Library &
Information Science Research, 36(2), 84-90.
Terera, S. R., & Ngirande, H. (2014). The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and
employee retention. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 481.
Weber, M. R., Crawford, A., Lee, J., & Dennison, D. (2013). An exploratory analysis of soft
skill competencies needed for the hospitality industry. Journal of Human Resources
in Hospitality & Tourism, 12(4), 313-332.