Independent Critical Analysis Project: Hyatt Sydney Staff Turnover

This independent critical analysis project examines the significant issue of high staff turnover within the hotel industry, focusing on Hyatt Sydney as a case study. The research investigates the increasing staff turnover rates over the past few years, exploring contributing factors and potential mitigation strategies. The project includes a literature review that explores various aspects of staff turnover, such as employee satisfaction, communication, work-life balance, reward systems, and growth opportunities. The study aims to identify factors affecting staff turnover, evaluate its relationship with organizational performance, and recommend strategies to improve staff retention at Hyatt Sydney. The research employs a problem-solving approach by conducting surveys and analyzing the factors causing turnover. The project aims to provide insights and actionable recommendations for Hyatt Sydney and the broader hotel industry to improve employee retention, productivity, and overall organizational performance. The project also highlights the importance of effective human resource management strategies in managing staff turnover, especially within the context of part-time and casual employees in the industry.

Independent critical analysis project
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Executive Summary

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1.0 Introduction
This research examines the impact of high staff turnover rate in the hotel industry. In
this scenario, Hyatt Sydney has been chosen as the organisation for analysis. This research
examines why there has been significant increase in staff turnover in the hotel in the past few
years and the way it can be mitigated using suitable strategies.
1.1 Background of the study
The Australian hotel industry has been experiencing increase in staff turnover in the
past few years and the managers have expected increase in future turnover in their respective
industry. Recent study suggest that hotel industry in Australia lose half of their employee
every year due to high turnover. The average turnover in the hospitality industry is more than
15% which is three times the staff turnover at other industries. This makes the operations in
various hotel more costly than the expected cost. This is the reason it is essential for the
organisations to understand the reason why the staffs leave so that the companies have a
better profit margin and customer service quality. Employee turnover puts an organisation in
jeopardy and it affects organisational productivity and performance. This is due to the loss of
crucial company assets and corporate resources. Hotel industries are in constant need of
strategies so that they can maintain an adequate workforce and improve the quality of
engagement, work environment, job satisfaction and motivation. The study conducted the
bureau of labour statistics shows that employee turnover results in increase in cost by $25
billion in a year. Moreover, it is difficult to understand the fact that employees in hotels leave
in huge numbers and considerable research is required in this field.
1.2 Research problem
Employers have noticed that there has been significant increase in staff turnover in
Australia in the past three years. This has been confirmed by conducting a survey with
managers hiring new staffs. The survey showed that more than 15% of the employees are
expected to search for new jobs in the upcoming year. Moreover, more than 60% of the
employees have seen relevant increase in average staff turnover. On the other hand, these
companies have implemented strategies and have measures to manage expected turnover but
still the expected turnover is forecasted to rise. It is shocking to see that more than half of the
organisations lack wellness programs and employee appreciation programs. Employees are
the backbone of the organisations so it is essential to develop effective human resource

management strategies for managing staff turnover. The case is no different for Hyatt but
there is another factor in the hotel industry which is not considered in general. The number of
part time employees and casual employees are the industry which makes the results skewed
and it is not the appropriate representation of the turnover in the industry and thee hotel. This
is the reason that a detailed analysis is required to understand the problem of staff turnover in
the industry.
1.3 Research objective
 To examine the factors affecting staff turnover in Hyatt, Sydney
 To critically evaluate the relationship between staff turnover and organisational
performance
 To recommend suitable strategies to improve staff turnover in Hyatt, Sydney
1.4 Research question
What are the factors affecting staff turnover in Hyatt, Sydney?
What is the relationship between staff turnover and organisational performance?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
H0: There is no significant relationship between staff turnover and organisational
performance
H1: There is significant positive relationship between staff turnover and organisational
performance
2. Literature review
The policies that are framed by the organizations and the approach of the leaders
enhance the rate of satisfaction among the employees. The differences in the approach of the
management and the expectations of the employees affects the potentials of the organizations
in the hospitality industry in retaining the skilled workforce. Ahmad and Scott (2014) stated
that the enhanced rate of employee attrition in the hospitality industry challenge the potentials
of enhancing the productivity while competing different market segments. The enhanced rate
of staff turnover in the organization affect the capabilities of the same in continuing with the
efficiency of the operations in adherence to the demand of the customers.

Li, Bonn and Ye (2019) opined that more than 47% of the employees resign from
their respective designations failing to identify the specific peculiarities of the job
responsibility. The lack of understanding of the job role and the manner in which they might
be accomplished creates frustration in the minds of the employees. The enhanced rate of
employee attrition might affect the potentials of the venture in upholding the uninterrupted
functioning of the same. However, Peretz, Levi and Fried (2015) opined that the lack of
suitable communication with the managers might affect the morale and engagement of the
employees in the different processes. Communication plays a major role in maintaining the
synergy between the employees and the management while mitigating the issues that are
being faced by the same.
The mitigation of the issues that are being encountered by the employees assist the
management in developing inter-trust factors among the management and the employees. In
this relation, Brown, Thomas and Bosselman (2015) observed that the development of trust
and confidence among the employees and the management would assist ventures in
developing the productivity while operating in different markets. The lack of suitable
communicational links between the management and the employees in the hospitality
industry has challenged the potentials of retaining the skilled workforce. The satisfaction of
the employees are reliant on the healthy working environment and enhanced rate of
communication among the management and the staff members.
AlBattat, Som and Helalat (2014) stated that the employees expect a collaborative
approach from the management which would assist the same in developing their operations
while mitigating the issues that are challenging their job roles. However, the lack of suitable
communication among the staff members and the employees has affected the potentials of the
organizations in the hospitality industry in retaining the workforce. On the other hand,
Vasquez (2014) stated that the lack of flexibility in the policies and procedures that are
framed by the management of the organization affects the potentials of the venture in
developing a positive workforce culture. Moreover, Lu et al. (2016) observed that more than
60% of the employees resign from the hospitality industry due to the rigid timings that is
affecting the work -life balance of the same. The performance of the employees are often
affected due to the absence of the work -life balance.
Hwang et al. (2014) stated that the different modifications that are commenced by the
organizations are reliant on the engagement of the employees in the processes. In this

relation, the lack of satisfaction among the employees due to irregularities in the shift timings
and the compromised work- life balance affect the psychologies and commitment of the
employees in the hospitality industry. The lower rate of employee engagement in the different
processes affected the potentials of the hospitality industry in minimizing the rate of staff
turnovers. On the other hand, Chen and Wu (2017) opined that the reward and recognition
policies of the hospitality industry are customer centric and not performance centric which
incapacitated the organizations in recognizing the contributions that are made by the
employees in developing the performance of the venture apart from the rate of sales. Lack of
suitable reward and recognition programs has affected the commitment of the employees
towards the performance of the organization.
Kim, Song and Lee (2016) observed that the lower rate of employee recognition and
reward systems in an organization affects the potentials of developing commitment and
loyalty of the same towards the operations of the venture. Therefore, employee recognition
for the efforts also encourages the involvement of the other staff members. However, lack of
appropriate means of rewards and recognition programs in the hospitality industry affected
the potentials of the same in retaining the commitment and endeavor of the employees in
enhancing the process flows.
Brien, Thomas and Hussein (2015) opined that the minimal growth opportunities of
the employees in the hospitality industry has affected the potentials of the skilled workforce.
The lack of potential growth options has resulted to huge amount of shifts in the workforce
from the hospitality industry to the other sectors. Chan and Dar (2014) stated that the
stagnant amount of career develop net in the hospitality industry has resulted to resignations
amounting to about 12% which has incapacitated the industry in maintaining the efficiency of
the operations. On the other hand, Peretz, Levi and Fried (2015) argued that the stagnant
growth options in the hospitality industry has minimized the scopes of increment in the
remuneration of the existing employees which affected the potentials of the ventures in
retaining the skilled employees of the same. Again, inefficient communication between the
managers and the employees affected the workflow which affected the performance of the
venture. Vasquez (2014) observed that the lack of suitable link of communication between
the employees and the management might affect the collaborative functioning of the systems.
The lack of suitable collaborative functioning of the departments affected the workflow.
Therefore, the lack of suitable collaboration among the management and the employees

might affect the potentials of the venture in improving the design of the processes while
adhering to the demand of the consumers.
The policies and procedures that are created by the hospitality industry has affected
the potentials of the venture in developing the potentials of the same while operating in the
different markets. Hwang et al. (2014) stated that organizations formulate the policies with
reference to the employee concerns. However, the HR management board of most of the
organizations in the hospitality industry has employed policies with the objective of
maintaining the efficiency of the operation in adherence to the demand of the customers. The
different changes that are undertaken by the hospitality sectors are reliant on the ever-
changing needs of the customers. In this relation, the implementation of the innovative
technologies has assisted the organizations in developing the propositions of the same.
However, Kim, Song and Lee (2016) opined that the lack of initial training to the
employees might affect the potentials of the venture in retaining the employees in the
different change processes. Lack of elaborative training session to the employees would
result to minimization of the rate of retention as the employees would find it hard to cope
with the different change processes.
Ahmad and Scott (2014) opined that the lack of involvement of the employees in the
different change processes of the venture would affect the potentials of the same while
adhering to the needs of the customers. Chen and Wu (2017) also opined that motivation and
empowerment to the employees are the chief responsibilities of the management which
assists an organization in minimizing the rate of attrition. The lack of flexibility and positive
workplace culture in the hospitality industry has resulted to a higher rate of employee
turnover. The lack of transparency in the operations is again an important cause which is a
resultant of communicational gaps between the management and the workforce. In this
relation, the lack of suitable links of communication between the management and the
employees might affect the level of satisfaction among the staff members in a hospitality
organization. On the other hand, it has been noted that most of the policies that are framed the
hospitality based organizations are customer centric while the expectations of the employees
are exploited. Moreover, the hefty hours of work affects the work- life balance of the
employees which have affected the potentials of the ventures in retaining the skilled
employees.

Vasquez (2014) stated that the lack of training and appropriate compensation and
remuneration related policies has affected the potentials of the venture in developing the
efficiency of the operations. The enhanced functioning of the workforce is reliant on the
clarity of the job roles and the manner in which they might be aligned with the common
objectives of the venture. In this relation, it has been noted that more than 56% of the
employees resigned from their respective posts while failing to cope with the expectations of
the organization. Therefore, it might be stated that the governance systems in an
organization mostly influence the operations of the workforce and the rate of retention of the
same while addressing the common objectives of the venture.
3.0 Research Methodology
Research methodology is the periodical way of gathering and examining data.
Research methodology defines the methods, frameworks and instruments used to successfully
achieve the objective in the research. This research has followed the Saunders research onion
to develop methods used in each of phase. The six layers of the onion has been described to
understand the causal relationship between staff turnover and organisational performance.
This research has used a single research design which has focused on using qualitative
research methods.
Research philosophy consists of assumptions, beliefs and values necessary for
knowledge generation in a research. Assumptions are made in every stage of the research and
a well thought out research philosophy consists of adequate set of assumptions that facilitates
in shaping up the research question. In this study, the research has chosen positivism as the
research philosophy even though it is used for quantitative studies. Positivism will facilitate
in deducing the existing theories by evaluating the qualitative data collected from interviews.
On the other hand, the research has used a deductive approach which facilitates in testing the
theories.
In this research, an explanatory research design has been chosen for measuring the
causal relationship between both the variables. Explanatory research uses a highly structured
method to analyse the data collected in the research. Explanatory research design is the
method has selected a qualitative method to analyse the hypothesis mentioned in the research.
In this research, primary data has been collected by conducting interviews with
managers, staffs and supervisors. The interview questionnaire consisted of open ended
questions and face to face interview was performed. The questionnaire consisted of 20

questions. The research has used convenience sampling to select the respondents and consists
of 2 employees, 2 supervisors and 1 manager. The data collected data has been analysed
using coding. Open coding has been used to extract codes from the responses based on the
pattern in the answers of all the employees. Axial coding has been used as a method of
linking the codes with the theories to develop themes that would explain and provide valid
results.
Research has adhered to the ethical guidelines mentioned by the university and has
maintained the anonymity of the respondents by keeping their personal information private.
The respondents have been provided informed consent which consists of necessary
information regarding the purpose and goal of the research. The research has also avoided
plagiarism, fabrication and falsification of data which are the three cardinal sins of research.
Moreover, none of the respondents have been forced to take part and voluntary participation
has been followed.

References
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