The business prime objective is to bring in profits and develop. Its success is chiefly dependent on employees’ performance and dedication to work. Therefore, employees are one of the most valuable assets any business can have. For instance, they are entrusted with duties of bringing in the industry to a higher level and make it excel. When employees offer excellent customer facilities, they exceed business expectations in terms of growth and profitability (Qiu, Haobin, Hung & York, 2015). The popularity of business products or services has a direct relationship with the level of service that they receive.
The level at which employees have been leaving an organisation to join the other, particularly in the hospitality industry is alarming. When workers leave, they carry with them all the skills they had learned during their time in. The weakening level lowers performance and deters excellent service deliverance. This study is dedicated to uncovering the fundamental reasons behind employees’ departure and why they do not consider hospitality industry as a career path.
1.2 Research objectives
The principal objective of this research is to examine and establish the reasons behind high turnover rate in the hospitality sector. In this regard two research questions will be evaluated; 0ne, to investigate the reasons why employee makes the decision to resign from the workplace and two, to exanimate if employees are considering the Hospitality sector as long-term carrier plan.
1.3 Research structures
So far, the study has demonstrated the problem of the research and given an insight of some background information regarding the same. The remaining part will delve into literature review to discover analytical information that can be relied upon to test two hypotheses;
Hypothesis 1 there is high staff turnover in bar/restaurant job
Hypothesis 2 employees do not consider hospitality as a long-term carrier job.
Chapter two
2.0 Literature review
2.1 Staff turnovers at hospitality sector
According to Mark (2008), there are 57% of workers in the sector who reported of their intention to work for another year, compared to 75% of employees in other divisions and productions. In accordance with World Travel and Tourism Council, the hospitality industry is one of the most generous employers globally. It contributes to a significant workforce among other vaster industries. Human resource is considered one of the most crucial supplies in the sector. Employees resign from their jobs for a couple of reasons. Some accompany their partners across the country, to stay at home with their children, to go back to school and others to change their career (Yang, Wan & Fu, 2012). The employer can not deal with these reasons because they do not relate to the employee's work life. On the flip side, there are grounds why employee resigns and which the employer can address. In fact, two-thirds of the reasons why workers leave are under the control of the employer. Any aspect concerning, work culture, the perception of one's job, operating environments and less pay are things that the employer can handle and address in order to maintain staffs.
In the UK, the level of the staff turnover in the sector is alarming and is standing at 31 percent. Hospitality industry contributes a lot to the economy. With a substantial portion of the global workforce, the human resource becomes one of the most crucial aspects. One of the prayers in the market agreed that high staff turnover deterred performance and puts the business at the danger of collapsing. Having to recruit and train a new set of staffs on yearly basis is a tedious, costly and tiring job. Employers have also lamented that filling in one vacancy out of five is very difficult (Mark, 2008). Precisely, with a shortage of chefs and kitchen staffs, recruiting the requisite skills is acute in the sector. Also, the level of qualification for the chef and other staffs has risen gradually in the last two years making it difficult to encounter the relevant workers. Turnover polishes off many resources in terms of money and time. The turnover effect has impacted the sector making it lose millions of dollars.
2.2 Effects of employee career development
2.2.1 Career development
When employees think of career growth and growth, the most prevailing issue is the thought of promotion. As companies promote employees to the next level of the organisation chart, they consider experience and skills learnt. Promotion and growth is only available to workers that have stayed long in the organisation. University students stay for three to four months before considering quitting (Ruiz, 2017). Additionally, hospitality work is repetitive and demanding. Consequently, there is no time for further studies or so.
2. 2.2 considering as a job
As university graduates go through the curriculum, they already obtain some pictures of the kinda work they expect to do in hospitality job (Garavan & Morle, 1997). As graduates, they expect excellent pay, freedom besides better promotions. However, the hospitality industry is one place where there are very demanding customers. They want attendants to acknowledge their angry demands in a polite manner. The amount of work grows every day, therefore, diminishing freedom for employees. Only one out of 10 of the freshly graduated student would stay for more than five months after being hooked up.
2. 2.3 Progressing careers
As year’s progress, the playing ground in the hotel industry changes. Most graduates join the industry to receive fun and exciting experiences (Francis & Jin, 2017). people do not work in hospitality sector out of passion while others join simply because they want to generate some income. As they get to the pressing business, they realise that the job is nothing of the sort they had hoped for. Studies have revealed that career progression contributes to a substantial percentage of all cases of resignation (Kevin, 2001). In the UK the level of turnover is very high in that, hospitality jobs are placed as temporally and among the poorly paid.
2.3 Motivation
Staffs in this sector are likely to develop a constructive working relationship. In most cases, barmaids and hoteliers work for relatively longer hours compared to other staffs in other sectors. Additionally, the stratum pays much less compared to other sectors, As a result, they lose work-life balance and their social life is extremely interfered. Studies have established that motivation is one of the greatest impetuses in peoples work life. With motivation, employees are encouraged to work for more years and to deliver quality output. The opposite is also precise when workers are uninspired; they do little and less quality work. Turnovers in de-motivating setups are so high compared to areas where staffs are highly motivated.
2.4 Employee retentions
Studies reveal that hospitality business is worst in employee retention compared to other industries (Yang, Wan & Fu, 2012). For instance, selecting an ideal individual on competitive basis and screening to the right skills is the key starting point. Considering the ideal person seated at the right desk ensure staff longer stay in the organisation (Curtis & Lucas, 2001). The selected person masters the vital skills and competence to handle the tasks allocated to him. Hoteliers and barristers are obtained cheaply and no rigorous necessity needed to secure the job. The turnover in the industry is fuelled by the fact that majority of the employees do have the expertise needed to be coupled with little pay, poor performance appraisal and a tremendous amount of work every day (Vasquez, 2014).
2.5 reasons why employee leave
2.5.1 Work-life conflict
Over the years, people have been working to satisfy their social life and personal living needs. As year’s progress, they are struggling to develop their working conditions but as they achieve more, the demand for many things also grow in equal measures (Blomme, Van, Rheede and Tromp, 2010). The growth is in line Maslow’s need theory. The technology and growth in the sector were meant to make the working condition better. However, people are still looking for better working deals that will permit them to develop time for families, friends and cultivate their social life (O'Leary & Deegan, 2005). People are always trying solving their family and social life which could influence performance and increase absenteeism. If their general life is not considered, they are left with no option but to leave the employment. Studies show that as students progressed with their studies, the perception regarding the industry deteriorated a lot. In fact, only 50% of the students were willing to proceed on to work after graduation. Work dissatisfaction was the most cited reason.
2.5.2 Pay
The sector has been constantly registering extraordinary growth that can sustain youths and constitute new employment every year. However, it has been rewarding relatively low salaries compared to other industries. No matter how much people love working for the sector, they are eager to do so for a better wage (Brown, Thomas & Bosselman, 2015). If presented with the best pay package then workers are likely to consider leaving. The pay is little compared to the amount of work that they do every day. The cost of living and the level of inflation have been increasing every day and affecting all nations across the globe. With little pay, hoteliers perceive it hard to attain lofty standards of living in this light they consider leaving to search for jobs that offer better packages and benefits.
2.5.3 Job insecurity
Job security arises from the terms of the contract, collective barging agreement and work jurisdictive which possess the capability to prevent unjustified terminations, layoffs and other forms of exploitation (Morrell, Loan‐Clarke, & Wilkinson, 2004). Additionally, security can also be affected by the general economic condition overruling in a particular region or at the global level. Low-wage service workers play a crucial role in high turnover rate (Knox, 2014). The hospitality industry is one place where low skilled and cheap employment can be offered. Low-wage makes it possible for employers to procure ready workforce at their disposal. Consequently, they do not make an effort to shape the working environment better, as they know they will fill the vacancy immediately. According to a report by World Travel and Tourism Council (2014), hospitality jobs are positioned as temporary in many western contexts and even at global level.
2.5.4 Skills required
Many employers need graduates and workers to show some skills in service and counter experience. Nevertheless, most of the workers who seek the job for the first time do not have the minimal necessity or the required skills. Experience is vital in the hospitality industry and all employers must have it (Kandampull, Zhang & Bilgihan, 2015). A hospitality sector is a desirable place for people with differing emotions. For instance, they are keen, in a rush, and need someone to quickly make their meals and serve them (Deery, & Jago, 2015). People who are generally cool, grateful, respectful and rich of etiquette turn into a beast, mouthful and full of insults. They whine about every particular detail in your service and report workers to the management for not faithfully showing gratitude for their insults. In this regard, skills and experience are needed in order to handle the customer with dignity and respect. Since the sector is very competitive, consumer satisfaction is given a priority to ensure. Employers emphasise that their workers must possess these skills. Reports show that many employees consider leaving the employment rather than spending time and money to gain the expertise.
2.5.5 Transferable skills
Harris, Tang, and Tseng, (2006), indicated that when employees utilise their ability and experiences in a post they feel some sense of accomplishment, contentment and pride. They usually take part and participate in activities that they are best at and they are willing to extend a mile farther in the same. According to Melissa (2014), jobs in hospitality sector like barista and barmaid are jobs that people secure, not because individuals have trained nor have a passion for the job, but simply because they consider it as a survival business. The nature of job recruitment in this sector is energetic to hire and readily available. People work for limited periods of time as they wait to move to other industries to follow their passion and dream career (Jung & Yoon, 2016). Hospitality jobs permit people to make a living out of it before they finally move to other sectors. Employees want to work in a place where they can adequately expand and enhance their skills. If people are unable to make this a reality they will finally leave.
2.5.6 Autonomy and independence
Many people talk about job independence and self-rule in the sector. Surprisingly these are not actual things that you can demonstrate or testify to workers. People need to work in places and environment that can allow them to receive independence and freedom (Kraak & Holmqvist, 2017). Endowing with a survey conducted in relation to the degree of how that USA employee considers job independence and self-determination, 52% responded that these factors are profoundly important. The hospitality industry is one place where autonomy is not well established. Workers have to hold an extraordinary degree of standards and follow every particular rule and regulation. Being bossed around and forced to accomplish things are some of the aspects that deter employees from staying in the job. They want to find a job that they can be independent and conduct fewer orders.
2.5.7 Overall corporate culture
The overall corporate culture makes a tremendous difference to the employees and workers. For instance, an organisation that appreciates, respects, compensates and grants benefits are likely to observe employees for a prolonged period than those that did not (Charlebois, Creedy & Massow, 2015). In the wake of a competitive strategy in the hotel industry, manager concentrates more with customers and they forget the right of the workers. The stress that all clients should be treated with respects and employees opt to ensure their demands are fully met. A drunken customer can be very unruly and sometimes he/she might insult the barmaid. In this regard, the work is very stressful and still, the workers have to cope (Guerci at el, 2015).
2.5 stress
The study conducted by Wilson, (2018), indicates that most of the employees within the hospitality industry complain of overworking and work stress. The scholars purport that workers in the restaurants and bars have to interact with customers from unique settings. For instance, Sallaz (2017) indicates that arrogant and drunk people within bars tend to become rude and violent. The customers who are violent pose risks to the life of the attendants employed, especially if workers observe male customers. Moreover, the amount of work that each is expected to accomplish in a day is substantial. Most of the employees, according to the research, complain of back pains and fatigue each day. Those working in restaurants complain of headaches as they work under high-temperature settings while traversing in the whole restaurant dealing with the customers. In addition to this, the hospitality customers are becoming increasingly demanding as they seek high-quality services, apt attention, and fair pricing. Consequently, the workers bear constant stress, fatigue and strain to meet these consumer demands.
Chapter three
3.0 Methodologies
To clearly investigate the research question and acquire elaborative information to help in the testing hypothesis, quantitative means were adopted. In this regard, a questioner was supplied through an online platform to university graduates. A questioner is a research tool consisting of a series of question and is used with an aim of collecting information from respondents. The survey or the filling of on the form was done online and lasted for approximately ten minutes. The questioner comprised both open-ended and close-ended questions relating to workers resignation from the hospitality industry to join other sectors and the reasons why they do not consider it as a career.
After filling in the questioner, the participants were assured of their confidentiality given that the data was so sensitive and could cost them a lot should it leak to the employer. The data was analyzed later for hypothesis testing.
3.1 Sample sizes
A convenient sample that was believed to be a true representative of the population was selected in from a university set up. One hundred respondent aged between 16 and 30 years both male and female.
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